14 Laws of Fat Burning
- Eat Less, Stupid
Step one in burning fat revolves around simple math. You have to eat fewer calories than the body is accustomed to in order to drop body fat. When a calorie short fall is created, the body responds by digging into body fat reserves to make up the difference. Presto; you become leaner. All other laws aside, this one heads the list every time, no matter what dietary approach you take. The easiest way to control calories is to eliminate excess dietary fat. That means no butter, oils, salad dressings (fat free is ok) – skin on chicken, substitute egg whites for whole eggs, get off whole milk dairy products and ditch the marbled red meats.
- Curtail Carbohydrates
Though calorie control is a must, hormonal control is nearly as important. Hormones, coupled with calories, govern fat burning. Control fat storing hormones and expect to ramp up fat burning and experience better results. The ideal way to suppress fat storing hormones is to control your carb intake because carbs kick up insulin, a hormone that inhibits fat breakdown. Eat less carbs and insulin levels tend to moderate leaving you free to burn more body fat. The common sense approach includes “halfing” your carb portions. If you tend to eat a large bagel for breakfast, eat a smaller one. If you eat a couple cups of pasta for dinner, just eat one. In time, you’ll see the effects of insulin control.
- Stress Protein
Is a calorie truly a calorie? I guess so, but how different types affect your body and your results throws a monkey-wrench into that concept. Here’s why. Dietary fat is more “fattening” than protein or carbs because it is less likely to be used for something in the bodybuilding world. Carbs? Though they potentially make you fat, they directly fuel your training. Protein? That’s a no-brainer. It builds muscle. Fat? Hmm. It does neither. Not to say it is not needed at all. In small amounts it supports vitamin absorption and helps manufacture hormones. However, if you are trying to get ripped, skip it. Protein, on the other hand, not only adds to your muscle – which is key in boosting the metabolism - but it actually causes a small increase in metabolism. That’s one reason diets that include a lot of protein result in greater fat loss than diets with less protein, albeit the same amount of calories. The higher protein content creates a metabolic uptick which, over time, leads to greater fat loss.
- Avoid Simple Carbs
If a calorie is not a calorie, heck a carb is not a carb. Different carbs create different hormonal states that affect fat loss. In short, fast acting carbs also known as refined carbs or those that head a glycemic rating list tend to create a larger insulin burst. Elevated insulin can seal off fat cells making fat loss difficult, especially in those who struggle to drop fat and inches. Simple carbs include white bread, cold cereal, rice cakes, jams, fat free muffins, and juice. Other poor choices include white rice, bagels, mashed potatoes and even white potatoes.
- Slow Digestion
This insulin thing is really a big deal. The total amount of insulin the body releases is related to “how many” carbs you eat at a sitting. Refer to Law #2. If you were eating 2 cups of rice and switched to 1 cup, sure there’s a calorie reduction, but there’s an insulin drop too. Implement Law 4, and expect to produce less insulin by eating 1 cup of oatmeal yielding 50 grams of carbs then a cup of cold breakfast cereal. Why? Speed. Refined carbs, the cold cereal, digest quickly raising insulin levels. When you can get food to digest slower, less insulin is released. The result; a greater chance to burn fat. One way to slow digestion includes eating carbs with protein- never eat carbs alone. The other requires you eat a lot of veggies with meals such as; broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, and salads. They actually slow the breakdown or digestion rate of all carbs moderating insulin release.
- Never Eat Carbs At Bed
Once again, it’s about hormones. The body naturally produces a fat liberating hormone called growth hormone (GH) within the initial 90 minutes of sleep. GH not only increases fat burning but is required to build mass and strengthen the immune system. Turns out, carbs put a damper on GH release so it’s ideal to go to bed under two scenarios. One, on an empty stomach or two having consumed only protein, such as a whey drink or chicken or lean meat and a small amount of vegetables. No carbs. This allows blood sugar, the hi-tech name for digested carbs circulating in the blood, to remain low which facilitates the rise in nocturnal GH production.
- Use a GH Releasing Product at Night.
GH is a hormone that increases levels of a fat freeing enzyme called hormone sensative lipase (HSL). Generally, within the first 90 minutes of sleep GH levels rise which, in turn increases HSL levels to promote fat burning .GH also interferes with muscle breakdown that can occur while dieting especially when calories are very low. By blocking musle breakdown, the body retains its muscle mass and greater muscle retention is correlated with an elevated metabolism. I formulated GH Accelerator to be used at night to enhance GH release which, over time, will help the body hold mass, maintain its metabolism and drop body fat
- Meal Plans
Sure. It’s calories and hormones. But it’s also the way your body handles the food you eat and whether it deposits food into muscle or body fat. Meal frequency, how many times you eat each day, affects the overall metabolism. Every time you eat, the body’s calorie burning engine, also known as metabolism, slightly increases. So, if you eat 6 times a day, you’ll experience a greater metabolic uptick then 4 or 5 meals and 7 times would be even better then 6. That’s one way to lean down, without having to drastically reduce calories. Frequent feedings tends to increase the chance that what you eat makes its way towards and into muscle tissue rather then be packed away as body fat.
- Prioritize the Post Training Meal.
After you train, it’s difficult to gain body fat. Why? Depleted, broken down muscles “soak up” both protein and carbs for growth and recovery. If you eat too little here, you may actually set your self backwards by impeding recovery. Supporting recovery and growth actually increases the metabolism while impeding it slows the metabolism. Try 40-50 grams of easier to digest protein like whey powder, fish or ground turkey breast along with a hefty serving of carbs; a large potato, 2 cups of rice or pasta. Point here: don’t be afraid to eat a generous portion of carbs, even simple carbs, along with lean protein. It jumpstarts growth and supports the metabolism.
- Leverage Epinephrine Levels.
When you hit the gym, the body releases a fat liberating messenger called epinephrine. It attaches itself to fat cells allowing fat to be burned as fuel. Caffeine coupled with extracts of oolong tea, vinpocetine, and evodiamine augment the natural epinephrine blast creating a greater rise in this potent fat burning chemical. The idea; to maximize fat burning by elevating or prolonging epinephrine levels. (Chris’note: Nordrenalean is designed to increase Epinepherine levels) Carbs come into play here as well. Refined carbs before training suppress the exercise and supplement induced epinephrine rise compared to eating the same amount of carbs derived from slower digesting carbs. So make sure the meal before training contains protein, say 20-40 grams, and just enough carbs to help you train hard all the way thru your workout (30-50 grams). Stick with slow digesting carbs like oat bran, oatmeal, rye toast, brown rice and yams.
- Empty Your Glycogen Stores Once Every 2 weeks
Glycogen is a term for the unused and stored form of carbs located in muscles. When glycogen stores begin to peak, from eating plenty of carbs, the body upgrades its fat storing ability. As glycogen stores fall, fat burning increases. One way to ensure you are burning through body fat is to take two consecutive days out of every 2 weeks and drag your total carbs down to less then 60 grams a day. This ensures you burn thru glycogen stores which, in turn, signals the body to burn more fat. After two days, you can return to a more normal, though not excessive, carb intake.
- Do Cardio At the Right Time
Cardio exerts two benefits. It burns calories and it changes hormones in the body. Specifically, cardio helps raise norepinephrine levels. However, when you do cardio makes a big difference in the way your body handles the hormone change. Cardio on an empty stomach in a “hungry” state allows norepinephrine to readily target fat cells triggering maximal fat burn. On the flip side, if you eat, then do your cardio, the “hungry” state is disrupted, another fat blocking hormone, insulin, rises making norepinephrine less effective at liberating and burning fat. In a game of inches - no pun intended - every fat burning advantage is a must.
- Train Until You’re Beat, Not Dead
The age old question: how many sets do you need and how long, time wise, should you spend in the gym each day. The answer will vary from person to person, but use this guide in burning fat. Always train until you are pretty beat up. After all , you have to train hard enough to stimulate muscle growth. However, don’t go overboard and train until you are flattened, dead, exhausted beyond hope. That type of kamikaze training may satisfy your ego, but truth-be-told, it kicks your anabolic hormones, those that build muscle, in the derriere. How’s it tie in to fat burning? Serious fat loss requires you to retain muscle mass because muscle is the body’s primary metabolic driver. If you train way past the point of feeling decent, hormones that support muscle repair free fall and the metabolic rate, the calorie burning engine which is intimately tied to muscle mass, follows suit.
- Pump Up the Volume
Do more. Ok, sounds like it could violate law #13 and wipe you out, so you have to use this one judiciously. When you do more sets and reps, or do the same workout you typically do yet fit it into a shorter time frame, you ultimately end up forcing glycogen stores to drop. Once that occurs, muscles run low in carbs, fat burning increases and hormones that favor fat burning ratchet up a bit. The plus here is that you can get leaner by doing more volume, the potential downside is you may end up flattened and dead which could crush anabolic hormones. The solution is to simply implement the higher volume training on every 3rd or 4th week to ensure you benefit without taking a good thing too far.
