Burn fat & fat burners

If you're using up more calories than you take in, then you're burning fat. Why not find out more about fat bruners and how to burn fat safely with our quick tips below.

If you eat more calories than your body uses throughout the day, these additional calories will be stored as body fat.

Rather than using fat burners (as such) prevent a build up of body fat by either reducing your calorie intake or increasing your daily activity levels - doing both will have the best effect on reducing body fat.

The more fat you want to lose then the greater the amount of calories you have to burn off. This means exercise!. Regular workouts, tied with a healthy balanced diet is the best way to work off that fat, and get a new slim shape.

Once you have trained your body to be an efficient fat-burner, you can have your cake and eat it, too. To be an efficient fat burner you need to increase your muscle density. The muscles are where all the calories are burned during exercise - the more efficient the muscles at burning fat - the quicker weight loss will be achieved.

And believe it or not, you actually have to eat more to be a good fat burner. If you deprive yourself of food or fat, your body will go into survival mode and slow itself down to prepare for a possible famine. Basal Metabolic Rate will decrease, and your body will not want to burn off any excess calories in a hurry just in case you're not going to feed yourself for a while. Then, over time, your metabolism will slow down dramatically, making it harder and harder to burn fat, lose weight and keep it off.

Become a Weight Lifter
We are not talking Arnie here!. The more lean muscle tissue you have, the higher your metabolism and the more calories you burn during your workout and at rest. To maintain or build muscle mass you need to do resistance training. This means using your muscles in a repetitive manner with exercises such as bicep curl or shoulder press. However, you can also build muscle using your own body weight (e.g. press-ups), resistance bands, medicine balls, or training in water, sand or up hills for resistance.

Compound Training
Compound training is all about growth, and will give you rapid gains in strength. The idea is not to rest between sets of repetitions during your workout. For example, during your resistance training complete one set of bicep curls followed immediately by on set of leg curls followed by another set of bicep curls and on throughout the rest of your workout, completing two sets for each of your muscle groups. You should keep your heart rate up throughout your workout, and a session of weights should only take approx. 20 mins.

Go Cardio!
To burn fat, your body needs oxygen - this is why cardiovascular exercise (which relies on oxygen for energy) is essential for fat burning. Include 40 minutes of varied aerobic activity at least three times a week. You may find it easier to accumulate the exercise time throughout the week by breaking up exercise into smaller sessions.

Undertake High Intensity Workouts
The best way to burn fat is to undertake highly intensive aerobic exercise. A high-intensity aerobic workout will burn more calories than a more gentle, lower intensity workout. Going for a run uses more energy than walking the same distance. High-intensity training has also been shown to produce greater energy expenditure and fat utilisation following a workout.

Mix It Up With Interval Training
Interval training is a technique that can optimise fat loss during exercise. In the same exercise session alternate between short periods of low-intensity and high-intensity. For example, if your session is 30 mins on the treadmill, do 2 mins running followed by two minutes fast walking and repeat this throughout the session.

Be More Active In Your Daily Routine
No matter what you do during the day you use up calories - even sitting on the sofa watching television. By changing your routine you can increase your energy expenditure and lose weight without having to undertake a diet or join the gym. Simple. Walk instead of drive, take the stairs instead of the lift, and meet a friend in the park for a walk instead of a at a cafe or bar.

Be Sensible
If you eat an increased amount of calories and do not increase your energy output with additional exercise, the surplus calories will be stored as body fat. There is no reason why you should not be able to enjoy good food, but think about what you are going to do about additional calories.

Eat Smaller Amounts More Often
Eat More Often - sounds good eh!. Eating produces heat and energy and revs up your metabolism. A faster metabolism will eat through the calories quicker. That's why eating small meals regularly is the best way to keep your metabolism firing.

Drink Green Tea
Also, having a cup of green tea before you head off for a jog also helps to burn more fat by increasing the uptake of free fatty acids.

Everything In Moderation
Yes, you can eat what you like, but only as part of a healthy diet, having a nice fry up once in a while is not a problem, but eating a fry up every day is not healthy.

Eat Carbs
Yes, you heard right! Carbohydrates have acquired a bad name in these protein-obsessed days, but did you know that your body actually needs carbs to burn fat? Think of carbs as the match needed to ignite the fat-burning flame. Just be sensible about the type of carbs you're eating - go for complex carbohydrates and whole grains. Carbs are part of a healthy diet.

Be Strong Mentally
Try not to be obsessed by your weight or every piece of food that you eat. Do not think in terms of 'naughty' foods. Try to lose any guilt and obsession around food. Next time you contemplate a treat, ask yourself if you really need it. If the answer is 'yes', then have it and say 'I deserve it and I know my body is an efficient machine that will burn it off'. Again, everything in moderation . Eat it and move on.

Check out the diets available to reduce your calorie intake.

The exercise program page has information on how you should be exercising, and what this exercise does for you.