1 – No More Fat-Free Dieting
Fat-free dieting was a fad when people (incorrectly) assumed that dietary fat caused us to put on body fat. As it turns out it doesn’t have that effect and in fact actually helps prevent fat gains.
Make sure you get plenty of olive oil, egg yolks, avocado and nuts in your diet as these foods will help boost your testosterone levels and help you burn more calories.
Aim for 30% of your daily calories to come from healthy dietary fat sources.
2 – Take BCAAs
Another way to make sure you don’t go catabolic is to take BCAAs to help preserve muscle mass. Branch-chain amino acids can be taken with breakfast, before training and after training.
When on a low-carb diet BCAAs can help your body trigger protein synthesis, and they make a great fuel source before hitting the gym.
3 – Get Those Carbs Working for You
Just because you are going low-carb doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get them working for you. Remember that building muscle is one of the most effective ways of keeping fat off in the long run, so make sure your workouts are intense enough to build mass!
Consume a fast-digesting protein source and some complex carbs before your workout so that you have the energy you need to push through your gym session. This will help ensure you are lifting with intensity and progressively overloading the muscles – both crucial components of building mass.
4 – Stick to Complex Carbs
Complex, slow-digesting carbs should be your first choice. These include oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potato and whole-grain pasta. Try to get as much of your carb intake from complex sources like these as they will digest more slowly thereby giving your body sustained energy.
They also keep your hunger levels lower making you less likely to binge on junk food. There have been countless studies that show slow-digesting carbs lead to more effective workouts, more fat loss and better overall physiques.
5 – Cycle Those Carbs
Instead of consuming a ton of carbs every day try rotating your intake. Go low-carb for the first 4-5 days of the week then go high carbs for the last 2 days. By reducing your carb intake while on a fat-loss diet your body is forced to burn fat rather than carbs for energy.
The high-carb intake on the last 2 days of the week help replenish glycogen stores and keep energy levels up. Make sure you are consuming lots of protein when on a carb cycle diet so your muscle mass doesn’t get broken down to be used for energy.
6 – Time Your Carb Intake
When you do consume carbohydrates make sure you eat them at the right times. Remember while consuming too many carbs can cause you to gain fat, consuming too little can slow your metabolism down to a crawl. Right when you wake up at breakfast is ideal – aim for 50g with this meal.
Also consume another 50g immediately following your workout. This will help keep cortisol levels low (the stress hormone that messes with your physique) and helps your body to rebuild muscle tissue.
7 – Eat the Right Snacks
It’s quite common to eat snacks throughout the day – in fact, most bodybuilders consume 6-8 meals or snacks per day. However, that doesn’t just mean you can eat whatever looks best in the nearest vending machine.
Stick to foods like cottage cheese or sugar-free yogurt. These both contain slow-digesting carbs that help manage insulin levels, not to mention make you feel full. The best thing to do is have some cottage cheese, almonds and other healthy snack foods at work so you are less tempted to buy junk food.
8 – Eat Throughout the Day
If you go too long without eating your body will respond by reducing metabolism and burning muscle mass for fuel – this is obviously a state you want to avoid. To work around this, try eating many small meals each day and don’t go into too severe of a calorie deficit.
Just because you are eating so often doesn’t mean you don’t have to limit calories – make sure you are still consuming below maintenance. However, by splitting up your meals throughout the day you will significantly reduce the likelihood of feeling hungry.
9 – Consume Whey Protein Powder
While it’s not essential to a successful cut or bulk, whey protein powder is one of the most helpful supplements out there. It’s relatively inexpensive, convenient and the fastest absorbing protein source out there making it ideal post-workout or even first thing in the morning. With such great qualities it’s no surprise that whey protein isolate is the most popular supplement out there.
10 – Don’t Consume a Lot of Carbs Late
In the evening try and limit your carb intake. You are more likely to produce higher levels of growth hormone in your sleep when you go to bed without too many carbs recently consumed.
As we know, GH boosts metabolism so this means not only will you burn more calories while sleeping but a larger percentage of them will be fat. That doesn’t mean you should avoid fast-digesting carbs after working out however – make sure you still consume those as they will be absorbed into your muscles quickly and your blood sugar should stabilize byt the time you go to sleep.
11 – Drink Lots of Tea
At this point we hope you know that staying hydrated is crucial to perform at your highest level. Note that for every cup of coffee or soft drink you have you will need to drink an extra cup of water just to compensate for it.
Tea, however, is fair game and depending on the type of tea you brew you can actually benefit from metabolism-boosting effects! Green tea for example contains antioxidants that help you burn more calories.
Ginseng also helps by keeping your blood-sugar levels stable.
12 – Take a Natural Fat Burner That Actually Works
A high-quality fat burning product uses natural ingredients that are scientifically proven to boost metabolism while suppressing appetite and increasing energy levels. That’s why a fat burner is so important – the areas people struggle most with during their diet are hunger pangs, lack of energy and plunging metabolism.
If you take the right product you will help yourself counteract these effects and continue to make solid gains.
Often a natural fat burner is what makes the difference between a good cut and a great one.
13 – Get Rid of All Fat (Temporarily)
For one week, eliminate all dietary fat from your diet – that means fatty meat sources, nuts, avocado, olive oil ,etc. This shocks the body into burning stored body fat and is an easy way to burn an extra few pounds in a short period of time. After the week, return to your regular diet that contains healthy fat sources otherwise your hormone levels will take a beating!
14 – Have a Cheat Meal
Some people are afraid to have a cheat meal because they think it will mess up their diet. As it turns out, people who never have cheat meals actually end up worse off. They go crazy on their super-strict diet and end up binging one night and going way over maintenance calories.
Also, by being in a calorie deficit for an extended period time without the occasional cheat day your body will respond by lowering the metabolism level to preserve the body mass it has left.
Therefore, consuming the occasional cheat meal helps you reward yourself for your hard work and dedication as well as keeping your metabolism high.
15 – Take an Arginine Supplement
This is a powerful amino acid that when taken prior to training will help increase blood flow to your muscles. That means better pumps, faster recovery and elevated metabolism. It will also increase the natural growth hormone in your body which means your body will be able to put on more lean muscle mass while keeping fat off.
16 – Make Sure Your Workout Program Is Designed To Burn Fat Around the Clock
Way too often do we see guys in the gym wasting their time in the gym simply because they don’t have a plan of action.
This is without a doubt the most important factor for burning fat and getting that shredded body that women crave over.
This is why we created a free program for guys out there. Simply take our 30 second survey and we’ll send you a custom report for free! – Take the survey here and get your free guide.
Conclusion
Remember, a successful cut takes time even when you do everything right. Don’t beat yourself up because your weight didn’t go down one week – there are many possible explanations for that. Just stick to your program and over time you will start to notice some impressive improvements in your physique.
Source: http://broscience.co/16-bodybuilding-tricks-successful-fat-loss-diet/
