Strategies on how to lose fat normally centers on specific dietary approaches. However, there are many factors aside from controlling how many grams of fat you consume each day that can help accelerate your fat loss. In this article we will look at two different nutrition research studies that reveal key strategies for effective and permanent weight loss.

Weight Gaining Behavior - A 2004 study published by Dr. David Levitsky examined the eating behaviors of college freshman at Cornell University. He found that the students whom gained the most weight had 3 common characteristics:

1. "All You Can Eat" Dining
2. Snacking On High Fat Junk Foods
3. Increased Frequency of Snacking on Junk Foods

The problem here is that humans don't snack well. We don't regulate our caloric intake over time such that if we eat an extra 300 calories as a snack mid morning then we won't eat 300 calories less at lunch.

You need to be careful when it comes to snacking. Most snacks are carbohydrate and/or sugar based. AVOID these snacks at all costs. They will balloon your calories and carbohydrate intake, pulling you right out of the fat burning zone. Instead focus on eating protein and fiber rich snacks. This one behavior change will make a huge different in your journey to lose more weight.

In regards to "All You Can Eat" Dining, this is just a bad idea. Control your environment. We are very sensitive to visual cues such as plate size, amount of food, glass size/style, etc. "All You Can Eat" Dining is setting yourself up for dieting failure - avoid it at all costs so you can control your calorie intake with ease.

Stress, Exercise, and Support - Another famous study, the Lifestyle Heart Trial, reveals to us 3 crucial behavior changes that we must make for permanent and fast weight loss. Between 1977-1980, a group of people were put on the Ornish Diet as part of the Lifestyle Heart Trial. The Ornish Diet is a vegetarian diet that is very low in fat (less than 10% of calories from fat). Because of the severe fat restriction many find this diet hard to adhere to for the long term. However, during the Lifestyle Heart Trial the participants experienced phenomenal results such as regression of heart attack causing plaques in their arteries. Ever since this original study, similar results using the Ornish Diet have never been replicated.

Why?

Because the people in the study were implementing more than just a diet; they also did regular exercise (3 hours per week), meditation and relaxation (1 hour per day), and participated in 2 group support sessions each week. The addition of the other factors made the diet so much more effective.

Most people are probably already adding exercise to their weight loss plan but many miss regular stress management and developing a strong support system. These are make or break pieces to your fat loss puzzle. Adding exercise, stress management techniques, and finding a support system will greatly enhance your weight loss results.

If you are having trouble losing weight or if you have hit a weight loss plateau examine your current fat loss efforts. Do you actively manage the stress in your life? Do you have a support team? What kinds of foods are you snacking on? Do you control the portions you eat by avoiding "All You Can Eat" events?

Honestly answer these questions. Find the holes in your plan. Change them and get your fat loss back on track.

About the Author/More Info:
Warp Speed Fat Loss is a complete 28 day diet and training system crafted to help you lose 10,15, or 20lbs of body fat in just 28 day. To start losing weight fast visit Warp Speed Fat Loss. Mike Roussell is a nutrition doctoral student at Pennsylvania State. Mike's writings can be found in magazines such as Men's Health, Men's Fitness, and Testosterone Nation. Mike specializes in fat loss nutrition and diets for busy men and women who need to lose weight fast without it interfering with their lives. Warp Speed Fat Loss is a complete Done-for-You A-Z Fat Loss Blueprint that gives you exactly everything you need to eat to lose weight in record time.

Cardio exercise is such a strange thing.  In theory, it should work so perfectly well for all men and women, but as anyone who has tried it knows, the practicality of it just doesn't add up.

After all, some men and women do cardio 6 hours, 9 hours, or more per week, and still have belly fat to burn. On the other hand, it works just fine for others.

British researchers wanted to get more insight into this paradox, and studied 35 overweight men and women, who weren't previously exercising.

(Reference: International Journal of Obesity 32: 177-184, 2008).

Subjects exercised 5 times per week for 12 weeks.  That's a lot of exercise, but it helped the subjects lose an average of 8.2 pounds, which is great - I was positively surprised by the results.

So cardio will work for some people, however, in my experience, it works best in young men, who need the help the least!

Back to the study, the variance in fat loss between individuals was huge. Check this out...

The best subject lost a staggering 32.3 pounds in 12 weeks, while the worst subject actually GAINED 3.74 pounds.

The scientists think they know where things went sour.  They classified the subjects into 2 groups, called the "Compensators"
and the "Non-compensators".

The Compensators were hungrier, and as a result consumed an extra 268 calories per day, all but wiping out their cardio efforts.

Therefore, the Compensators lost the least amount of weight, and scientists believe that was due to the huge "compensatory" increase in appetite experienced by this group.

Does your appetite increase when you do slow cardio?  If it does, research shows it will ruin your cardio efforts.

So if your cardio program is not working for you, check your appetite and calorie intake to see if you are "compensating" for your efforts. If you are, you might be better off using a program of high-intensity resistance and interval training (i.e. Turbulence Training) for your weight loss efforts.

As Australian Professor Steve Boucher has shown in research, interval training increases hormones called catecholamines.  And increased catecholamines can reduce appetite, among other fat-burning benefits.

In the real world, few people lose 33 pounds after 12 weeks of cardio. Heck, few even achieve an average weight loss of 8 pounds with aerobic exercise.

So again, check your appetite, and consider giving high-intensity exercise a go for your next workout program.

Beat the curse of cardio with high-intensity Turbulence Training.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

About the Author

Learn about the "Dark Side of Cardio" in the free report from Craig Ballantyne at Turbulence Training for Fat Loss. Craig is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

First we need to clear up a big myth.

Abs are made in the kitchen not in the gym.

What do you need to do to lose that fat stomach then?

What you need is a solid diet strategy that involves a healthy diet plan. Changing your diet is crucial because you can do crunches/sit-ups till you’re blue in the face but you won’t get that toned stomach until you change how you eat.

So what works? With the endless advice from books and web pages and TV commercials on how to lose the belly fat, I keep coming across people who have little to no success. With all of the advice out there you would think that everybody would look like a celebrity.

Here are some tips to help you burn that fat off your waistline:

1. Cut sugar out of your diet.

   If you don’t understand why sugar will make you fat then read Insulin: The Fat Hormone to see why.

2. Stop skipping breakfast.We live in a fast paced society and breakfast is the easiest meal to skip. You are only doing yourself harm by skipping breakfast. This is the most crucial meal of the day to get your metabolism started and out of conservation mode from sleeping all night.
3. Eat 5-6 meals a day.Nothing will help more to keep your metabolism fired up and burning calories than eating several small meals a day. Skipping meals only sends your body into fat storage mode to conserve energy and slows down your metabolism.
4. Cut out the bad carbs.We are a lazy nation and the food industry loves to cater to lazy people. We fill ourselves with processed foods that don’t require cooking and then wonder why we have fat bellies. Stop and look at all of the junk you eat everyday. Cut out those bad calories and start eating less high Glycemic carbs.
5. Move your body.You don’t have to be a gym rat to slim down that waistline. There are plenty of things you can do right at home to burn calories. Go for a walk or play wii with the kids and stop lying there on the couch watching reruns of lost.

Life is short so stop wasting it by doing nothing.

Recommended Reading:

• The Truth About Abs
• How to Lose Belly Fat
• How to Speed Up Metabolism

Get a FREE week of meals with your first eDiets' Deliciously Yours meal delivery order

So how do they get such perfect bodies?

First it’s time for a little myth busting.

Myth #1: Celebrities have better genes

Now I want you to stop and think of all the times you were in line at the grocery store and you see the enquirer sitting there with pictures of celebrities in bathing suits on the cover with close ups of their cellulite.

That’s right celebrities don’t look so hot when they are off camera.

Myth #2: If I do enough sit-ups I can have 6 pack abs

Wrong. Doing crunches and sit-ups will not give you those abs. You can do them till you are blue in the face. The reality is, is that 95% of us are probably never going to have six pack abs because we are not part of the genetically blessed.

Now wait I thought this was an article on how to get those six pack abs. It is but first you need to have a reality check and realize that unless you do have the genetics for it you will probably struggle more than it is worth to get six pack abs.

So how do I get 6 pack abs?

It really comes down to genetics, becoming a body builder, or having a good plastic surgeon. If you’ve had 6 pack abs in the past then chances are a few diet changes and exercising will make them pop right out again. Now don't confuse this with having a flat stomach. Having a flat stomach is much easier then getting 6-pack abs.

For the rest of us it requires an enormous amount of effort to get a 6 pack. Now a flat stomach is an easily attainable goal. Granted everyone’s situation will be a little different but the bottom line is you will have to do some dieting and exercise if you do want a flat stomach. You need to make a goal and stick with it whether it be having 6 pack abs or a flat stomach.

If you want to read more about it then take a look at these two free ebooks.

Truth About Burning Fat
Free e-report on working out

For more information follow the link below:

The Truth About Abs

When you digest carbohydrates (everything from sugar to starchy foods) your body breaks down these carbohydrates into simple sugars. The release of these sugars causes the body to release insulin as a means to lower the blood sugar. From that point depending on how much sugar is being released into the blood your body decides to do one of three things. Use the sugar as a source of energy or to store the sugar as a quick source of energy in the form of glycogen in muscles and the liver or store it as fat.

So what is this glycemic index thing I've heard about?

• First let’s take a look at what carbohydrates are. Carbohydrate is a fancy word for sugar molecules. They encompass everything from glucose to long chain carbohydrates which you would classify as starches.

So how does this relate to the glycemic index?

• The glycemic index is a method of determining how fast carbohydrates are broken down into sugar and released into the blood stream. To break this down into simple terms. The higher the glycemic index the faster sugar enters the blood stream. The lower the glycemic index the slower the sugar enters the blood stream.

So how does that relate to insulin and fat?

• The body releases insulin as a means of controlling the sugar in the blood stream. If your sugar levels stay high for to long you will eventually have side effects. This condition is called Diabetes. If the sugar levels spike in the blood, your body will raise insulin levels which will then attempt to store the sugar. Typically unless you are actively exercising the sugar will be converted into fat and stored for later use.

Now hopefully you understand why there has been such a craze over low carb diets.