If you’re not happy with your body shape but you don’t want to bulk up when you work out, then you might be interested in learning how to lose weight rather than gain muscle at the gym. The battle for weight loss doesn’t just happen at the gym, of course. It also takes place in your home, at work, and wherever you go. You always have to be conscious about your choices and how they will affect you, as well as how they will get you closer to your goals.
It is possible to lose weight without bulking up. The kind of exercises you do are very important, and it’s also vital that you watch your calorie intake. Of course, your body type will factor in as well, playing a role in determining how successful your efforts are and what methods will work best for you.
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Watch the Calories
The first and most important step is to be very careful about how many calories you consume. When you’re trying to lose weight, you can cut out anywhere from 500 to 1000 calories each day. This will let you lose a couple pounds a week on average. Women typically need to eat about 2000 calories every day if they want to hold on to the same body weight they have and about 1500 calories daily to lose pounds. Men will need to increase those numbers by about 500 to hit their marks.
It’s calories that will have the biggest impact on how much weight you lose and whether your exercise is turning what you eat into muscle. For weight loss, some people recommend using a keto diet, which will burn fat quickly. This kind of diet typically offers few calories so that your body isn’t trying to turn what you eat into muscle.
Of course, if you want to avoid bulking up and gaining muscle, you’ll want to stay away from protein. That’s the primary building block for muscles, so it makes sense to keep that out of your diet as much as you can safely.
Be careful about eating too little as you try to diet and exercise. You can actually starve your body to the point where it refuses to lose weight and holds on very dearly to every calorie you consume.
Exercise Properly
The kind of exercises you do have a big impact on whether you’re bulking up or trimming down. Cardiovascular exercises, also known simply as cardio, are excellent at burning up lots of calories. They don’t tend to build up muscles either, so they’re the kind of exercises you want to focus on.
You should try to avoid resistance exercises, which would include pushups, pull-ups, and weightlifting. These force the muscles to work harder and quickly, so that’s not what you’re looking for. Instead, try to do running, swimming, climbing, and other exercises that get your heart pumping and your body sweating. If you focus too much on one kind of exercise, you may tend to bulk up a certain part of your body. For instance, running really works the leg muscles, so try to intersperse that with other kinds of exercises that don’t focus on the legs so much.
If you want to trim down quickly, focus on high intensity exercises. You can do short periods of high intensity workouts that will burn off fat, and then pair those with longer lower intensity exercises. Of course, you should check with your doctor before starting any kind of exercise regimen, if you are not in great health.
Keep an Active Lifestyle
If you’re going to burn calories fast, you need to look for ways to be more active in every aspect of your life. One of the most common recommendations is that you take the stairs rather than the elevator or take a walk where you’re going rather than ride the bus or drive your car short distances.
Doing chores around the house regularly will help as well, but you need to balance activities like that with your workout routine. You will burn more calories at the gym then you will sweeping floors at home. Consider hiring interior and exterior home cleaning provided in City of Angels. By having a maid service clean for you, there will be more time to go to the gym and really burn off those extra pounds.
As you make lifestyle changes, look at your bad habits that you could drop if you really put your mind to it. Drinking alcohol and smoking are not great for keeping a healthy figure or for doing regular exercise. They can make you feel awful and affect your body negatively in a number of ways. If you can quit the bad habits or cut them back, that should have an impact on your weight loss efforts.
Talk to your doctor about any other lifestyle changes that you should be making. There may be some helpful advice your doctor can offer that will make a big difference.
Drink Plenty of Water
If you are going to lose weight, you need to fight your cravings. Drinking lots of water throughout the day is a good way to do that. It filters out impurities and gets rid of excess sugar, and it helps you to stay feeling full. You won’t feel the need to eat as much if you are drinking plenty of water. Don’t just drink when you are thirsty but get ahead of the cravings and drink water regularly to fight hunger and keep from eating as much. You might be surprised at the impact it can have on you.
These are just a few recommendations that will help you to lose some weight that has been nagging at you and not bulk up at the same time. If you want a slim, trim figure, then start here with these tips and see if they will help you to achieve your goals. Maybe you will see something here that you haven’t been doing quite right so far.
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