When it comes to fat loss, there is a lot to think about. While a lot of people tend to focus on fitness and hitting the gym, but what most people tend to forget about is nutrition. You need to focus on both fitness and nutrition to really see the results that you want to see. The experts at Plunkett Fitness are here to help you create a plan that will help you achieve your weight loss goals by combining both fitness and nutrition.
Diet
While exercise is a great tool for losing weight, the number one thing to focus on is nutrition. At Plunkett Fitness, we know that the biggest thing to watch for is the number of calories consumed versus the number of calories burned. For example, if you eat more calories than you burn, you are going to gain weight. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you are going to lose weight.
The biggest hurdle to fat loss is often learning to control your appetite. Most of us love to eat, which can lead to overeating and the consumption of all kinds of nutrient-poor, high-fat, high-sugar foods. It is important to start being mindful of what you are eating and how it will affect your body.
At Plunkett Fitness, we like to start by looking into your schedule, your habits, and your lifestyle. This can help us get a clearer picture of how much time and energy you will have to dedicate to food and fitness and on what is shaping our nutritional habits to help us better learn how to help control your appetite. If you skip breakfast every day, but then overeat at 2 p.m., that could be causing a lot of problems for your appetite. We look at how we can reshape your diet within your schedule to see where we can make improvements.
Processed foods are a huge setback for many people looking to lose weight. Eating fresh produce, lean meats, eggs, and a little dairy are a great place to start. Rice and oatmeal are a great source of carbohydrates but be careful to find natural products for carbohydrates.
You don’t want to negate all of your hard work by overindulging and eating foods that are generally not very healthy. For this reason, it is a good idea to come up with a nutrition plan. Have your meals planned out for the week before it starts. This will help you make sure that you have time for all the food your body needs to get through the week.
While there is nothing wrong with cardio, a lot of people feel like they don’t have the time to get enough cardio in to help them lose weight. Instead of focusing so heavily on the burning of calories, you can start examining your diet to see where you can make better choices. With a better diet, you can start losing weight without spending hours a day running or biking. Plus, we like to let our clients know that exercise isn’t the key to fat loss because diet is just so important.
Exercise
Instead of focusing on a lot of cardio, we want to get you the best workout possible regardless of how much time you have to dedicate to fitness each week. To do this, weight training is critical. Weight training is known for burning fat, but there are so many other benefits as well.
Did you know that weight training improves bone density, which is very important as you age? Additionally, weightlifting strengthens muscles, tendons, and connective tissue, which can prevent injuries and improve motor performance. Plus, it helps boost metabolism, which will help with weight loss as well. Overall, weightlifting improves your quality of life by helping you look and feel better.
We encourage all of our clients to focus on life-long changes instead of short-term goals. Adopting healthier habits is the best way to see and continue to see the results that you are looking for with your fitness and nutrition plan.
Steps to Get Started
Jamie has a few easy steps for those who are looking to get started on a fat loss journey:
- Write out your schedule and eliminate things that you are doing to please other people or that overextend you.
- Grocery shop for foods that are not processed and remove all processed foods from the house.
- Implement exercise or activity into your routine for long-term health benefits. We recommend weight training for the biggest benefits in a short amount of time each week.
- Focus on a plan that gets you sustainable results.
- Measure success to show that you are moving in the right direction.
If you are interested in losing weight with a team of dedicated personal trainers there to support you through your journey, give Plunkett Fitness a call today at 913-390-3360. All of our trainers are experts in both fitness and nutrition, so we can get you started on the right path to weight loss.
To learn more about the basics of fat loss, check out our podcast below where Jamie talks about his experiences and the basics of fat loss.
