Effective Diet and Exercise to Lose Weight Quickly

There have been countless studies performed on the role of protein in the muscle growth process to try and determine exactly how much protein you should consume to build muscle mass. Recently, several studies have looked at the role that dietary protein plays in helping you lose fat, and more importantly, helping you keep it off!

One thing scientists have discovered is that eating lean protein foods is important for regulating body composition because it decreases your appetite.

In a 2003 study reported in the journal, Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition And Metabolic Care (2003; 6(6): 635-638), protein was shown to be more satiating (made you feel fuller) than both carbohydrate and fat both in the short term and the long term.

Eating more lean protein foods has also been proven as an effective strategy to help you burn fat and keep it off because of something called, "dietary thermogenesis" (also known as the thermic effect of food).

In a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2005 (93(2): 281-289), researchers followed a group of 113 overweight subjects after 4 weeks of a very low calorie diet, through a 6 month period of weight maintenance. The subjects were divided into a protein group or a control group. The protein group was simply given an extra 30 grams of protein per day on top of their usual diet.

The researchers found that during weight maintenance, the group with the higher protein intake was less likely to regain the lost weight, and any weight gain in the protein group was lean tissue and not fat. The results were attributed to higher thermic effect and a decrease in appetite.

Although calories will always be the bottom line when it comes to fat loss, studies such as these are confirming what bodybuilders have known for a long time: That calories are not the only factor that can influence your body composition. Your protein intake and your ratios of protein relative to carbohydrate and fat can clearly play a key role in helping you lose fat and keep the fat off.

None of this is news to bodybuilders or to anyone who is already familiar with bodybuilding-style nutrition programs such as Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle. But it's interesting that such positive results were achieved in studies where protein was increased so conservatively - as little as 30 additional grams of protein per day or a 20% increase above traditional protein recommendations.

Many bodybuilding-style diets call for as much as 30%-40% of the total daily calories from protein and some competitive bodybuilders crank up the protein (temporarily) to as much as 50% before competitions.

I'm curious to see if any research is ever conducted with these more aggressive protein intakes. If so, my guess is that we will find once again, that the bodybuilders are ahead of the science when it comes to the manipulation of diet for improving body composition.

The take home lesson is simple: If you remove some carbs and put in some protein - nothing too radical; even as little as trading 30 grams per day of carbs for 30 grams of lean protein - this small change in your diet may decrease your appetite, decrease your body fat and help you keep the fat off after you lose it.

Tom Venuto's program has fat burning secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models

You've heard it a million times from people trying to burn fat, "I just don't have time to get to the gym." Well that really shouldn't be a problem once you understand how you can get a proper fat burning workout done with basic or minimal equipment. In order to get a great high intensity fat burning workout, one that stimulates the growth of lean muscle tissue, accelerates your metabolism and fat burning, and provides cardiovascular conditioning, you need to perform a variety of exercises that work all of your major muscle groups in the same workout.

You have a few choices in what equipment to use. But I am here to tell you that you don't need fancy equipment or a membership at the hot fitness center in your area. All that is really required for your fat burning workout is good old-fashioned barbells and/or dumbbells or simply your bodyweight. In fact, you can work your entire body from head to toe with a good set of adjustable dumbbells and a simple bench. Keep this in your home and it takes very little space and is always accessible for those fat burning workouts you'd have to skip otherwise. After all, the proper workout I'm talking about averages about 15-20 minutes, but if you factor in the transit time to and from the gym, it can become more difficult to stick to your routine.

I highly recommend getting a basic setup at home for those times, or you can even use this exclusively. I personally always workout at home and it has its advantages. You don't have to wait for the next station or machine on your routine at home. This is very important in relation to pulling the maximum cardiovascular benefits out of the same muscle building and fat burning workout; keeping your time between exercises down to 60 seconds or less. Home workouts are also great for those that might be a bit intimidated by working out with weights in public at the gym. If you feel this way, don't fret, you're not alone. This is especially true for some of the ladies, as weight training is traditionally thought of as the guy's territory in the fitness center. Nothing could be further from the truth, but if you'd rather perform you fat burning workout at home, then do it! Stick to workouts like bench press, bent-over rows, squats, or any compound exercises using dumbells or barbells to burn tons of calories.

Another excuse for skipping workouts that I hear a lot is related to travel. For busy people, this is a reality. You go on business trips. You go on vacation. You go to visit out of town friends and family. Now, when working out properly, you're only exercising for 2-3 days per week, but if you're workout day falls on a day when you're out of town, what to do? Yeah, you could try and find a local gym to go to, but that can be a hassle. There are actually several fat burning bodyweight exercises you can do without the use of any equipment. Movements like the pushup, chin-ups, sit-ups, etc. can provide enough muscle stimulation to keep you conditioned until you get back home. You're using your bodyweight as the resistance, rather than dumbbells, barbells, or machines.

Click here to learn more about exercising to burn fat fast with or without using weights

The #1 reason why people don't do or stop doing cardio because of boredom. The 30 minute cardio feels like 5 hours. Sometimes you have to think outside the box. There is no written rules for cardio.

There are no rules that say you have to be on the same machine for the whole entire cardio workout. There are no rules that say you have to move in a steady pace. There are no rules that say you have to be on for a certain length of time.

Try these for a twist:

-Go on the treadmill and run as fast as you can for 5 mins. Cool down for a minute (jog slowly). Then, quickly jump on a stationary bike and pedal as fast as you can for 5 mins. Cool down for a minute (pedal light and slowly). Next, go on a elliptical machine and move quickly. Another cool down. Do 1 minute of jump rope, rest for 30 seconds, and do another minute of jump rope, then rest again for 30 seconds. Do 10 traditional pushups, and then 10 bodyweight squats, then do 30 jumping jacks.

-Run on the track as fast as you can till you are exhausted. Then, walk at a fast pace for about 30 seconds. Next, do 10 pushups. Finally, repeat the cycle by starting the first step again for 3-4 times.

-Do 25 jumping jacks, do 10 pushups, do 10 bodyweight squats, do a minute of shadow boxing, and repeat 3 times starting from jumping jacks with no rest.

-Do 5 pullups, do 20 crunches, do 10 pushups, do 20 jumping jacks, do 10 bodyweight squats, and repeat 3 times with no rest.

These are just great examples of a fun cardio workout. Most of them are less than 20 minutes, and your metabolism will skyrocket. You'll feel like you've only been doing 5 minutes of cardio! Be creative and make your own exciting cardio plan.

- You will do this 3 days per week with atleast 1 day of rest in between (typically Monday, Wednesday, Friday).

- You are going to do one lower body exercise, one upper body push exercise (such as bench press), and one upper body pull exercise (such as pull ups).
Lower Body: Squat, Hack Squat, Deadlift, Good Morning
Upper Body Push: Bench Press, Push Press, Incline Bench Press, Chest Dip
Upper Body Pull: Pull Up, Chin Up, Bent-over Row, Cable Seated Row

- Do 3-4 sets with 6-8 reps per set of each exercises.

- Rest atleast 2 minutes per set. Depending on your recovery rate, you might be able to rest less to do 6-8 reps again. I'm not blessed with great genes so I rest 2 minutes to 2 1/2 minutes.

- You can do these as straight sets, supersets, circuits, whatever. The whole point of this routine is to work your whole body with compound exercises and burn the most calories in the shortest times.

- Don't do the same exercise the next time you go in the gym. For instance, if you did Squats, Bench Press, Pull Up on Monday, go to the gym on Wednesday to do Deadlifts, Chest Dips, Cable Seated Row for example. Friday, you can do squats, bench press, and pull up again if you want, but just mix and match to prevent boredom.

- Doesn't matter if you are skinny or obese, this is a simple approach to get a muscular body with addition to proper diet, cardio, and rest.

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