There is no other way, losing body fat takes hard work and is made even more complicated by the many diet fads vying for your attention. The good news is there is a simple science behind every successful diet plan: To lose body fat, you must consume fewer calories than you burn. But determining how many calories and what food sources of calories leaves many women confused, blocked or even mistaken. Read the article below to find out how to lose body fat that is a sensible, flexible, science-based approach to losing body fat that is already proven.
Step
Method 1 of 6: Setting Reasonable Goals
Determining the Ideal Weight Goal
Step 1. Calculate your BMI
Body Mass Index (BMI) or BMI is a number calculated from your height and weight that gives an indication of your level of obesity.. This method is often used by your doctor to determine if you are at your ideal weight.
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To calculate your BMI using the metric system: Divide your weight (kg), your height (meters)^2.
For example, if you are 1.70 m tall and weigh 61, 235 kg then you would calculate your BMI as follows: 61, 235 1, 70^2 = 21, 188
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To calculate your BMI using the British system: Divide [weight (pounds) height (inches)^2] X 703.
For example, if you are 5'7" tall and weigh 135 pounds, you would calculate your BMI as follows: [135 67^2] X 703 = 21, 188
Step 2. Determine your ideal BMI
A BMI below 18.5 is considered underweight. A BMI of 18.5-24.9 is considered normal weight. A BMI of 25-29.9 is considered overweight, and a BMI of 30 and above 30 is considered obese.
You should aim to achieve the ideal weight on your BMI result or maintain at a BMI of 18.5-24, 9
Step 3. Make a commitment
Think about why you want to lose weight. To be healthy, want to brag? Think about what your ultimate goal is, write it down. Put your goal in a place where you'll see it often, such as on your refrigerator door, your bathroom mirror, or your desk.
Step 4. Know that there is no such thing as "spot reduction"
Even though advertisers often tell you this, you can't target weight loss to a specific body part (except with fat removal surgery). Instead of targeting weight loss in the areas of your body that are your "problem" (hips, thighs or stomach) you should lose weight in all areas of your body. And the only way to do this is by consuming fewer calories than you burn. Move on to the next section, the "Planning Your Diet" section to learn how to do this.
Counting Healthy Target Calories
Step 1. Calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
Your basal metabolic rate or BMR indicates how many calories your body burns in a day to perform metabolic functions, such as breathing, digesting food, etc. Calculating your BMR is important for determining your basic calorie needs.
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To calculate your BMR you can use the following formula: 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg) + (1.8 x height in cm) – (4.7 x age in years)
Example: A person with height 170, 18 cm, weight 61, 24 kg, woman 30 years old. The BMR calculation will be like 655 + (9.6 x 61.24 kg) + (1.8 x 170, 18) – (4.7 x 30) = 1408, 22
Step 2. Calculate the total calories burned in a day
If you tend to be inactive, multiply your BMR by 1, 2. If you are moderately active, multiply your BMR by 1, 3-1, 4. If you are very active, multiply your BMR by 1.4-1, 5. Result of This multiplication will estimate the number of calories you burn in a day.
Example: If you, like the woman above, have a BMR of 1408, 5 and are active in daily activities then you should multiply your BMR by 1.4. If you do, you will find that you burn calories in a day approx. about 1972 calories
Step 3. Calculate your calorie goal
A reasonable calorie goal will allow you to consume 15-30% less calories than the calories you burn each day. To perform this calculation, multiply how many calories you burn each day (as calculated in step "Calculating total calories burned in a day") by 0.70 – 0.85.
- Example: If you, like the woman above, burn approximately 1972 calories a day then you would eat foods with between 1380 (2695 x 0.70) and 1676 (2695 x 0.85) calories in a day.
- The larger your calorie deficit, closer to 30% of the total calories you burn in a day (1380 calories/day), the faster your diet will work towards your weight loss but the harder it will be to maintain it. The smaller your deficit, closer to 15% of the total calories you burn in a day (1676 calories/day), the easier your diet will be to stick to but the slower your weight loss will be.
Knowing Your Macronutrient Needs
Step 1. Calculate your protein needs in a day
In general you will probably want to consume between 0.5-0.77 grams of protein per pound of your body weight. The more active you are, especially if you are doing vigorous exercise, the more protein you should eat. Protein is needed by the body to repair your muscles as you get older and after you exercise.
- If you don't eat enough protein while on a diet you will lose muscle mass as well as fat. Therefore, if you want your body to be smaller and toned (the definition of visible muscle due to having low body fat) instead of a smaller and slack body, make sure you eat enough protein when you are in a calorie deficit.
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To calculate how many grams of protein you need in a day, multiply your weight by 1.1-1.69.
Example: If you weigh 61.24 kg, you must multiply your weight by 1.1 to calculate your lowest protein requirement of 68 grams of protein/day. To calculate your highest protein requirement, multiply 61.24 kg pounds by 1.69 to find that you need 104 grams of protein per day
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To convert protein in grams to protein in calories, you must know that each gram of protein contains 4 calories. So to convert protein in grams to calories, you can multiply by 4 to find the calories in protein.
Example: If you weigh 61.24 kg you should eat between 68 x 4 = 272 calories and 104 x 4 = 419 calories of protein per day
Step 2. Calculate how much fat you need in a day
When dieting many people will not eat, or barely eat, fat while dieting. Fat is important for building healthy body tissues and is needed to produce the right hormones. Not eating enough fat can hinder weight loss, and will make you very hungry. So make a plan to allocate 20-35% of incoming calories from fat.
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To calculate how many calories from fat you should eat in a day, multiply.20 and 0.35 by your target calorie.
Example: If you plan to diet at 1676 calories, multiply 1676 x 0.20 and get 335 calories, and 1676 x 0.35 to get 587 calories. By now you know if you plan to diet at 1676 calories in a day, you should get 335-587 calories from fat out of your total calories while dieting
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To calculate how many grams of fat you should consume, you must know that each gram of fat contains 9 calories. So to convert calories to grams, you can do this by dividing by 9.
Example: From the example above, you now know if you plan to diet at 1676 calories per day, you should get 339-593 calories from fat. 335 calories 9 = 37 grams, 587 calories 9 = 65 grams. So if you plan to diet at 1676 calories per day, you should eat 37-65 grams of fat per day
Step 3. Calculate how many calories you need in a day
Unlike protein and fat, both of which are needed to build the structure of your body, carbohydrates are not needed by structural components. Carbohydrates are only used as energy. So your body does not need a certain amount of carbohydrates. So your body's carbohydrate needs will be calculated from the remaining calories in your diet after you meet the daily needs of fat and protein.
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Example: If you weigh 61.24 kg, an active 30 year old woman who plans a diet at 1676 calories per day. From the step "Calculating your protein needs for a day" you need 272-419 calories from protein in a day. From the step "Calculating daily fat requirements" you need 335-587 calories from fat in a day. Therefore the remaining calories from 1676 will be met from carbohydrates.
- To calculate the "minimum" number of calories from carbohydrates allowed, subtract your highest protein and fat requirements, 419 calories from protein and 587 calories from fat, from your daily calorie allowance of 1676 calories per day (1676 – 419 – 587) to get 670 calories from carbohydrates per day.
- To calculate the "maximum" number of calories from carbohydrates allowed, subtract your lowest protein and fat requirements, 272 calories from protein and 335 calories from fat, from your daily calorie allowance of 1676 per day (1676 – 272 – 335) to get 1069 calories of carbohydrates per day.
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To convert calories from carbohydrates to grams, you must know that there are 4 calories for every gram of carbohydrates. So to convert calories from carbohydrates to grams, you can divide by 4.
Example: If you are on a low-calorie day (a day high in fat and protein) and are only allowed to eat 670 calories from carbohydrates per day, you will need 670 4 = 167.5 grams of carbohydrates in a day
Method 2 of 6: Understanding Your Current Diet
Step 1. Record Your Current Diet
The first week is used to analyze your current dietary habits. To do this, start writing a food diary. Keep track of what you eat and drink during the week, making sure to include snacks and meal portion sizes.
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As you record your food and drink intake, be sure to also record your mood. You want to know a pattern. Do you eat when you are sad, bored, or stressed?
If you find that you eat when you are emotional, you need to keep that in mind when starting your diet. You don't want to fall back into old emotional habits
Step 2. Determine your current average calorie intake
After a week of recording what you eat, analyze your weekly food intake. Use free online nutrition websites to determine how many calories you are consuming. Include the calories you consume in a week. Then divide this number by 7 to find your average daily calorie intake.
Step 3. Determine your current average macronutrient intake
Macronutrients refer to how much fat, carbohydrates and protein are in the food you eat. Use free online nutrition websites to determine the levels of macronutrients in your diet. Determine your average daily intake by entering your macronutrient intake for a week and dividing this number by 7. This way you can find out your daily intake of fat, carbohydrates and protein.
It is important to know your macronutrient intake because you want to maintain your calorie intake to stay healthy while dieting
Step 4. Plan your diet
Now that you have your target calorie and macronutrient range and have analyzed your old eating habits, understand what you need to cut or change in order to reach your new goals.
It may take some time, dabbling in menu ideas and calculating calorie and macronutrient levels. Find a diet that fits your taste and lifestyle but is still relevant to nutrition guidelines
Method 3 of 6: Other Factors
Step 1. Include good foods in your diet
You may want to consider including or replacing good foods in your diet such as the following:
- Good sources of protein include skinless chicken breast, turkey, bison, egg whites, Greek yogurt, and tofu.
- Sources of fat such as almonds, peanuts, flax seeds, chia seeds, fish, egg yolks, and olive oil.
- Good sources of carbohydrates include unprocessed carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, fruit, oatmeal, bran, oats, Bulgarian oats, beans, and vegetables.
Step 2. Stop processed foods
Processed foods such as bread, pastries, pasta, fast food, and frozen foods. There are 3 reasons to avoid processed foods, namely:
- First, processed foods are often high in calories and low in nutrients.
- Second, processed carbohydrates usually have a high glycemic index, which can cause insulin spikes that can lead to weight gain - which is not what you want when trying to lose fat.
- Third, processed foods usually don't have a lot of fiber, which can make you feel hungry more quickly.
Step 3. Invite family/roommates
Diet will be helped by the people where you live. It's easier to eat clean if you're not surrounded by temptations and bad influences. Try getting your family and roommates to follow your diet.
Step 4. Clean your kitchen
For your good and throw fast food in your house. It's easier to stick to your diet if fast food temptations are hard to come by.
Step 5. Go shopping
Go to the store and buy the supplies you need in your diet, lean protein, vegetables and complex carbohydrates.
Step 6. Eat more often in small portions
Divide your calories in a day. Consider eating 5-6 small meals instead of just three meals. And make sure to have breakfast when you wake up.
Step 7. Drink water
Drink water with and between meals. This will help you feel fuller when you are on a diet.
Step 8. Take notes of everything
The only way to make this diet work is to follow it. The only way that shows you have followed this diet, is if you record all the food and drinks you consume including accurately recording portion sizes.
Don't estimate portion sizes, use a measuring cup/spoon, or preferably weigh what you eat to get an accurate result
Method 4 of 6: Practice
Step 1. Strength training
When you are in a calorie deficit, your body will burn something to store energy, including fat and muscle. You want to burn muscle, but you don't want muscle to burn. To maintain your muscle mass when you are in a calorie deficit, consider doing strength training.
- Don't be afraid to bulk up when you're strength training. Women have 40X lower testosterone levels than men. Muscular women seen in bodybuilding competitions take hormone replacements and train for years to look that way. Strength training for regular women (not taking supplements) will not produce a lot of muscle mass, but get a lean body shape. So don't be afraid to lift heavy weights!
- To maximize your weight training, focus on compound movements, such as deadlifts, squats, bench presses, military presses and pull ups. Once you're more proficient, start practicing isolation exercises like bicep curls, tricep extensions, glut bridges, etc.
- If you've never done weight training, be prepared to feel really sore the first week. As with all exercises in the early stages, introduce slowly to allow your body to adapt and avoid injury.
Step 2. Do a little cardiovascular exercise
Cardiovascular exercise is good for general health. So, if you don't, consider incorporating half an hour of cardiovascular exercise into your workout several days of the week.
- Don't get caught up in a cardio/diet cycle. A diet/cardio cycle is a situation where you train to burn calories, but make you hungrier, which makes you eat more, forces you to exercise more, makes you hungrier than before, etc. Keep cardiovascular exercise under 2-3 hours a week unless you are actively exercising for fitness purposes. Doing more cardiovascular exercise than this will inhibit fat loss due to increased cortisol levels.. To avoid this problem, control your calorie deficit in the kitchen, not on the treadmill machine.
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Some cardiovascular exercises that you might consider are:
- A light walk of 3.2 km before breakfast is done several days of the week.
- Walk on the stairmill for 20 minutes after lifting weights.
- High intensity interval training (exercise with high intensity) which is done several days a week.
Method 5 of 6: Calculating Your Fat Loss
Step 1. Understand how to set a reasonable diet timeframe
It's often better to set a diet timeframe first, then set your calorie goal. However, sometimes this leads to unreasonable dietary expectations, crash dieting and yo-yo dieting. To avoid this, understand that you must first understand a healthy calorie deficit in the "Calculate your calorie goal" step, then use this section to calculate how quickly you will lose weight with this diet.
Step 2. Calculate your daily calorie deficit
To calculate how quickly you'll lose weight, subtract your calorie goal (from step "Calculating the total calories you burn per day"). This method will tell you how many calories you should burn per day.
- Example #1: If you burn 1972 calories a day (as calculated from step "Calculating the total calories you burn per day") and decide to set a target calorie deficit of 15% with a goal of 1676 calories (from step "Calculating your calorie goal") then you have to implement a deficit of 1972 - 1676 = 296 calories per day.
- Example #2: If you burn 1972 calories a day (as calculated from step "Calculating the total calories you burn per day") and decide to set a target calorie deficit of 30% with a goal of 1380 calories (from step "Calculating your calorie goal") then you have to implement a deficit of 1972 – 1380 = 592 calories per day.
Step 3. Calculate your fat loss
There are about 3800 calories per kilogram of fat. Therefore, to burn 1/2 kilogram of fat, you must burn 3,800 calories more than you consume.
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To calculate your fat loss, multiply your daily calorie deficit (from step Calculating your daily calorie deficit) by 7. Then divide that number by 3800. This will give you an idea of how many kilograms of fat you expect to lose per week.
- Example #1: If you are on a calorie deficit of 296 calories you eat you have to multiply 296 by 7 to get 2072. Then divide 2072 by 3800 to calculate how much fat you will lose per week, 0.54 or a little over kilogram per week.
- Example #2: If you are on a calorie deficit of 592 calories you eat you have to multiply 592 by 7 to get 4144. Then divide 4144 by 3800 to calculate how much fat you will lose per week, 1.09 or a little over a kilogram per week.
- From the example above you can see that the larger the calorie deficit, the more fat you will lose per week. However, you should keep in mind that the larger the calorie deficit, the harder it will be to maintain and can lead to uncontrolled eating.
Method 6 of 6: Maintain Weight
Step 1. Plan a weekly cheat meal
Some people have the desire to be able to go on a perfect diet within weeks or months to lose the required weight. So it is advisable to include "cheat meal" in your diet once a week.
- Cheat meals don't mean you can eat an entire pizza and a box of ice cream in one meal. But this is an opportunity to eat something that is not in your diet. So eating two slices of pizza and a reasonable bowl of ice cream is still allowed.
- Implement cheat meals without guilt, after all cheat meals are part of your diet plan, then quickly return to your diet for the next meal. Regular and reasonable cheat meals can help you increase your metabolism..
Step 2. Get enough sleep
Not getting enough sleep can hinder your weight loss efforts. Try to get 8 hours of sleep per day.
Step 3. Don't get hung up on diet trends
Low-fat, no-fat, tangerine diet, cabbage diet, clean diet. Existing diet trends may help you lose weight fast, but for serious and persistent weight loss don't follow the trends. This diet plan doesn't focus on continuous change: eating less than you burn, eating nutritious foods with lots of protein and healthy fats in your diet.
Step 4. Make it a lifestyle
Maintain your food intake through diet. If you eat as planned and keep your current activity or more, you should be successful at losing fat.
- Keep in mind that after you lose weight you may want to recalculate your macronutrient and calorie needs.
- Don't be afraid to include new foods in your diet, as long as you're still following the calorie and macronutrient guidelines for the day.
- If you're not losing weight at a 15-30% calorie deficit, look at your diet. Carefully measure, it is better to weigh, all foods and record proper portion sizes when calculating the calories and macronutrients you consume.
Tips
- If you are still struggling to lose weight, consider making an appointment with your physician to rule out any endocrine (hormonal) irregularities that may be hindering your weight loss, such as hypothyroidism.
- If you're still struggling to lose weight, consider making an appointment with your doctor to rule out endocrine (hormonal) irregularities that might be hindering your weight loss, such as hypothyroidism.
