If you are trying to lose weight, being an athlete can help you to do that. It is already in your DNA and you can think and act like an athlete to lose that extra fat and weight you have. Let’s find out how trying to be an athlete can help you to reduce body fat.

Avoid crash diets

When you reduce calories too drastically, it may have a negative impact on your body and life. You will not be able to perform the exercises that you need to lose weight and it will also hamper your recovery. Besides that it will increase the risk of injury, illness and other problems. To reach a low body fat percentage, many people drastically cut down their calorie intake. It can negatively impact your reproductive function and diminished bone health. The lowest safe recommended body fat percentage is 12% in females and 5% in males. Cutting calories drastically will also have negative impact on hormones and metabolism.

Eat more protein

Even though someone may tell you the opposite of this, proteins are very important for you especially when you are trying to burn more fat. When you consume a high-protein diet, it will make you feel full for longer duration. You will also need more calories for digestion, which means you will burn more calories trying to digests the proteins. If you consume a high-protein diet, it will also help you by preventing muscle loss when you are trying to lose fat and weight. Athletes always consume high-protein diets because they need more protein for creation of the lean muscles while losing that extra fat and weight. If you consume 2 to 3 times more protein every day, it will help you to retain the muscle while losing fat. So, like an athlete, you can increase your protein consumption and lose the extra fat and weight while keeping the muscles intact.

However, you will need to spread the protein intake throughout the day. 20 to 30 g of protein per meal should be good enough for you. You need to consume a protein rich meal every three hours.

Consume less added sugar and more fiber

If you want to lose fat, you will need to reduce the amount of sugar your consuming and increase the amount of fiber in your diet. Low carb diets which provide 35 to 40% of calories from carbs are good for you when you are trying to lose fat. You will need at least that much of calories from carbohydrate for your daily life. Reducing carbohydrates is possible by cutting down added sugars. It is also a healthy way of reducing carbohydrates. To do that, you will need to check labels and minimize foods in your diet that contain added sugar in the form of glucose, fructose, sucrose or any other sugars. Some the foods that you need to avoid are cane juice, barley malt, caramel, fruit juice concentrate, dextrin, fruit juice crystals and different types of syrup.

Add more vegetables to your diet because they contain high levels of fiber. They are also good for you because they will keep you fuller for a longer duration and as a result of that you are going to eat less and consume fewer calories.

References

1. 6 Week Shred Fat Burning Workout Program
2. Your Weight Is Important
3. Interested in Losing Weight?