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There actually are ways to lose body fat quickly without starving yourself and living in the gym! Whether you are want to reduce fat due to obesity, or you want the lean, “ripped” body required for a body building competition, you can lose body fat quickly, remain healthy and learn to keep it off, with a combination of diet, aerobic, anaerobic and abdominal exercise.

A low fat, low calorie diet helps you lose weight; we all know that. Speak to your physician and work out a daily calorie plan to help you make your weight goal. Drink a lot of water, specifically right before meals. It makes you feel full so you eat less, and helps digest your foods. Make certain to eat lean skinless meats for protein to build lean muscles, and limit your fat calories to 20% of your daily calorie allowance. Foods rich in fiber and high in “good” carbs, such as whole grains, brown rice and yams are digested more slowly and require a gradual release of insulin, so your blood glucose stays level, in lieu of spiking as it will from eating sugars and empty carbs. Avoid processed foods as much as possible, and eat raw or lightly steamed vegetables to preserve their nutrients and fiber.

Aerobic exercise burns both calories and fat, but glycogens, made up of water and sugar that is stored in the organs, is burned first, usually in the first 30 minutes of exercise. Aerobics burn calories faster, but you have to exercise longer to burn fat. Even so, regular performance of group fitness speeds up your metabolism and keeps it higher, even when you’re resting. During rest, muscles are still working, and with the aid of group fitness, use up fat and calories.

Anaerobic exercise involves slower, smoother and more methodical movements. Swimming, walking, rowing, resistance weight training and Pilates are all anaerobic exercises. They burn fewer calories, but they exercise and strengthen the muscles and burn more fat than aerobic exercise. Anaerobics alert the body to the importance of maintaining muscle mass in keeping it healthy, thereby making the body preserve muscle mass by sacrificing fat stores in and around the muscles. Studies have shown that by exercising each muscle group for 15 seconds worth of resistance training pre day with either weights or Pilates effectively convinces the body that it ought to burn fat instead of depleting muscle tissue.

Many people believe that doing leg raises exercises the abdominal muscles, and will eliminate love handles and hip fat. This is not true. Leg raises are beneficial in that they tighten the glutes and inner thighs, but they do nothing for the abs. There is no better way to tone the abdominals and burn the fat around them than doing a few repetitions per week of crunches, sit ups and push ups. Again, these are resistance exercises that tell the body to fuel itself from fat, not muscle tissue, plus you get the toning that gives you a flat belly.

All four components – diet, aerobic, anaerobic and abdominal exercises-are vital to fast fat loss, but still, it takes time and patience. Make this regimen part of your daily life, and You will look and feel better, and stay strong and healthy.