Burning Fat Fast
How to Burn Fat
July 2019 | CrossFit Ancoats
Ben Upfold
First things first - it's not possible to 'spot burn' or 'target' belly fat, sorry to tell you. However good news is when you burn fat, some of it will come from your belly and over time you'll get where you want to be.
The road to transforming your health, fitness and body is a long one. Let’s not pretend it’ll be some 6 week walk in the park - although walks in the park will help!
Exercise is obviously necessary, and increasing training volume and intensity will be a must if you’re going to progress.
Workouts at CrossFit Ancoats in Manchester City centre combine weightlifting, bodyweight and cardio into a constantly varied high intensity session. The workouts are scaled to your ability bet you a total beginner or a seasoned athlete. Every workout is fully coach led to ensure your form and technique are correct and your intensity is sufficient.
You can exercise every day but if your nutrition isn’t balanced you’ll struggle reach your personal aspirations.
Nutrition needs 24/7 focus and will be your biggest challenge on the road to a new fitter, healthier you.
Let’s break it down and make understanding nutrition simple, even if resisting that chocolate cake isn’t any easier.
Calories in must be less than Calories out (keep the deficit small at around 200-300 cals per day)Balance your Macronutrients (Protein, Fat & Carbs)Eat whole/unprocessed foods.
Calories in must be less than calories out
In short this means you need to eat less than you burn off each day. Think of a weighing scale, you want to tip the balance towards calories out.
Creating this balance is simple enough. Calories in come from food and drinks, calories out comes from exercise and movement. You want the movement to outweigh/be greater than the calories.
Track your calorie intake using an app on your phone such as MyFitnessPal.
You only need a calorie deficit of around 200-300 calories per day. Don’t go beyond this as you will potentially damage your metabolism and do more harm than good.
Balance your Macronutrients
Foods can all be broken down into 3 main types - Proteins, Carbohydrates and Fats.
You need enough of each to sustain your body’s balance.
Protein - provides the building blocks for recovery and maintenance of bones, joints, & skin and more
Fat - aids in the absorption of vitamins, minerals & proteins, regulates hormones and fights premature ageing.
Carbohydrates - provide energy for day to day living
So you need an amount of all of these nutrients in order to live a healthy life, and not getting enough of any one will have a negative effect on your body.
Any excess of any of these nutrients is converted to fat for storage and used at a later date, so balance is the key.
How much you need will depend on your activity levels, age, gender, body composition and weight. It’s best to have your macro profile tailored individually and not just for for a generic percentage, however a good place to start is at 30% protein, 30% fat and 40% carbohydrate.
Eat whole/unprocessed foods
Processed, ready made, pre-packaged meals tend to contain additional ingredients to extend the shelf life of the product. Your body doesn’t need these extra ingredients and has to work them out of your system.
One of these ingredients is sugar. Excess of sugar not only adds calories but also has a dramatic impact on your insulin balance and sensitivity, disruptions to this insulin balance can lead to problems such as Type II diabetes which itself can lead to a number of related issues. Cutting refined sugar as much as possible is a huge factor in protecting yourself from long term chronic disease.
Anything ready made is also harder to balance into your daily macros, potentially leaving you with a surplus of one or more nutrients, normally fat or carbs.
Buying fresh foods and cooking at home is a learning process, it can be fun trying out new recipes and cooking with the family and friends.
Of course you won’t always want to do this, and a Friday night curry isn’t off the cards. Just do your best to go for whole, unprocessed foods as often as possible.
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