How to lose body fat

How to Lose Body Fat
Losing body fat isn't difficult but it doesn't happen overnight. So ignore all the weight loss ads for "fat-burners" that claim you can reduce fat instantly, without effort! Such fat-loss claims are pure fantasy.

Losing Body Fat is Different from Losing 'Weight'
Note: losing fat is different from losing 'weight', because when we lose weight part of the weight loss is water and part is muscle. We're talking strictly fat-loss.

Best Way to Reduce Body Fat
Aim to lose a maximum of 1 pound of body fat per week.
Follow a low-fat diet (about 25 percent calories from fat), with plenty of fruit and veg and regular helpings of complex carbs, like whole wheat bread, oats, pasta, brown rice. Choose lower-fat meat and dairy foods where possible. Drink at least 6 glasses of water a day.
Combine this diet with regular exercise. Mix aerobic exercise with regular weight/strength-training to raise your metabolic rate and boost your lean body mass.
Take your body measurements before to start on your fat-reduction plan. Some weeks you may not lose weight, but you will lose fat, so monitoring your thighs and upper arms will boost your fat-loss motivation!

Can You Reduce Body Fat by Exercise Alone?
It's perfectly possible to lose fat simply by exercising, but it takes quite a bit of time and effort. Remember, one pound of body fat is roughly equivalent to 3500 calories.

What Amount of Exercise Burns 1 Pound of Fat?
To burn sufficient calories to lose one pound of body fat, you might:
- Briskly walk a total of 35 miles
- Swim moderately fast for 6 hours
- Dance for 12 hours
- Play about 12.5 hours of golf, carrying your own clubs
- Jog for about 29 miles

At the same time, you would need to monitor your eating habits to ensure that you are not increasing your calorie-intake in line with your increased exercise!

Be Patient When Trying to Burn Fat by Exercise
As you can see, it takes time and considerable physical effort to achieve any kind of rapid fat-loss by exercise alone. So if you want to burn off your last pockets of fat by increased fitness training, give yourself enough time and don't jump onto your bathroom scales more often than once a month. Also, be aware that muscle is denser (heavier mass) than fat. So while you may look leaner, your weight may show only a slight reduction.

Exercising Without Stretching Can Increase Bulk
Paradoxically, even though some exercise routines (eg. ab-exercises) produce a leaner look, other types of exercise (lower-body training) can make you look bulkier, especially around the thighs. To prevent this, make sure you start and finish your fitness workout with at least 5 minutes of stretching exercises to elongate the muscles worked.

Exercise Doesn't Turn Fat Into Muscle
One popular misconception is that you can convert fat into muscle by exercising. Unfortunately, this is not possible. Exercise can burn enough calories to force the body to burn fat, but it cannot turn fat into muscle. However, certain types of exercise (eg. ab-exercises) can strengthen muscles in an area of excess fat (eg. stomach) and give the appearance of a leaner shape.