Fitness practitioners understand that the criteria for an ideal body are not just body weight. Another aspect that plays an important role is the percentage of body fat; 21-24% for women and 14-17% for men although everyone can set their own targets. For many people, reducing body fat is not easy. However, you can achieve your ideal body fat percentage by following a diet, exercising, and adopting a healthy lifestyle.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Going on a Diet
Step 1. Eat more protein and fiber
Maybe you already know that the body needs protein to get rid of fat that has accumulated and build muscle. Protein keeps the body functioning properly, but carbohydrates and fats also play an important role. By increasing protein consumption, the body will use the reserves of carbohydrates and fats in the body to restore and build muscle tissue!
- Fish and chicken are useful sources of protein, but choose lean, white meats. In addition, consume low-fat dairy products, legumes, soybeans, and eggs to increase protein intake. Know that 10-25% of an adult's daily caloric needs must be met by consuming protein.
- Don't forget to eat fiber! Fiber is digested slowly so you feel full longer. In addition, fiber serves to absorb fluids and fats like foam rubber. Therefore, add peas, whole grains, brown rice, beans, and various berries in your diet.
Step 2. Know that your body needs healthy fats
Many people think that a good diet is to eat fat-free or low-fat foods. A low fat diet will be beneficial if done in the right way. Make sure you eat healthy fats, such as unsaturated fats, omega 3, and omega 6.
- When dieting, make sure your fat intake comes from fatty fish (such as salmon), olive oil, avocados, and nuts, but limit consumption as needed. Don't overeat just because it's beneficial.
- Avoid fats that come from packaged foods including frozen foods! Do not eat biscuits, cakes, potato chips, fast food, and fried foods because these menus are very high in calories and unhealthy.
- Oils that freeze at room temperature, such as butter, lard, and coconut oil are saturated fats that should be avoided.
Step 3. Calculate your carbohydrate intake
There are different opinions about the consumption of carbohydrates so it is quite confusing. Atkins theory says that the best way to diet is to eliminate carbohydrates from the diet. This method is beneficial for burning fat, but its effects are short-lived and the suggestion of reducing your calorie intake by 60% is questionable. Instead, consider the following diet:
- Carbohydrate cycling. This scientific method is applied by reducing carbohydrate consumption (about 2 grams/kg body weight) several days a week so that the body undergoes catabolism due to fat burning. On other days, carbohydrate intake is increased to increase metabolism. Metabolism will stop if the body lacks carbohydrates.
- Timed intake. When adopting this diet, you may consume complex carbohydrates (eg brown rice, beans, oats) before 6 pm and simple carbohydrates (eg fruit, sugared yogurt, honey) only after exercise. As the body recovers after exercise, simple carbohydrates are stored as glycogen, not as fat. Don't eat carbohydrates outside of that schedule.
Step 4. Know about calorie cycling
In addition to carbohydrate cycling, there is another scientific method, namely calorie cycling. If you are low on calories, your body will become weak, your metabolism will stop, and your muscles will shrink. When on a low-calorie diet, make sure you eat more calories a few days a week to boost your metabolism to keep your body in top shape.
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You will feel hungry if you eat less than 1,200 calories per day. Before applying the calorie cycling method, find out your daily calorie needs so you can determine the number of calories you need to consume. You can reduce your calorie intake on certain days, but not 2 days in a row.
- Consult a doctor or a licensed dietitian to find out your daily calorie needs to achieve your body fat loss goals.
- This method is very appropriate for people who experience a plateau. If you still need to reduce body fat a little more, apply this method.
Step 5. Eat more often
Metabolism plays an important role in reducing body fat, especially if you want to lose 3-5 kg of body weight. To keep your metabolism active, you need to eat continuously, but make sure the pattern is right. Maybe you often hear the message: eat small portions 5-6 times a day. This suggestion has some merit, but needs improvement. Find out the most appropriate tips to make your business worthwhile:
- When you eat small meals throughout the day, your body continues to produce insulin and is never in a fat-burning state. Plus, you never feel completely full. Instead of eating small meals 5-6 times a day, you are better off eating normal portions 3 times a day and eating snacks 2 times a day. The pattern is the same, but more effective.
- Make sure you eat breakfast every day! Don't forget to have breakfast before going to work. This step is very important because the body needs energy to burn calories. Energy needs are met only if you have breakfast every morning.
- Body fat is not reduced by eating certain foods. Although a healthy diet helps you lose weight, muscle building through fat burning occurs only during exercise.
Part 2 of 3: Exercising
Step 1. Do cardiovascular exercise and weightlifting.
Cardio exercises burn more calories than lifting weights, but you must do both if you want to burn fat optimally. If you just want to build muscle, use light weights and do more reps to increase your strength. If you want to build muscle, use heavier weights and do fewer reps. Both ways are useful for burning fat!
Cardio training can be done in various ways, such as swimming, boxing, running, and cycling. Plus, you can do cardio while playing basketball, star jumping with your kids, jumping rope, dancing, or any other activity that speeds up the rhythm of your heart rate
Step 2. Do a variety of cardio exercises (crosstraining)
You need to anticipate 2 conditions that have a negative impact when training: plateau and saturation. The best way to deal with it (if not the only one) is cross-training by doing a different exercise each day to change your mindset and physical routine. This step makes the mind does not experience boredom and the muscles do not continue to do the same movement until it feels comfortable.
For example, set up an exercise schedule as follows: Monday for running, Tuesday for swimming, Wednesday for resting, Thursday for brisk walking, Friday for cycling. You can do 2 activities in a day
Step 3. Determine a practice schedule
This is still a matter of debate because there are those who say that cardio or weight lifting should be done at a certain time, but there are also those who argue that you are free to train as you wish for the following reasons:
- Some people think that cardio exercise on an empty stomach in the morning is best because after fasting all night, the body will use stored fat as an energy source. However, others argue against it by saying that the body uses muscles as a source of energy. Which one is true? If you feel dizzy and nauseous while practicing, the second opinion is correct.
- Many say that weight training should be done before doing cardio because the body uses glycogen reserves when doing cardio. This way, you'll run out of energy when you're lifting weights, so you won't be able to build muscle. This advice is more useful for people who want to become bodybuilders than those who just want to lose body fat.
- Others say that you should do cardio and lift weights on different days. There are also those who say that exercise is determined by the purpose of training (Want to lose weight? Do cardio first). Some people say that you are free to determine your exercise schedule. In conclusion, do the exercises that you think are best because they are all useful.
Step 4. Do high intensity interval training (HIIT)
These days, HIIT is in great demand. Studies show that HIIT is able to burn more calories in a shorter duration. Plus, HIIT instantly boosts your metabolism and keeps it going after you've finished your workout. This is known as the "post-workout effect". So don't make excuses for not practicing even if you only have 15 minutes!
To practice HIIT, there are no rules to follow. This program consists of alternating low-intensity and high-intensity exercises. For example: walking briskly on the treadmill for 60 seconds then sprinting for 30 seconds, but you are free to determine the ratio
Step 5. Take time to rest
You may be so excited to train that you don't want to rest, but your body needs to recover, especially if you lift weights almost every day because your muscles need to be restored. This is why you need to rest a full day. Instead of lying on the couch all day, do your usual activities, but allow your body to recover.
Lifting weights should be alternated by working different muscle groups (e.g. working the legs every Monday, arms and shoulders every Tuesday, and so on), but cardio can (and should) be done every day
Part 3 of 3: Implementing a Healthy Lifestyle
Step 1. Make sure you get a good night's sleep every day
You have to take care of your health so that your body can function properly. Research shows that people who sleep 7-8 hours a night lose weight faster than those who don't get enough sleep at night. In addition, lack of sleep triggers the hormone ghrelin which stimulates appetite so that they are hungry faster and eat more.
Step 2. Drink more water
This step is the easiest way to diet. By drinking more water, the body is able to excrete toxins and stomach is full so you don't want to eat much. In addition, the consumption of water is beneficial for maintaining the health of body organs, skin, hair, and nails.
Get in the habit of drinking water of approximately 3 liters/day for women and 4 liters/day for men (this figure includes fluids from other foods and beverages)
Step 3. Take a moment to drink coffee before exercising
Research shows that caffeine stimulates the nervous system and increases epinephrine levels in the body. Epinephrine triggers a surge of adrenaline which is in charge of sending signals to the brain so that the body breaks down fat tissue. Furthermore, the fatty acids produced will be released into the bloodstream and utilized by the body. If you want to prove these benefits, drink a cup of coffee before exercising.
Consumption of caffeine is less useful if the stomach is filled with food. So, drink coffee on an empty stomach or with a small snack. Remember that what is needed is caffeine, not coffee. Many sources of caffeine are not good for health (eg soda), but 30 grams of chocolate without sugar is still quite safe as a source of caffeine
Step 4. Do not run a crash diet aka crash diet
Apart from being useless, this method is self-defeating. Whatever diet you apply, for example drinking only fruit juice, fasting, or not eating certain foods, this step is useless if it is not done sustainably. You may get significant results right away, but in the long run, this diet disrupts your metabolism, leading to health problems. Therefore, do not follow a diet that is not useful so that you stay healthy.
Step 5. Use several methods to calculate body fat
There are various ways to calculate body fat percentage, but not all of them are accurate. Make sure you calculate body fat at the same time (eg every Monday morning) and the same physical condition (eg before breakfast or after drinking a glass of water). Use several methods to get the most accurate results.
- Methods or tools that are often used to calculate body fat, such as calipers, digital scales, BOD POD, water displacement (decrease in water volume), and Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scan tools. The higher the cost, the more accurate the results. If your budget is limited, you can calculate body fat in other ways. Reducing body fat by a few percent is a huge achievement!
- A licensed fitness trainer or dietitian can measure and calculate body fat using a digital scale, tape measure, or calipers. Health clinics or fitness centers offer relatively expensive facilities, such as BOD POD, water displacement, or DEXA scan tools.
- In order to be categorized as fit, the ideal body fat percentage is 21-24% a maximum of 31% for women, 14-17% a maximum of 25% for men. The human body consists of minimal essential fats (much lower for men) which cannot be eliminated without triggering health problems. Make sure you are able to do the best and be realistic for yourself.
Tips
- Make a physical exercise routine according to your interests so that you can apply it consistently.
- Get in the habit of getting a good night's sleep every day, but don't wake up too late because you'll be sleepy all day!
- Join a fitness center and hire a personal trainer. He can help you practice to achieve the goals you set.
- 2-4% essential body fat for men and 10-12% for women.
- One way to train your cardiovascular system is to walk, even if you just walk inside the house while cleaning up.
- Consumption of water will affect body weight.
Warning
- Don't exercise too hard. Practice every 2 days and don't neglect your workout schedule.
- Fat doesn't decrease if you just diet. While dieting is beneficial for weight loss, you need to have a proper exercise program to convert fat into muscle.
