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Lose Fat to Define Your Physique

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Contrary to popular belief, losing fat to bulk up and define your physique is not that difficult. All it takes is a lot of discipline and some relatively simple changes to your diet and nutritional intake. Some of these dietary changes are so simple that you’d be wondering why you never thought of doing them before.

Eat

A lot of people think that for them to lose fat, they have to restrict their calorie intake or starve themselves. Not true. It is essential that your body receives the right amount of nutrients every day. Getting your body’s daily requirement of nutrient not only ensures that each system of the body is functioning optimally, it also helps maintain muscle mass.

When you starve yourself, your body goes into panic mode and starts lowering your metabolism and storing fat because it does not know when it will receive nourishment again. On top of that, starving puts the body in a catabolic state wherein it turns to muscle tissues for protein – not a good sign if you are trying to get ripped.

Several Small Meals

As mentioned earlier, bodybuilding fat loss cannot be achieved by restricting your calorie intake since it stores fat, slows down metabolism, and turns to the muscles for protein, effectively reducing the mass you worked hard to gain. But, for the muscles to continue to burn fat, it is vital to eat several small meals a day.

Eating the right food about six times a day means your muscles are getting a steady supply of just the right amount of nutrients. This allows them to burn fat continuously. What’s more, it increases your energy levels and keeps you from feeling hungry. Hunger weakens your resolve to stay away from fat building foods. The body can only use a certain amount of nutrients from eating at a given time. So, if you eat three big meals every day like everyone else, your body will store unused nutrients and calories from food as fat.

Fats in Your Meal

Trying to lose fats to define your physique might make you cut fat from your diet plan completely. Don’t. The body needs fat to keep our skin and hair healthy and glowing. The body also uses fat in the production of several vital hormones in the body. This makes it extremely difficult to gain muscle mass on a fat-free diet. Eliminating fat is not the solution. Eliminating bad fats is. Eat good fats in moderation. Good fats include monounsaturated fats and omega 3, and essential fatty acids.  Rich sources of good fats include flaxseed oil, olive oil, and avocados.

Protein and Carbs

Lastly, bodybuilding fat loss entails increasing your protein intake and reducing your carbohydrate ingestion. Protein helps build muscle but does not get stored as fat because the body has to work harder to process them. And because they take longer to process, protein keeps you feeling full for longer.

Carbohydrates, particularly simple and processed, cause your blood sugar and insulin levels to spike. This not only reduces the body’s ability to burn fat efficiently, it also encourages the storage of fat. Carbs also promote water retention and prevent the body from effectively utilizing its fat reserves to be used as energy.