Lose Weight and Gain Muscle - How to Cut Calories and Get Fit Quickly

People who are serious about how to lose weight and gain muscle find themselves often confused about what they can and cannot do. The first step in deciding how to lose weight and gain muscle is finding a good trainer. Finding a good fitness trainer that knows what they are doing will save you a lot of time and frustration. One of the most important things you need to do before beginning any fitness program is to consult with your doctor. This is because some people are medically obese and would be unable to lose weight and gain muscle on their own.

How much you should lose each week is a major factor to consider when planning out your meals. Losing twenty pounds per week is the equivalent of losing one pound a week. To have the desired amount of lean muscle mass, your daily caloric intake must be greater than the calories burned in your activities. Your goal should be to consume the same amount of calories you burn through your normal daily activities, but adding twenty or thirty-five calories per day. To calculate this, multiply your weight in pounds by sixteen to get the number of calories you need per day.

The type of weight training or cardio that you choose is critical to your success. Strength training increases the size of the muscles and helps improve your overall physical condition. Cardio helps you overcome the stress on your heart from your workout and allows your muscles to heal and grow stronger. There are many different kinds of weight training and cardio available for you to use.

The next step to weight loss and gaining muscle is proper nutrition. Your nutrition and your exercise routine are the keys to successful weight loss and successful muscle building. Eating a well-balanced diet that contains enough calories to maintain your basal metabolism and build new muscle tissue will help you stay trim. Make sure that the food you eat provides all of the essential vitamins and nutrients your body needs, while avoiding those that are unnecessary. Eating healthy does not mean eating everything in sight, as you do not want to become fat! Stick with healthy proteins, carbohydrates, and healthy fats.

Once you have a well-balanced diet and have included some good cardio exercises in your routine, begin to learn how to resistance train. Resistance training is where you target specific muscles with weights to build more lean muscle mass. You use free weights and machines for your resistance training exercises and use lighter weights and smaller machines for your isolation exercises. These techniques will help you to increase the size of the muscles in your arms, legs, chest, and biceps as you lose fat and build muscle.

To have the best results with your strength training and cardio exercises, it is important that you do them in the proper order. Your strength training routine should include squats, dead lifts, bench presses, chin ups, dips, and other compound exercises. Your isolation exercises should focus on muscles such as biceps, abs, calves, and buttocks. Once your strength training exercises are complete, your cardio exercise routine should include swimming, jogging, or walking briskly for about a half hour. If you have not completed a full strength training program and want to see visible results, make sure that you stick to a proper program. If you are unable to continue your program, you will not see the desired results.

The only way to see maximum results and keep your weight down is to make permanent lifestyle changes. You cannot continue to do the same old thing and expect to see positive results. To lose weight and gain muscle, you must make lifestyle changes such as eating healthy and exercising regularly. You will also have to make some minor lifestyle changes, such as taking vitamins, changing your workout attire to gym clothes that fit you well and possibly reducing the amount of sugar and fat in your diet. You must change your thinking about weight loss and the process of fitness and lose the outdated mentality that requires instant gratification through weight loss. A well-balanced, low calorie diet combined with regular exercise is the only effective method for achieving and maintaining a healthy body.

It is also important to cut calories, particularly saturated fat and calories that come from simple carbohydrates like breads and pastas. In order to lose weight and gain muscle, it is also necessary to watch your protein intake. By cutting calories, the body goes into a state of ketosis, which results in the body burning more fat and protein for energy. Cutting calories can be challenging, especially for individuals who need to maintain a high protein intake, so it is important to find smart ways to trim calories without compromising on other important nutrients.