We’re going to keep this one simple. I just want to give you my 5 go-to tips for burning fat and building muscle…No nonsense.
1. Eat enough protein:
Your body needs protein (Amino Acids) coming in on a regular steady stream to be abel to support that awesome muscle you work so hard to build in the gym. Without a constant supply of protein, not only does you body turn to your muscle to use as a fuel source but your blood sugar will drop causing you to crave all kinds of crazy thing you really shouldn’t be eating – usually in the form of sugars and starches that wil not support your fat loss goals. About 25-30% of you calories should come from good healthy sources of protein:
- Lean meats – chicken, fish, lean cuts of beef, wild game, turkey
- Eggs
- cottage cheese or Greek yogurt – if you tolerate dairy
- Broccoli
- Lentils and beans
For those of you that don’t fuss with calories (I am with you on that) just look at your plate and fill it about 1/4 full of protein, or a serving the size of the palm of your hand. Here are some guidelines on how much to take in:
- If your goal is to gain muscle and you are very active then you are looking at about 1g per pound of body weight per day.
- The average person should be taking in about .7 – 1 g per pound of body weight per day
- If you are very over weight, use your IDEAL body weight rather than your current body weight
Protein is a very “thermogenic” food. This means that is takes quite a few calories just to be digested. This is good news. It means that if you about 30% of your calories each day are coming from protein they you will burn about 80-100 extra calories per day just to digest all of that. Over the course of 5 weeks that is 1 pound of calories burned. Over the course of 1 year…10 pounds – gone! Easy.
2. Whey protein
Whey is going to be your go-to choice for building muscle. It is the most usable form of protein your bod can get. You’l want to get a little bit in both before and after your workout. The best window of time post workout to replenish those hard working muscles is within 30-60 minutes of your workout. During this window your muscles are thirsty for fuel like a dry sponge and will soak up the nutrients you feed them. The main thing to watch for in protein powders is the excess junk you can find in lots of them. Stick with a protein that has fewer ingredients and ones that you can pronounce. you also want to look for “whey isolate protein” rather than a “whey protein concentrate” the isolate is a better absorbed form. You want to make sure you are getting protein in on a regular basis throughout the day. Shoot for a serving of 20-30g every 3-4 hours to keep blood sugars balanced and a good supply of amino acids coming in to supply your hard earned muscles.
People ask me all the time “what is a good protien”. These are my favorites because of the integrity of these companies that produces them:
Jay Robb Whey Isolate Protein – Jay Robb uses the highest grade of whey protein possible when creating the best-tasting whey protein powder.
Orgain Creamy Chocolate Fudge – is a premixed organic drink that is pretty darn tasty and perfect for those situations when you know you are going to be going all day and protein is going to be hard to get.
Need a vegetarian source of protein…These are the best I have come across:
The Virgin Diet Protein Powder – Don’t let the term “diet” here fool you. JJ Virgin is all about good digestion and bringing you a great protein powder with solid ingredients. Her book “The Virgin Diet” is an excellent resource if you struggle with food allergies or digestive issues. I was a little put off at first by her use of the word “diet” vut after listening to an interview with her I quickly learned that her passion is to help as many people learn to eat clean adn she knew that using the term “diet” would pull in people that thought they were looking for a quick fix but that really needed a real solution, which is what she has to offer…sneaky, but clever. I like her. She makes figuring out what is up with your gut easy to understand.
The Garden of Life – The maker of this protein struggled with Crohn’s disease – an extremely debilitating issue of the gut. It was imperative for his survival that he design a clean, healthy protein and Garden of Life is it.
Thorne Research Medi-Pro Vegan – Thorne Research is a local company here in Sandpoint Idaho so it is great that they produce such a quality protein.
*** Avoid soy protein. Not only is soy NOT produces in a very healthy way (tons of chemicals and GMO’s) but studies have shown that it is no more effective than water when used in a protein powder. Basically, it will do you more harm than good!
3. Lift weights
Cardio will not get you there. It is an absolute MUST that you lift weights if you want to build muscle. It is that muscle that will burn your fat off. YOU MUST LIFT WEIGHTS. When you make tiny tears in the muscle fibers while strength training, it takes a lot of energy (calories) to rebuild the tissue and make it stronger and prettier. This will elevate your metabolism all day long, not just while lifting weights. make sure you pick weights that cause a burn anywhere between 6-12 repetitions. This burn signifies that the muscle is being stimulated enough to produce the fat burning hormones you want floating around your blood stream.
4. Do HIIT Training
HIIT stands for High intensity Interval Training and is THE biggest bang for your buck when is comes to fat burning. It stimulate HGH (keep reading) and Testosterone which are muscle building fat burning hormones that we definitely want floating around in the blood stream. HIIT training will turn up the heat and elevate your metabolism for u12-24 hours after your workout! YES! I said 12-24 hours! You want some of that for sure! Basically, HIIT is like sprinting. You will work hard for short period of time (20-60 seconds) and then recover for an equal amount of time (or more if you are just beginning. Do this for about 15-20 minutes 2-3x a week. HIIT can be done on any cardio machine, with a jump rope or even with body weight exercises such as burpees, mountain climbers, high knee runs or jumping jacks. The whole idea is to get breathless during the hard work intervals. Here is a very simple HIIT Workout to try:
5-10 min warm up
:30 hard work
:30 easy recovery
Repeat 10 rounds
5-10 min cool down
Done – For more HIIT workouts go check out and subscribe to my You Tube channel There are lots over there that you can do at home.
5. Sleep
Sleep is an often under looked piece of the fatloss puzzle. If you are not well rested you are much more likely to not only be grouchy but crave foods that will give you instant energy such as sugars and starches. the body is just looking for a means of energy when all it really needed was sleep. But adn even bigger piece of the equation is that during good quality sleep you produce a hormone called HGH (Human Growth Hormone). This guy is our friend and is a muscle building, fat burning hormone that is produce naturally in very small amounts after the age of 30. Sleep and HIIT intervals are one way we can stimulate the production of HGH. Attempt to get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. I wrote a very detailed article on the steps to get good sleep. Go check it out HERE if you struggle with getting good quality sleep
There you have them quick and dirty…my 5 top tips for burning fat and building muscle. Use them every day myself and with my clients… and so should you 🙂