The Quick Guide to Fat Loss
Science, diet, exercise, apps and more…
A big question the team gets asked at Rushcutters Health is ‘how do I know when I am burning fat’? Well, there is not a simple answer but we are hoping this post will clarify a few things for you.
Fat burning
When we burn fat the body uses fatty acids for fuel. However, just because you “burn fat” doesn’t mean it’s gone forever, or that the end result is fat loss.
“Fat cells are a major storage site for body fat, and are in a continuous state of turnover. Fat metabolism is regulated independently by nutritional, metabolic, and hormonal factors; the net effect determines levels of circulating fatty acids and the extent of body fat.” – Ryan Andrews
The key here is to monitor your calorie intake. You may be “burning fat” for a period of time during the day or during a workout, but if you’re taking in more overall calories (i.e. energy) than you’re burning, the end result will be more body fat.
So how do I plan to burn fat effectively?
At Rushcutters Health we use a system to calculate the caloric intake for you to lose body fat, while still maintaining muscle mass. We do this by creating what is called a caloric deficit, which basically means your body is burning more energy than you are putting in, which leads to weight loss.
STEP 1
The first step is to determine the caloric intake required for you to lose body fat. Please go to the following link: http:// www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html and fill in the appropriate fields to give you the calories needed for you to lose weight. Make sure the units are in metric and we are going to use the number that gives you .5kg weight loss per week.
STEP 2
Download Myfitnesspal from https://www.myfitnesspal.com/ or from the App store on your smart phone. In the settings of the app put in your caloric goal that you calculated.
My Fitness Pal is an excellent app that we use in the gym to get everyone recording their food. You enter in the food and quantity that you eat during the day and it works out the calories for you. That way you know if you are on track with your calories. It’s a simple app to navigate and allows you to save meals that you eat frequently.
Are there ‘Fat loss’ workouts?
The truth is almost any workout can be a fat loss workout. As mentioned, the key is, is that you are expending more calories than you are taking in overall. The general rule of thumb is that higher intensity workout will burn more fat as compared to moderate intensity workouts. Some things to look out for when you are planning a ‘fat loss’ workout:
- It is physically demanding
- Your heart rate is increased significantly
- You are using several large muscle groups in the body
- Your physical exertion on a scale of 1-10 should be around 8 or 9 (1 being sedentary and 10 being sprinting at your maximum speed)
Fat loss diets
At Rushcutters we stay away from ‘fad’ dieting or crash dieting. We generally follow a ‘low carb’ diet initially to shed excess kilos but we like to adopt a well-balanced ‘wholefood’ diet. As long as you are monitoring your calorie intake in My Fitness Pal and staying within your threshold you will be on track.
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If you would like to know more about fat loss and how to attain your ideal weight, be sure to reach out to our team at Rushcutters Health or contact us HERE