Losing fat refines your body shape and allows you to be healthier. But to get there requires some effort, including changing your lifestyle by eating the right food and working out. A crash diet may seem like the obvious solution when you want quick results. However, it’s quite the opposite. In this discussion, we explore 3 simple, diet tips to lose stubborn fat quicking, which you can apply immediately.
What is The Ideal Body Fat Percentage?
Before exploring the health tips for losing fat, it’s essential to know your ideal body fat percentage, as it makes it easier to set your fitness target. Also, you can know the amount of excess fat you need to lose rather than what constitutes your overall body weight, including organs, bones, blood, and muscles.
The objective of any weight loss plan should be to lose fat without losing muscles. A fat mass rate that’s too low or too high is a health risk factor. The Body Mass Index (BMI) estimates your body fat and is a perfect predictor of underlying health problems.
On average, a high BMI shows that you are at an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, gallstones, certain cancers, and type 2 diabetes. On the other hand, an extremely low BMI can expose your body to nutrient deficiency leading to low immunity against infections.
Every person’s ideal body fat level depends on gender and age. For instance, women genetically have a higher fat content than men. Generally, the body fat percentage of a healthy woman is between 20-30%, whereas that of men is around 10-18%. You can use the BMI calculator from National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to calculate your body fat percentage.
Here are the values corresponding to the ideal body fat percentage.
| BMI Categories | Weight |
| Underweight | Below 18.5 |
| Normal Weight | 18.5–24.9 |
| Overweight | 25–29.9 |
| Obesity | BMI of 30 or greater |
Set Your Fitness Goals For Fat Loss and Not Weight Reduction
Now that you know the implications of excess body fat, setting your fitness goals is the first step to achieving your ideal body weight and staying healthy. When you follow a very strict diet, your pounds may fly away, but it could be because you’re losing water in the body instead of the fat mass.
Your ideal fitness goal should be reducing your overall body fat percentage and tracking the progress. Weight loss supplements can help you achieve your fitness goals, but it’s not a question of just taking supplements. Along with taking supplements, having a diet with a complete nutrition profile is important. Don’t deceive your body by adopting a draconian diet; focus on working out and eating well sustainably.
- Eat Fewer Carbs
Following a low-carb diet is an effective way to eliminate excess fat. Usually, this diet consists of consuming a protein-rich diet, good fats, and lowering the amount of carbohydrates consumed. It allows for quicker weight and faster fat loss compared to a strictly low-fat diet. Just because you eat less fatty foods doesn’t mean you’ll lose fat quickly.
Ideally, you should avoid simple carbs, and unfavorable fats as these may increase your risk of having a heart disease or hurting your overall fitness goal.
When following a low-carb diet, avoid simple carbohydrates such as white bread, white rice, and biscuits, as the body burns them quickly. Instead, include more complex carbs foods such as whole grains, beans, and vegetables. The advantage of complex carbs is that they are digested slowly, lessening your cravings, and you don’t feel hungry quickly.
- Eat Protein-rich Foods
There’s a lot of evidence that protein facilitates the burning of fat and reduces hunger pangs, aiding in weight loss. Also, protein increases your body’s metabolism compared to fats.
Studies have shown that proteins inhibit ghrelin production, an appetite stimulation hormone. Also, protein-rich foods also trigger the production of an appetite-reduction hormone called peptide YY.
A high-protein diet also has the advantage of helping with rapid fat loss while not sacrificing any muscle mass, which means more energy for working out.
- Start A Vegan Diet
Everybody has their reasons for following a strict vegan diet. Whether it’s for religious, health, or environmental protection reasons, a vegan diet is an excellent way to shed excess fat and weight.
Usually, vegans have a lower BMI, which is good for staying healthy. The secret to a vegan diet is that it causes a calorie deficit in the body. Furthermore, a vegan diet consists of high-fiber foods that promotes satiety and controls blood sugar. Also, these types of foods have low caloric density.
This table illustrates complex carbs and other low-carb diet foods you can include in your meal plan:
| Type of Food | Examples |
| Whole Grains | Barley, brown rice, buckwheat, bulgur, millet, oatmeal,popcorn, whole-wheat bread, crackers and pasta |
| Fibre Rich Fruits | Apples, bananas, avocados, dried fruits, pears, and berries |
| Beans | lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas, split beans, pinto beans, soy milk (Also good sources of folate, iron, potassium). |
| Veggies | Onions, okra, carrots, peas, broccoli, zucchini, spinach, cucumbers, prunes and asparagus. |
Conclusion
To lose fat efficiently, you can act on different aspects of your lifestyle, including sleep, nutrition, and physical activity. It’s preferable to combine the above diet tips to obtain quicker results. Dietary supplements are examples of stubborn fat loss options that you can use to burn excess fat effectively. Also, remember to include workouts, avoiding stress, refrain from smoking, and sleeping well for better results.
