I've been working out and building muscles since 2012. There have been periods when I slack, though, due to ailments, work, academics, etc. But I've kept it going and I've always been an enthusiast.
I've done a lot of research over the years, inevitably, because I want to do things right. And in recent years, with social media algorithms and stuff, a lot of research has done me 😅. A lot of research finds their way to me, and as an enthusiast, I consume all of them.
So that's where I stand now. Most importantly I know fact from opinions and fiction, and I know something has to be backed by science to be taken seriously. So let's get in!
Ultimate Guide
Working out, dieting, fasting, activities. That's how it is done.
Of all these methods, dieting and fasting is the most effective/important. That's not to say you should disregard the others, though.
The reason why these are the ways to get it done is because _you need to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight _.
Calorie Deficit
Simply put, calorie is energy gotten from food. This energy is used to carry out or daily activities and used by the organs to function. Excess energy gets converted to fat and that's how you put on weight (fat).
You get an excess when you consume more than you can use. You get a deficit when you consume less than you can use.
Fasting, dieting is a way to consume less than you can use, and working out, building muscles, and carrying out activities is a way to use up the calories you put into your body through food, because you have to eat!
Working Out Alone
When it comes to weight loss, the biggest problem is relying on workouts alone. A lot of people just decide to start working out and they don't change anything about their diets, neither do they fast and they think that is the way to lose weight.
But look at the math, you only burn a few 100s of calories from working out, meanwhile food gives you thousands of calories. You see how difficult it can be to win against those odds, right?
Dieting and Fasting
So even though you're working out you need to diet and fast so you don't take in too much calories.
Some foods have more calories then others, so dieting for weight loss should be about consuming the foods with less calories, or smaller portions of the ones with more calories.
You have to track your calories, you have to find out what foods have the most calories and all so you consume them appropriately.
Fasting is also great for weight loss and you need to find time to fast, maybe skip a meal or two on some days, or skip for a whole day, or for two days, or for even three days. You should find the appropriate time for these for yourself.
The hardest part is fasting for more than a day, research shows that nothing gets rid of fat like fasting for three days. That is, eating no food but only drinking water. This is certainly difficult and you probably should consult your doctor before doing it. But these are the methods, guys.
Having Muscles
The more muscles you have the more calories your body burns by default. You got that? Simply having muscles makes your body burn more calories. So it's a must-have.
Guys are the luckiest in this regard because they can build more muscles than women could, and they can build the hell out of their upper bodies.
Women have to mostly focus on their lower bodies. For women I'd advise you concentrate on building your legs and glutes.
But there's a little problem here, in order to build muscles you need to consume more food, which means you wouldn't have the caloric deficit required for fat loss.
The experts usually advise that you fat first through working out, fasting and dieting before embarking on building muscles. Trying to build muscles and lose fat at the same time is very difficult.
But I've taken that route before, and what I did was eat good amounts after muscle building workouts to grow muscles but still find days in the week to fast. I just kept at this, and it worked.
You Don't Have to be Strict, in fact, the Most Important thing is DON'T BE STRICT!
Being strict makes it more difficult, probably too difficult to attain.
Huge lifestyle changes are usually too difficult to live with, and you'll find yourself relapsing like crazy!
And this is really dangerous because of you lose weight and then relapse your body's wouldn't want to just add the weight it had before, it would want to add more than it had before. Silly body!
So don't be strict. Take it easy. Only small changes at a time. Start with little workouts, start with little diet changes, start with little fasting. Increase with time and have cheat days.
The End
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Are supplements healthy for adding up body weight mass with constant workouts?