** 5 Fat Burning Secrets - Burn Fat & Lose Weight Today **

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, Americans are getting fatter every year. At the same time, more Americans than ever before are trying to weight lose. Its very important to get the right facts about weight lose the correct way so you can reduce unwanted body fat and maintain your hard earned lean muscle mass. Here are the top 5 secrets to start burning fat and losing excess weight the right way.

Fat Burning Secrets #1 - Build Fat Burning Muscle Mass
Strength training builds lean muscle mass. By adding muscle you will be adding the most potent fat burning tissue to your body. Muscle tissue is the most metabolically active tissue in your body, so make sure to build as much as possible. Studies have estimated that for each pound of muscle you add to your body, you burn an additional 35 to 50 calories per day. So, an extra 10 pounds of muscle will burn approximately 350 to 500 calories per day, or an extra pound of fat every 7 to 10 days. This is without making any other changes! In another study, researchers found that regular weight training boosts basal metabolic rate by about 15%.

Fat Burning Secrets #2 - Pump Up Your Protein
Make sure to include a lean protein source at every meal. Shoot for 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. By eating enough protein, you will keep your nitrogen levels high which supports muscular repair and growth. Protein has a thermogenic effect of 30% which makes it the highest thermogenic food compared to all other nutrients. This means that for every 100 calories of protein you eat, 30 calories are burned by your body to digest the food leaving you with a net 70 calories. Here are a few quick and healthy protein packed snacks:

• Black beans and albacore tuna (water packed)
  (Mix a can of each and microwave.)


• Protein powder and non-fat cottage cheese
  (Mix a scoop of protein with a cup of cottage cheese.)


• Protein bars
  (Choose one with at least 20 grams of protein, a maximum of 5 grams of sugar and 300 calories. Throw a box in the freezer and they will make a great snack. They're really good for hitting that sweet tooth late at night.)


• GeniSoy Soy Crisps
  (The perfect richly seasoned, low-fat baked alternative to traditional high-fat chips. Each serving contains a unique blend of soy and rice offering 7 grams of soy protein and a surprisingly low 2 grams of fat.)

Fat Burning Secrets #3 - Have Fun With Cardio
The first step to making your commitment to cardio is to find what you enjoy. There are so many options to choose from - running, cycling, cardio machines in the gym, and group fitness classes, just to name a few. If you get bored easily, change it up frequently. Find a friend who likes the same type of workout and use the buddy system. If you pick an activity you enjoy, it will be much easier to stick with it. Make your cardio workout a priority. Quit scheduling your workouts around everything else you have to do, and instead schedule everything else around your workout. Write it in your planner if you need to, but don't let anything interfere. If you make it important in your daily routine, then you will find ways to work in everything else you need to do.

Fat Burning Secrets #4 - Don't Reduce Calories Too Low
Avoid drastically cutting your calories. Quick and drastic weight loss can cause issues with your body's metabolism and muscle mass. When you lose a lot of weight quickly, you really need to strictly monitor where the weight is coming from. Is it water weight, body fat or muscle mass? The majority of the time, it unfortunately comes from lean muscle mass and this is exactly what causes serious issues with your metabolism. Muscle is your body's most potent and active tissue for burning calories and body fat. It's basically your body's "furnace" and you always want to keep it burning hot. When someone loses a lot of weight, which usually comes from crash dieting or some other unhealthy way of dropping the weight, the body's lean muscle mass is cannibalized and the person loses some of the most powerful tissue for keeping a lean body.

Fat Burning Secrets #5 - Lose The Liquid Calories
Soft drinks and high sugar fruit juices will kill your weight loss plan. They contain huge amounts of sugar and calories and are easily consumed since they are in liquid form. A 44 ounce super big gulp of coke contains a whopping 415 calories of pure sugar. This amount of sugar causes a massive insulin spike and causes you to get hungry very soon after drinking it. By simply switching to diet soda, you can cut a huge amount of excess calories and start losing weight. Although this is a good start, you ideally want to switch to water for your primary liquid source.

Make sure to always check your fruit juices for high amounts of processed sugar. Look on the ingredients list for "high fructose corn syrup" which is another name for sugar and see how high it is on the list. The first ingredients listed usually contain the largest amounts. The majority of fruit juices on the market are nothing more than flavored sugar water. A great alternative is to buy a good juicer and make your own fruit juice. This will provide the highest level of freshness and nutrients when compared to processed versions. Juicing using real fruit provides the natural source of fruit sugar called "fructose".