The Last 10 Pounds

Alwyn Cosgrove takes a look into loosing the Last 10 pounds on T-nation. A great read. I have decided to give this a shot. Beside this I am already lifting heavy on 3 days. With routine being :

Day 1: Deadlift(Hip dominant) + Vertical Push

Day2: Bench Press variations (Horizontal Push) + Row variations (Horizontal Pull)

Day 3: Squat (Quad dominant) + Vertical Pull

Going to do 3 metabolic routine as suggested in article on lifting days or off days as time suits me. I feel toughest thing for me would be to get NEPA walks because of time consideration.

But as Alwyn quotes Dan John,

"Fat loss is an all-out war. Give it 28 days — only 28 days. Attack it with all you have. It's not a lifestyle choice; it's a battle. Lose fat and then get back into moderation. There's another one for you: moderation. Revelation says it best: 'You are lukewarm and I shall spit you out.' Moderation is for sissies."

So I better get down to work..

How to loose fat.

Above is the picture of me year back when I decided to reduce fat and the second one is my current photo. Still a long way to go.. So if you have some fat to loose then you should start now. Here are 5 tips .

1. Nutrition: Nutrition is the key to reduce fat and stay healthy. Good eating habits in one line can be defined as "Meats and vegetables, Nuts and seeds, some fruits, little starch and no sugar" courtesy crossfit. You would be amazed by the difference by just cutting all of the refined carbs/sugar from your diet. Refer below for more tips. Prepare a meal plan on this basis and try to maintain a journal of everything you put in your mouth, you will automatically find from where the excessive calories are coming and what to cut.

2. Strength Training: After Nutrition the key is strength training. This is valid for both men and women. Strength training will add muscle and increase Metabolism thus leading to fat loss. While the steady state exercise only burn fat during the duration you are performing them but high intensity 45 min strength training can keep your metabolism boosted upto 72 hours. So if you are pressed for time ditch the boring cardio.

3. Start now: The key is to start now else you will keep shifting things on tomorrow. And time should not be an issue. 45 min 3 times a week is all you require to kick start your program. You don't have this much time start with 20 mins 6 times a week. Do not have time to go to gym start with body weight exercise.

4. Increase your activity level: Increase your activity level, start taking daily walk. Walk instead of using car for going to nearby place, use stairs instead of elevators / escalators. While watching TV jog in place or anything that you can think of. You won't believe how these slight changes can help in fat loss.

5. Track your Goals and progress: Goals are vital for success in every part of life, how can you reach a destination if you don't know where you have to go. Tracking your progress can be very helpful, you should keep track your daily diet and exercise routine for optimum results. It's your body and it’s only you who can judge what works best for you. Also this is good way to keep you motivated. You can use Body fat %, Monthly pics or your weight for tracking your progress. Though using weight as a sole parameter is not enough because it’s possible that you are loosing fat but also gaining muscle thus keeping weight constant.

Good Luck !