Which Type of Exercise Is Best for Fat Loss?

I often get asked about the type of exercise you should do to burn more fat, flatten your stomach and hips, and to look and feel better.

If you categorize any exercise, it will generally fall primarily into one of the main categories:

1. Cardio-vascular exercise
2. Strength training

And I would add a third category for fat loss:

3. Nutrition

Lets now take a detailed look into all three categories to determine which one you need to focus on.

Cardio-vascular Exercise

Cardio-vascular exercise - or simply, cardio - is anything that elevates the heart rate for a continued period.

Popular examples include running, jogging, swimming, cycling, aerobics classes, Zumba, walking or dancing.

The good news is that cardio can burn a large amount of fat, among other positive health benefits including heart and lung health.

The problem, however, is that once the cardio stops, so does the majority of fat burning. For a beginner, this is fine, as a small amount of cardio will result in large returns.

However once you build a reasonable amount of cardio fitness, the benefits continue at a rate of diminishing returns. After a while - several months - you will need to do more and more cardio to continue getting benefits.

In today's time-poor society, this is not an ideal way to stay healthy in the long term.

Strength Training

Strength training can include anything that provides resistance. For example, weight machines, body weight, Pilates and calisthenics.

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How to Eat Your Favorite Foods and Still Lose Weight

I was watching the news tonight and the health watch segment had "breaking news" that reported that a Southern diet that's rich in foods such as fried chicken, chicken-fried steak, deep-fried gizzards, french fries, burgers, hot dogs, soda, and super sweet tea isn't great for your health and can actually increase your risk of having a stroke. People who ate these types of foods six times a week were about 40% more likely to have a stroke than those that ate these foods once a month. This is surprising because before when I pictured someone eating a plate of fried chicken with a large soda, I always pictured a slender athlete. Of course I'm being sarcastic.

A possible solution presented by "experts" is to replace bacon with foods such as yogurt and oatmeal. Of course, these people are misled and eat sugar-loaded fast food style yogurt and oatmeal. "I can't believe this oatmeal and yogurt is good for me!" says the "dieter." A general rule regarding oatmeal, yogurt and other "health" food is that if it tastes really good, it's probably loaded with sugar and fat. These dieters are better off eating fried chicken than oatmeal loaded with sugar. At least they are enjoying their fried chicken and know why they are unhealthy versus starting a fake healthy food diet that will just leave them confused as to why they aren't losing weight or improving their lipid panel.

It's not enough to tell people that they shouldn't eat these foods. They already know that they shouldn't. A logical solution is to teach people how to pair foods and eat them responsibly. Let's look at the hot dog which is accepted by most as being "bad." If hot dogs were someone's absolute favorite food that they could not give up then they should eat them but in a smarter fashion. It's not smart to eat a hot dog with a soda daily, but you can eat some form of hot dog on a daily basis while staying lean and healthy.

This person could eat full or reduced-fat hot dogs without the bun on Sunday to Thursday which is the low-carb portion of the diet. They can be eaten with low-carb ketchup, relish, mustard, onions, peppers, unlimited vegetables, etc. It's OK to wash it down with a diet soda as well. Then on Friday night, they could have a cheat meal that contains a full fat hot dog with bun, french fries, and a regular soda if they desire. Lastly on Saturday, they could have a carb refuel day where they could eat fat free hot dogs such as Ballpark's fat free beef franks or fat free turkey franks coupled with hot dog buns. It's perfectly fine to eat 8 hot dogs with buns today since they ate low-carb the rest of the week. Eating in this fashion is perfectly healthy and will not leave them feeling deprived. This strategy works with just about any food including pizza, burgers, burritos, etc. There is no bad food just bad timing. Eat intelligently.

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