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What’s The Best Plan To Lose Fat?

woman working out to lose fat

Okay, so you want to lose some mass and get your summer body back. Fair enough! This is a popular and totally attainable fitness goal. The best plan to lose fat involves eating a healthy diet at a deficit of your daily calories. Your diet is the most important aspect of losing fat.

It’s important to keep working out too! In the gym, you’ll be best to switch your focus to cardio fitness, toning exercises, and maintaining your muscles. When eating at a caloric deficit, too much muscle building work will just tire you out. Here are some pointers:

The Best Plan To Lose Fat: Your Diet

Step one for putting together your meal plan is to work out how many calories your body uses up in a day. Everyone’s different, so try using this calculator to find out how many calories you should be eating to lose fat.

Once you’ve got that information, it’s time to make your meal plan. When creating a meal plan for losing fat, you want to go for:

  • High protein. High protein foods keep you full longer. These include meat, fish, eggs and dairy. As you’re trying to lose fat, try to find low-fat versions of your favorite high protein foods.
  • High fiber. Fiber is so important for gut health and most people are actually low in it. Some great high fiber foods include lentils, avocados, pears, strawberries and bananas.
  • Low sugar. Or, if you can cut out sugar entirely, that’s even better. Avoid artificial sweeteners.
  • Low carb. When choosing carbs, make sure it’s a low GI option. GI is a measure of how much the carb elevates your blood sugar. The lower the better. Some great low GI carbs include sweet potatoes, brown rice and oatmeal.

Sample Daily Diet

Let’s say you want to eat 1,500 calories in a day. This might look something like:

  • Breakfast – egg and avocado toast: 2 poached eggs, 1 slice of wholegrain bread, 1/2 avocado.
  • Lunch – veggie wrap: 1 whole-grain wrap, 2 tablespoons of hummus, 1/2 avocado, 2 slices of tomato, 1 cup of lettuce, 1 ounce of cheese.
  • Snack: 1 banana, 1 yogurt.
  • Dinner:  chicken and veggies: 1 baked chicken breast, 1 cup roasted pumpkin, 1 cup of roasted broccoli.

This is only a sample of what a healthy and well-rounded fat loss diet may look like. However, there are thousands of ideas online for weight loss diet plans and healthy meal ideas. 

It’s fun to get creative in the kitchen. Plus, this often helps you stay motivated for your meal plan and diet.

The Best Plan To Lose Fat: In The Gym

If you’re looking to lose weight, you should focus on workouts that get your heart pumping. Shoot for around 3 hours per week of quality exercise. You can divide that up any way you like.

We love strength training, but the best plan to lose fat involves working on cardio and toning. There are so many CrossFit routines designed to help you reach your fat loss goals.

Sample Daily Workout

This workout is called the Filthy 50 and is just one of many great fat-burning CrossFit WODs. Complete 50 consecutive reps of each exercise before moving onto the next. Challenge yourself and see how fast you can get through all 500 reps.

  • Box jumps
  • Jumping pull-ups
  • Kettlebell swings
  • Walking lunge steps
  • Knees-to-elbows
  • Push presses
  • Back extensions
  • Wall ball shots
  • Burpees
  • Double-unders

If you find that a little too difficult, you can check out some modifications here to see how to make this workout more manageable. 

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What’s The Hardest Part Of Getting Fit?

the hardest part of getting fit lifting weights

Don’t get us wrong, getting fit is awesome. You feel great and you have lots of energy. You’re healthy – your bones and muscles are strong. Your body looks amazing and you feel confident. Maybe you get a little more attention from the opposite sex than you used to! Going to the gym is satisfying and makes you feel accomplished. Yep, getting fit is a rewarding process with so many benefits.

However, we can acknowledge that you’ll run into some challenges on your fitness journey. In this post, we’re going to acknowledge some of the most common issues you may face. There are definitely things you can do to deal with them.

You may disagree that some of these things are the hardest part of getting fit. For some people, one aspect is a huge challenge, but for others it’s no problem at all! Remember, everyone’s different.

So, what are the hardest parts of getting fit?

Sticking to a healthy diet

Even if you don’t think diet is the hardest part of getting fit, I’m sure you’ll agree it can be tough to manage. If you’re bulking, it can be hard to force yourself to eat enough. If you’re cutting, you’ll have the opposite problem. It can be hard to say no to your favorite snacks. So what can you do? 

  • Learn to cook. It’s so much easier and cheaper to eat healthy when you make the meals yourself. Plus, cooking for yourself makes you feel accomplished. Being familiar with spice blends and seasoning makes a huge difference to how your food tastes. Look up some recipes and spend some quality time getting to know your kitchen.
  • Meal prep. After a long day, who wants to spend time cooking up sweet potato and chicken when you could just get fast food on the way home? You can beat this problem by cooking meals in advance and storing them in the fridge. This makes it easy to just grab something healthy at dinner time. There are so many great meal prepping resources to explore online.
  • Eat healthy foods that you like. Try lots of foods, and ditch the ones that you think are gross. Just because everyone at your gym seems to eat oatmeal every day, you don’t necessarily have to jump on that train. There are so many amazing healthy foods, just be open minded and find ones you actually enjoy eating!

Motivation and discipline

Many people find maintaining motivation to be the hardest part of getting fit. Maybe you finish a long day of work and you just can’t face the idea of going to the gym. Living a sedentary lifestyle wasn’t so bad, right? Right? To overcome issues with motivation, try to:

  • Do fun workouts. No one’s going to feel motivated to do something they hate. Ditch the thirty minutes of running on a treadmill. Replace it with fun lifts you love, high intensity and varied cardio workouts, or social sports with your friends.
  • Try group fitness classes. Group fitness classes, such as CrossFit, usually have a fun and motivated atmosphere. The collective vibe will boost your motivation to new heights.
  • Create a workout schedule and stick to it. If you know in advance that you’re going to the gym and know why you’re going and what you’re doing, you’ll feel far more excited to go. Work in your favorite exercises.

Being patient: waiting to see progress

Wake up, eat a thousand eggs, work yourself to the bone at the gym, drink a protein shake, repeat. Sometimes a fitness journey can feel like you’re working so hard, and for what? 

If you don’t see results or feel like you’re meeting your goals, your motivation can really drop. Many people find patience to be the hardest part of getting fit. Here’s how to stay on track:

  • Set small, short term goals. You’ll be waiting a long time to lose 50 pounds. But, if you set a goal for each 5 pounds, you’ll feel much more satisfied with your progress. Reward each 5 pounds with something such as new workout gear or an item of clothing.
  • Stop comparing yourself to others. It’s human nature to look at others, and this can make us feel discouraged. Try to push these thoughts out of your mind. Everyone has their own path.
  • Take photos of yourself. When your body changes just a little each day, you might not notice. Every month or two, take a few pictures of your body to document your progress. When you look at them, you’ll be surprised at the changes you do see.

Fighting the stereotypes that come with getting fit

Before getting shredded, you would probably never consider this to be the hardest part of getting fit. However, many gym buffs really struggle with the stereotypes they face. Big and muscular people, particularly men, are often assumed to be vain, superficial or even stupid. These assumptions can be hurtful!

To overcome this challenge just remember:

  • People at the gym won’t think this way. Try connecting with other fitness junkies. Be kind to those you meet at the gym, and they’ll be kind to you. Of course they know that there’s far more depth to people at the gym than just caring about working out. 
  • Remember you’re doing this for you. There are so many benefits to fitness that go beyond aesthetics. You’ll be the one laughing when you’re well into old age and in great health and amazing shape.
  • It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. At the end of the day, you know there’s more to you than the gym. If someone assumes you’re vain just because you work on yourself, they aren’t someone you want to associate with anyway!
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Can You Get 6 Pack Abs From Running?

man building 6 pack abs from running on the beach

If running’s your cardio of choice, you may be hoping that you can race your way to some 6 pack abs. 

Along with looking great, having a strong core is important for your health. Solid abs keep you stable, reduce the risk of injuries, and even prevent heart disease and diabetes.

So, is it possible to get 6 pack abs from running?

Running Works Your Abs

Your abs get a great workout every time you go for a run. These muscles help to generate the force needed to move forward. They also stabilize the body, preventing you from falling.

The cardiovascular nature of running also helps you to lose body fat. If you’ve built the muscles of a 6 pack through hard work, diet, and strength training, you’ll be able to reveal it to the world if you maintain low body fat. 

Run In Different Ways To Build 6 Pack Abs

One of the best ways to get 6 pack abs from running is to mix up the types of runs you’re going on. Different types of running workouts have different benefits. Plus, if you do things different, it will prevent you from getting bored. Consider trying:

  • Sprints. High intensity dashes between 50 and 100 meters are one of the most effective types of cardio. Being so explosive, they work your abs (and most of your muscles) hard. This is a great way to build strength and burn calories at the same time.
  • Steady endurance runs. Doing a long run at a steady pace will develop your endurance and aerobic strength. A long and relatively slow run on flat terrain for 30 to 90 minutes will increase your lactate threshold. This means that next time, you’ll be able to run for longer. Plus, going for a relaxing morning jog is great for the soul.
  • Hill repeats. After a good warm up, try running up and down a hill of around 100 – 200 meters. The steepness, speed and number of repeats depend on your goals and experience. Hill repeats are tough, yes, but they’re a great way to develop your running endurance and strength at the same time.
  • Workouts which combine running and strength. A workout which combines running and strength will be high intensity and help you to build the 6 pack of your dreams. Try switching between sprint drills and lifts or bodyweight strength exercises to build your endurance and work your core hard.

6 Pack Abs Are Made In The Kitchen

You’ve heard it before, but we’ll say it again: to have an amazing 6 pack, you need to cut down on your body fat to let the muscles shine through. And what has the most impact on your body fat? 

Diet.

You need to eat less calories a day than you use to lose weight. Then, to build muscle, you need to fuel your body with protein.

Start by calculating your BMR. Aim to eat at a deficit of 500 to 1000 calories per day. You should also aim to consume at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.

Focus on eating fatty fish, lean chicken and beef, eggs, dairy and lots of leafy vegetables. If you stick to a relatively low calorie and high protein diet, then that 6 pack will be making an appearance before you know it.

Work Strength Training Into Your Routine

While it is somewhat possible to build 6 pack abs from running, adding strength training to the routine will make a huge difference to your progress.

Compound lifts that work many muscle groups at a time are a great way to push your abdominals to their limits. Try squats, deadlifts, bench presses and overhead presses. Each of these exercises involve stabilizing your core, which is great for building a 6 pack.

You can also supplement the workout with isolated ab exercises. These include press ups, V ups, crunches, bicycle crunches, L sits, planks, and so many more. There are many excellent and effective ab exercises to add to your workout. 

Putting It Together: Building 6 Pack Abs From Running, Diet, And Strength Training

Running is a great addition to an exercise routine. It’s effective cardio, and many people absolutely love getting outside and working out in nature. To a degree, you certainly can build a 6 pack from running. 

You’ll have an easier time building your core if you try different types of running workout. Add a quality diet and strength training regimen to the routine, and you’ll be on your way to Greek god abs in no time.

Once achieved, your strong abs will continue to boost your running performance, keeping you stable and strong. Plus, you’ll look amazing. What’s not to love?

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