SECRET OF ABS & FAT LOSS

PROTEIN - YOUR FRIEND

You need high protein diet either your goal is fat loss or you wanna gain lean muscle mass, protein keeps your body in thermogenic state. But don't just jump on the high protein diet, increase your protein intake slowly slowly - week by week, month by month. Protein is very important not only for fat loss and muscle gain but for the health of hairs, nails, skin and for overall health & development of the body. So, the people who don't go to the gym should also maintain a good protein diet.

How much - 100g/day for male & 70g/day for female.

This much amount is you need either you go the gym or not and those who do workout at gym or are athlete or their activity level is very high, then their protein intake should be

190g/day for male & 150g/day for female.

The exact amount of protein varies from person to person, everyone's body is different but 150g for F & 190g for M are safe quantities. Divide this amount into 7-8 servings (same is applicable for carb, fat & fiber) and take a high dose of protein(30g for beginners, 40-50g for seniors, 50-60g for advanced) just after your workout.

Main Sources

Non-veg - Fish, chicken, egg, all kind of meat etc.

Veg. - Milk, curd/yogurt, paneer, tofu, soy milk, combination of brown rice and any dal, whey and casein protein powder etc.

FAT - NOT YOUR ENEMY

Fat is as important as protein. Fat helps in maintaining cells, protection of organs, processing & absorbing of nutrients, cardiovascular health etc. You need all types of fat - Saturated, Unsaturated & Omega's, the only fat which you should avoid is Trans fat (trans fat presents in junk and processed foods).

How much - Again it differ for person to person but a ideal and safe amount for general health is -

Unsaturated - 51g/d for M & 45g/d for F

Saturated - 9g/d for M & 5g/d for F

Omega 3 - 3-4g/d (omega 3 is very imp. for the health of brain & heart)

Main Sources

Unsaturated - Almond, olive oil, peanuts etc.

Saturated - Egg, ghee, full cream milk etc.

Omega 3 - fatty fish or fish oil, roasted flaxseed or flaxseed oil, walnuts etc.

WATER - YOUR BEST FRIEND

Water plays a major role in your expensive high protein diet and supplements plan. If you are not drinking enough water then you are wasting all your protein & supplements too, they don't work without water or with less water. So, drink enough water throughout the day and during workout too.

How Much - Drink 4-5 Litres of water per day and those who are using supplements, I recommend to add extra 1 L of water in their daily water intake.

CARBOHYDRATES - THE GAME CHANGER

Carbs provide energy to the body for workout and for every physical activity. A bad carb diet can add a lot of fat in your body. There are two types of carbs - first is high glycemic carbs and the other is low glycemic carbs. The low glycemic carbs are the good carbs which you need in every meal of the day. The only time where you're allowed to eat high glycemic carbs is just after your workout and at the time of breakfast to refill the muscle glycogen (it is the storage form of glucose in the body) that is burned during workout and overnight fasting. I recommend avoid sugar, you can use honey but not more than 1tbsp/day and if your goal is to build abs then don't take more than 2 servings of fruits/day.

How Much - Unlike protein and fat, the case of carbs is totally different. Carb intake is different for every individual according to their metabolism, carb sensitivity, activity level, body type and a lot more things. But, for a rough idea, you can consume 140g/day for M & 100g/d for F.

Suggestion - Like I mentioned in the first tip - Protein, don't just jump on the high protein diet same is applicable for the carbs - don't just jump on the low carb diet. Cut down the carbs slowly slowly, start with the amount that you are consuming right now and then slowly slowly drop it. A good idea is - every week or month when you are increasing your protein intake, cut down the carbs every time.

Main Sources

High Glycemic Carbs - white rice, white bread, potato, sweets etc.

Low Glycemic Carbs - oats, brown rice, roti, daliya, pulses etc.

Between low & high glycemic carbs - fruits (apple, pear, oranges, papaya are the best choice during fat loss phase)

FIBER - NEVER UNDERESTIMATE IT

Fiber helps in preventing diabetes, stroke, obesity, lowers cholesterol, skin diseases, gut problems/diseases, gallstones, kidney stones etc. Fiber, fat and protein they all keep you fuller for longer time so you ll feel less hunger, a fiber rich diet is important for healthy life.

How Much - 25-35g/d for M and 20-30g/d for F.

Main Sources

Soluble - Apple, oats, beans, citrus fruits, carrots, seeds etc.

Insoluble - Whole wheat foods, nuts, oats, beans, vegetables etc.

WORKOUT - THE KING

(a). Focus less on abs

Yes, you read it right. Your should focus less on abs. Our goal here is to burn excessive calories to drop the body fat %. I noticed many people waste hours of time on abs training. Focus more on weight training and compound exercises like squats, deadlift, bench press, rows etc. + weight training also keep your metabolism high throughtout the day or night, it means you will burn fat outside the gym too. Compound exercises promotes more growth hormones release into the body, especially leg exercises. So, legs training helps you in accelerating your fat loss journey and muscle gaining too and training all your body parts is critical for a symmetrical physique.

(b). How much and how often I should train my abs & obliques

A good abs and obliques workout can be done between 10-30 mins on every other day or you can split abs training into two days - 1 day for abs and next day for obliques & repeat. Abs and obliques are also muscles & muscles need rest for recovery and growth.

(c). Cardio

Cardio is very important for cardiovascular health. So, everyone should do cardio. High Intensity Interval Training work best for fat loss as well as muscle gain. Simply, you have to workout more and rest less between your weight training sets and cardio session i.e. 30-45 sec. HIIT also keeps your metabolism high throughout the day/night like weight training + it saves your precious time too.

For ex. - If a person who ll do 30 mins or 1 hour of walking or jogging burns less fat but the same person who ll do 10-20 mins of sprinting or running burns more fat then he/she burned during walking or jogging.

(d). Cardio means Treadmill

This is wrong, you should keep on changing your workout routine. Cardio includes spin bike, elliptical, air dyne, stair mill or stair master, the treadmill and many other fancy equipments in the market but all these above are good & effective but yes treadmill is most important.

Suggestion - You can use treadmill as basic and other machines as secondary (keep changing it every day or week) at gym.

The only time when you should start training abs & obliques daily and increase the training time is - when the day where you wanna show off your abs/body is near, you can train them 10-15 days before that day upto 45 min.-1 hour.

REST = GROWTH

Rest is as important as workout. Your muscles grow when you sleep because growth hormones releases in that period. Rest also lowers cortisol (stress hormone) which results in weight gain, muscle loss, imbalance blood pressure, weak immune system, skin disorder/problems, memory loss, loss of focus etc.

How Much - Sleep for atleast 7-8 hours daily.

Suggestion - Take a sleep of 9-10 hours once a week or twice a week for those who are athletes or have a highly active lifestyle.

PERSONAL/SECONDARY TIPS

(a). Do yoga because yoga not only relaxes your mind but your muscles too which means less stress and faster muscle recovery.

(b). Drink green tea or black coffee after the noon or middle of the day for better results. Maintain a gap of 5-6 hours between your green tea/black coffee and night sleep. But, if your green tea is caffeine free then you can drink it anytime you want. Both green tea and coffee are rich source of antioxidants which boost your immune system, skin health, mood disorder, reduces your stress etc. + helpful in dropping sugar levels, blood pressure. The effect of curd/yogurt on body is also same for B.P and sugar levels because of the presence of probiotics in it which is helpful in digestion too.

(c). Add multi vitamin and mineral complex supplements in your diet because we don't get enough/daily dose of them from the food and a large no. of fruits & vegetables are non organic in the market. So, its better to add these two supplements in your diet plan to avoid deficiency and for proper functioning of body.

(d). Be patient - it took 21 years to build The Taj Mahal. Always remember good things take time to happen. Be consistent, nothing happens overnight. Stay focused, stay determined, stay motivated and stay striving for better. Good luck for your fat loss journey. 🙂