The FAT Lifestyle

When most women think about starting a "diet", the last group of people they’d probably look to for advice would be bodybuilders. After all, how many women want the "freakish" look of the typical man who poses on the Mr. Olympia stage? But yet we’re all human and our bodies all work in the same way. Thus both men and women can jump start their healthy lifestyle habits by borrowing techniques used by bodybuilders.

You see, it’s easy to lose "weight". Fast for a day and limit your water intake and you will easily lose 5 pounds. But when people say they want to lose "weight", what they really want to do is rid their body of excess "fat". After all, do you really care how much you weigh? What you really want is to reduce your percentage of body fat so that you look good and feel great. However this is much more difficult than just losing "weight".

There are two ways to reduce your body fat percentage. You can either

1. burn existing fat stores

OR

2. increase muscle mass.

Bodybuilders do both.

Nutrition

First and foremost, bodybuilders eat "clean". Eating clean means eating good carbohydrates, limited amounts of healthy fats, and lean proteins. No junk food. Oh sure, even bodybuilders have the occasional "cheat" meal but most of the time they only eat good quality foods. Here’s some examples:

Good Carbs:

Brown Rice
Beans
Potatoes
Oatmeal
Whole Grain Breads
Fruits

Healthy Fats:

Olive Oil
Canola Oil
Avocados
Nuts
Fish Oil

Lean Proteins:

White Chicken and Turkey
Low/Non Fat Cottage Cheese
Fish
Beef and Pork Sirloin

Basically bodybuilders eat whole foods that do not come from packages. When was the last time you saw a bodybuilder drink a Slim-Fast? That’s because even though Slim-Fast is sold as a "diet" product, it’s really a high sugar drink that’s low in protein. Even many of the so called fitness drinks sold at your local gym are just sugar in disguise. It’s important that your meals contain a lean protein source, a serving of good carbs, a bit of healthy fat, and plenty of vegetables.

Exercise

Many women do not even consider incorporating weight training into their workout routines. However bodybuilders would *NEVER* remove weight training from their workouts. Weight training is the single best way to preserve muscle while burning fat. Weight training also helps increase the rate at which you burn calories while resting for many hours after your workout. And as an added bonus, it helps prevent osteoporosis too!

Do not be afraid to add weight training to your exercise routine. It takes *MUCH* more than lifting weights a few times per week to attain the extreme bodybuilding look.

Hormones

Just about everyone has heard about bodybuilding and steroid use. Many professional bodybuilders (both men and women) use steroids and other drugs to raise their body’s levels of testosterone and decrease estrogen. The reason is that testosterone promotes muscle growth and fat burning while estrogen promotes fat storage and muscle breakdown. This is the main reason that women typically have a higher percentage of body fat and less muscle than men. And it is also the reason why men can usually "lose weight" much easier than women.

Now I am not suggesting that we all start injecting ourselves with massive doses of steroids. The dangers of steroids are in direct opposition with our desire for health. However wouldn’t it make sense to eat and exercise in such a way to promote our own body’s natural production of testosterone while suppressing estrogen production?

Conclusion

Any woman serious about losing "fat" and reducing her body fat percentage should throw away her copy of Fit and begin incorporating the techniques of bodybuilders. So much focus is on eating less but so little attention is paid to eating and exercising properly. In fact because many programs focus on "weight" loss (which is usually muscle and water loss), these programs can actually lead to obesity once the "diet" is over. Only a program that includes adequate amounts of lean protein, good carbs, and healthy fats combined with proper exercise, will result in permanent fat loss and health.