Lose Fat Fast While Building Muscle: 5 Steps to Success

Lose Fat and Build Muscle

Are you trying to lose fat fast without losing muscle? Fitness and health professionals recommend adding strength training to a fat burning diet to help you lose body fat quickly while preserving and building your lean muscle. In this article we’ll provide you with 5 steps to help you reach your fitness and weight goals quickly.

5 Steps to Lose Fat Fast while Building Muscle:

1. Combine Your Cardio Workout with Strength Training.

This is an area where people get easily overwhelmed as they think they need to spend 3-8 hours per week in the gym to lose weight. While professional bodybuilders may need to spend this kind of time in a gym, long workouts are not required for fat burning and fitness!

So what works? Shorter, more intense workouts 3 times per week. By training 20-40 minutes per session, with short rest periods between sets, you rev up your metabolism and challenge your cardiovascular system at the same time. This eliminates the need for separate cardio routines! You only have to do 1 set of 8-12 repetitions to exhaustion, and then move to another exercise within 30-60 seconds. Doing about 15 exercises like this in each session gives you a full body workout that challenges your muscles to strengthen at the same time as giving your heart a challenge. Say goodbye to long and repetitive gym sessions, while improving your results!

2. Drink More Water, period.

Most people drink a liter of water a day or less, and when they decide to lose weight may increase it to 1 to 2 liters a day. This simply isn’t enough water to flush out your fat cells. It’s counterproductive to eat properly and work out and then leave all that fat stuck in your body, when you could simply flush it out with water.

Drink a minimum of 2 liters of water a day, and shoot for 3 liters of water on the days you workout. Exact water intake requirements will vary depending on climate and your body weight, and charts can be found on the Internet to give you a more exact figure.

That being said – don’t overdo it! Drinking too much water – especially all at the same time – can cause water intoxication which can make you sick and can even be deadly. You can read more about water intoxication here.

3. Meal Frequency: Eat less food, more often.

This concept is probably the most important nutritional information you can follow. Most of us have heard of this strategy by now, but it hasn’t caught on yet in our society. Most of us still believe in ’3 square meals a day!’. You body is better served by eating between 5-6 meals a day, preferably 6 on the days you can- and as few as 4 on those days where you’re extra busy. Be sure that the meals consist of nutrient-rich foods, and limit your portions more than you would if you followed a 3-meal/day plan of course.

As long as you eat a sensible portion 5-6 times per day, you will rev up your metabolism, while keeping your insulin from spiking. This equation equals less fat storage and more fat burning while eating the same amount of food as you would on a 3 meal plan. Try it – give it two weeks and you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that it isn’t just what you consume, it’s also how often.

4. Eat for Maximum Fat Burning.

Eat a variety of healthy, unprocessed foods, with a focus on vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins. No doubt you’ve heard about eating this way before, but when you combine proper eating like this, over smaller portions eaten more often, the total combination really helps you to lose fat faster! Feel free to add in some healthy fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, avocado and nuts in moderation, as they will help you stay full longer. As for proteins, focus on legumes, soy, hemp, beans, and nuts, supplemented by lean meats and minor amounts of dairy. When eating meat and dairy watch out for saturated fats.

The most important thing to remember with food, is a healthy diet is not an ‘all or nothing’ approach. Allow yourself to have your favorite foods or drinks, too. Research has proven that if we eat optimally 90% of the time we can enjoy a fit, healthy body. Also, heavy food restriction can lead to quitting on your diet entirely – so don’t over do it!

5. Minimize Processed Foods and Drinks.

While it’s impossible to avoid all of these in our society, keeping processed foods to a minimum will help you burn fat more quickly while keeping you from hunger. Processed drinks include soda (regular and sugar free), coffee, alcohol, energy drinks, and fruit juice. The list of processed foods is endless, but desserts and sugary products top the list, as they spike your insulin, turn into fat and go right into storage – this includes the so-called no-fat treats too! Again, remember that if you eat right 90% of the time you can enjoy excellent results, and have some of your favorite treats, too.

By following any and all of these 5 tips, you will lose fat fast and build muscle at the same time. If you feel overwhelmed, but still want to get started, stick to mild exercise, eating five or six times a day, and drinking more water. You can then refine your diet over time, and still enjoy good results!