4 Best Ever Fat Burning Exercise Programs

Introduction

If you find yourself carrying a little extra “cargo”, you are far from alone. Current statistics report that as many as 40% of Americans are overweight. Fret not, however, the fact that you are reading this article is a clear indication that you have identified an issue.

Unfortunately, taking the first step in resolving the issue can feel overwhelming due to the massive amount of information out there demanding you to do a million different things. Throughout the course of this discussion, we will examine four different training styles that provide a simple and effective means of getting rid of that excess body fat.

Strength Training

For a large number of individuals, strength training is nothing more than a means to build rock-hard muscle. This interpretation is more than enough incentive to become involved in lifting weights for a lot of us. However, if your primary goal is to burn body fat, strength training has still got your back!

Losing weight almost always comes down to burning more calories than you consume, simple math. While exercise alone certainly assist this process, what about the other 23 hours per day outside of the gym? Interestingly enough, lean muscle tissue has a very high caloric requirement even during periods of inactivity.

Some estimates state than each pound of muscle tissue added to the body burns an extra 50 calories per day. In a nutshell, the more muscle you build, the more calories your body will automatically burn all the time, every day.

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

High-intensity interval training is basically cardio on steroids. This form of exercise involves the repetition of short, intense bursts of activity followed by brief rest periods. This could look something like sprinting full speed for 10 seconds followed by walking at a slow pace for 20 seconds, repeated 10 times.

HIIT is superior to typical aerobic exercise in several ways. The first and most obvious reason is that working out at a higher intensity requires more calories. The real magic of HIIT actually begins when your workout is over.

This form of exercise induces a profound metabolic effect, increasing a slew of hormones such as adrenaline and testosterone, which promote an increase in the burning of fat. Sometimes referred to as the “after burn”, this effect continues in the body even hours after the workout ends!

Tabata Method
Tabata is similar to HIIT in that it involves high-intensity bursts followed by rest periods. However, there are enough differences to justify a separate explanation. The Tabata training method includes performing the same exercise for 4 minutes. This time is further divided into 20-second intervals of all-out effort, followed by 10 seconds of rest, for a total of 8 cycles. A great example of this would be performing squat jumps as fast and hard as you can for 20 seconds, then resting for 10 seconds.

Tabata not only possesses the ability to accelerate caloric consumption and induce the “after burn” effect described earlier, it also provides a simplistic approach to weight-loss training that can be practiced by even the most inexperienced fitness enthusiast.

Walking (You Read That Right)

Compared to the other fat burning methods described, walking may seem like the odd man out. Think again! Using your two feet to go from point A to point B is the unsung hero of burning calories. Furthermore, walking doesn’t even need to be considered an exercise program. Just do MORE of it.

As you navigate through the day, you will no doubt identify scenarios requiring you to choose between walking and more convenient modes of transportation. Allow yourself the resilience to make the hard choice. Take the stairs, walk to lunch, enjoy a leisurely stroll down the sidewalk in your neighborhood. While walking may not boast the calorie-shredding abilities previously discussed, the extra fuel used quickly begins to add up! 

Stop the Emotional Eating Urge

When the urge to eat strikes, even though you’re not hungry, it can be difficult to pass it up. It just seems so tempting, so comforting, and you might not even think twice about it if it’s something that you’re used to doing.

However, you need to learn how to stop the urge and fight it when it hits - otherwise you’re just going to keep on falling into the same habit again and again as you watch your health decline.

The first step you need to take is noting when you feel that urge. You don’t necessarily need to do anything about it at first, just learn to identify the difference between genuine hunger and an emotional eating urge.

It may be easier for some than others, but you’ll get the hang of it with some practice. Once you get to a point where you can easily identify emotional eating urges, wait for the next urge to strike.

When it does, instead of going straight to the kitchen or to get fast food, just set yourself a ten minute timer on your phone. Do whatever else you want during this time to distract yourself, and see if you can make it through that ten minutes.

Try to engage in other habits that help you experience joy. That might be talking to a good friend, watching a stand up comedy routine on YouTube, painting or doing a puzzle, gardening or something else.

If you really, truly can’t wait, then you might just not be ready yet. Otherwise, you’re ready to take the next step. Increase the time between feeling the urge hit and acting on it. If you’ve made it through a total twenty minutes, you can think about whether or not you even want to eat anymore.

If you still feel that urge, then keep working with the timer until the urge goes away. It should, sooner or later, at least until you feel genuinely hungry. While you’re waiting for this urge to go away, try thinking about how you’re feeling emotionally at that time and why.

This can give you some good insight as to why you’re feeling the urge to eat when you’re not even hungry. Facing your emotions directly is a very important thing to learn, and if you don’t have that ability, you won’t be able to make smart decisions in life.

Over time, you’ll get better and better at denying the urge to eat emotionally, and you’ll have an easier time doing so. It’ll lead to you having a happier life, a healthier body, and a clearer mind. You won’t be so bogged down by your emotions and you’ll feel a lot more in control.

Sit With Your Emotions

Many people don’t take the time to engage with their own emotions. They prefer to distract themselves with anything that they can, whether they realize it or not, because just being by themselves with their thoughts is a scary notion.

Some people are secretly less happy than they appear to be and don’t want to face the emotions they have surrounding that, so they’ll supplement it with something like emotional eating instead to take their minds off of it and avoid having to have that inner discussion.

You might very well be avoiding your emotions, whether you know it or not, especially if you engage in emotional eating. When you start to use food as solace, you might have something specific in mind that you’re upset about, like a breakup, or you might just be doing it because you’re avoiding something that you’re not very aware of.

It could be that someone said something rude to you and it stuck with you throughout the day, so you eat a lot more later on so you’re not thinking about it, but rather more focused on your large comfort meal.

You can’t hide from moments like this by eating food, but rather you have to sit and be with your thoughts and emotions and work through them logically. A good way to start practicing this is by getting into meditation.

Being able to clear your mind and just sit calmly is a great way to learn that self-control, which is so important to handling emotions. When you’re able to only focus on how you’re feeling, you gain a lot of clarity in your mind that helps you overcome these obstacles in your life much more than you would find by emotionally eating.

You should also work your way up through your emotions, and start with some lesser ones so that you get a grip on it. If you dive straight into your harshest and most brutal emotions, then you’re going to have a hard time handling them.

You need to start with something like why you were upset when someone cut you off in traffic, before you can move on to your deeper seeded childhood traumas. Being able to handle your emotions as they come to you is such a crucial thing to learn, because without it, you will act irrationally.

Things like eating when you get stressed out or lashing out when you’re angry stem from not being in control. But if you have a good grip on your mindset, you’re going to have a much better time dealing with things and letting them go or creating a plan of action to get past it.

The Mediterranean diet is a way of eating that is inspired by the traditional foods consumed in the countries that border the Mediterranean Sea, such as Greece, Italy, and Spain.

It is characterized by an emphasis on whole, minimally processed foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, as well as healthy fats like olive oil. The Mediterranean diet also includes moderate amounts of poultry, eggs, dairy, and seafood, and a limited amount of red meat.

One of the key features of the Mediterranean diet is the use of olive oil as the primary source of fat, in place of saturated fats like butter or lard. Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats, which have been shown to have numerous health benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease.

• Fruits and vegetables: Fruits and vegetables are a key component of the Mediterranean diet, and they should make up a significant portion of your daily intake. These foods are rich in essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, and they can help protect against a range of chronic diseases.
• Whole grains: Whole grains, such as whole wheat, oats, and quinoa, are an important source of fiber, which can help lower cholesterol and regulate blood sugar levels. They should make up a significant portion of your daily intake on the Mediterranean diet.
• Legumes: Legumes, such as beans, lentils, and chickpeas, are an excellent source of protein, fiber, and a range of important nutrients. They should be included in the diet as a regular source of protein, particularly for vegetarians and vegans.
• Nuts and seeds: Nuts and seeds are a good source of healthy fats, protein, and a range of important nutrients. They can be included in the diet as a snack or added to dishes for flavor and texture.
• Healthy fats: As mentioned, olive oil is the primary source of fat in the Mediterranean diet. It is rich in monounsaturated fats, which have been shown to have numerous health benefits. Other sources of healthy fats include avocados, nuts, and seeds.
• Poultry, eggs, dairy, and seafood: These foods can be included in the diet in moderation. Poultry and seafood are good sources of protein, while dairy products (such as yogurt and cheese) can be included as a source of calcium and other nutrients.
• Red meat: Red meat should be limited in the Mediterranean diet, as it is higher in saturated fat and has been linked to an increased risk of certain health conditions.

In addition to following these dietary guidelines, the Mediterranean diet also emphasizes the importance of physical activity, social connections, and a healthy lifestyle. These factors can all contribute to overall well-being and may help protect against chronic diseases.

What If I Have Nothing To Be Grateful For?

We’ve said a lot in this book so far about how practicing gratitude frequently helps you to bring more positivity into your life. But what can you do if you feel that you have absolutely nothing to be grateful for?

Sometimes, everything in life can feel like it’s just too overwhelming. If everything sucks and you’re struggling to find even one thing to be thankful for, how do you move forward?

Although gratitude should be a simple thing to feel, it’s surprisingly difficult sometimes. That’s because we’re hardwired to overlook the good things we experience and, instead, put our focus primarily on everything that goes wrong. It even has a name – negativity bias. When we take it at its most basic level, this means we tend to pay more attention to the things that are bad because they threaten us.

We can safely ignore the good things since they won’t cause us any harm. However, bad things may be dangerous and therefore, we fixate automatically on them. This may be a primitive human response, but we don’t need to be controlled by it. Once you know that negativity bias exists and how it works, you can work on overriding your biological programming. You can choose to concentrate on the good things over the bad because, after all, there’s always something positive to think about, even when it seems otherwise.

Even in the most desperate and darkest times in your life, rest assured that there will still be something, however small, to feel grateful for. It’s especially important to focus on the good things when you feel like there’s nothing left in life to be thankful for. That’s the time when gratitude will make a huge difference. So, make a point of looking for something you’re thankful for every day and, eventually, you’ll begin to see more and more positive things around you and focus less and less on the negative.

How do you begin to find things to be thankful for if your life feels like it’s going down the tubes? Here are a few starting points to get you going....