AS YOU PROCEED ALONG THE BODYBUILDING-LIFESTYLE PATH, it is inevitable that at some point you will desire to display your physique in the best way possible. Whether your goal is to compete, look better at the beach or at a special occasion, be more attractive to the opposite sex or take pride in your hard work and accomplishments, nutritional manipulation through dieting--as well as dedication to a rational plan--remains the best route to revealing the fruits of your labor.

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CALORIES ARE THE TIPPING POINT

There are numerous tricks you can implement to help burn bodyfat. The key principle above all others is to create a calorie, or energy, deficit to stimulate the body to burn bodyfat as fuel. That means eating less, whether it be fewer calories from dietary fat, carbs or a combo of the two.

CALORIE DEFICITS: THE WEEKLY APPROACH

Conventional wisdom states that you have to eat fewer calories daily to shed fat. Not true. On average, you have to eat fewer calories over a seven-day period to drop bodyfat. You can fudge a bit by eating fewer calories than normal for a couple of days, followed by a couple of very strict days and then a few days where you eat roughly what you did before starting the diet.

PROTEIN NEEDS RISE DURING DIETING

When excess calories from dietary fat and carbs are removed from a diet, the body burns small amounts of amino acids from protein or, worse, muscle mass when calories decline. The extra protein protects muscle loss, because it can be burned in lieu of muscle tissue.

AGGRESSIVE DIETING LEADS NOWHERE If you cut calories too drastically, the body tries to hoard energy by slowing down its metabolism, the calorie-burning mechanism in the body. Moderate cuts in calories, such as decreasing daily caloric intake by 200-400 per day (or 1,400-2,800 per week), allows the body to tap into fat reserves without throwing the metabolism into a tailspin.

THE ROLE OF PROTEIN

Of the three sources of energy (carbohydrates, protein and dietary fat), protein has the least impact on fat storage. Overeating calories from carbs and dietary fat will lead to their accumulation as bodyfat. That's not to say you can, or should, gorge on protein. It means you should add more protein from chicken, turkey or fish instead of snacking on additional carbs or fat to satiate hunger.

"STEP-UP" DIETING PRESERVES MUSCLE AND PROMOTES NONSTOP FAT LOSS

Although reducing dietary fat and carbs results in fat loss, keeping carbs down for a prolonged period (more than seven days) can deplete glycogen (stored carbs) reserves in muscle. Low glycogen can trigger the burning of metabolically active muscle tissue. Increasing carb intake by 100-200 grams once each week should replenish glycogen reserves sufficiently to avoid muscle loss and may even increase the metabolism.

THERMOGENICS OFFSET METABOLIC DOWNTURNS

Synephrine, evodiamine and capsaicin are common thermogenic agents. They stimulate the nervous system to increase the production of norepinephrine, which, in turn, causes fat cells to release and burn bodyfat. Thermogenics are predominantly helpful in preventing the metabolic slowdown that comes with long-term dieting.

OVERDIETING HAS ITS PLACE

Sometimes you have to go to the extreme. A very-low-carb day once every 10 to 12 days, during which you limit your carbs to just 50-80 g, can trick the body into greater fat loss by lowering glycogen reserves. That amplifies fat burning.

DISRUPT THE REGIMEN

Over time, all diets ultimately cause slowing of the metabolism. When you hit a true "nothing works" roadblock, get off your diet! Eat anything you want for a couple of days--within reason. Load up on "good" carbs and fat before returning to the diet. This splurge will kick up thyroid hormones, which tend to spiral downward with long-term dieting. Once you're back on your diet, your body will resume burning bodyfat.

FIBER IS A WILD CARD

Let's compare two diets with equal amounts of calories and carbohydrates, with the sole difference being the source of carbs. One diet comprises fast-digesting near-fiber-free carbs, such as rice cakes, white rice, white bread and cold cereals. The other comprises slower-digesting fiber-dense carbs, such as oatmeal, whole-grain bread, beans, brown rice and sweet potatoes. The fiber-dense approach will likely result in greater long-term fat loss. Why? Higher amounts of insulin are generally associated with greater fat storage and lower fat burning. Fiber slows the digestion of carbs, which moderates insulin secretion.

GLUTAMINE BOOSTS RECOVERY AND CONSERVES BCAAS

Glutamine spares the burning of branched-chain amino acids, which are used in greater amounts when calories decline. Glutamine has also been found to increase metabolic rate and fat burning. Try 5 g of BCAAs before training and another 5 g after training, as well as with breakfast and before bed.

LOW BLOOD SUGAR AMPS FAT BURNING

When you train with restricted amounts of glucose from carbs in the bloodstream, the natural, training-induced release of the fat-burning hormone norepinephrine exerts a greater impact on fat cells. That's why the pretraining meal should be a combo of easy-to-digest protein, such as whey protein, with relatively limited amounts of carbs (less than 20 g). Particularly, the carbs should be slow-digesting types, such as fruit, oatmeal, Cream of Rye cereal or whole-grain bread.

FISH: A DIETER'S BEST FRIEND

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Many types of fish are virtually fat free and when you deprive the body of the fatty acids found in dietary fat, it encourages the breakdown of bodyfat to make up for the fatty-acid shortfall. The result when you add fish to your eating plan: you will burn more fat.
FATTY FISH ALSO ASSIST

Even "high fat" fish, such as salmon, bluefish, mackerel and tuna steaks, are "leaner" than protein foods that have comparable amounts of dietary fat, such as red meat, cheese or eggs. These fish sources provide omega-3 fatty acids, which encourage the body to take glucose from carbs and repartition it, sending it down glycogen-storing pathways rather than fat-storing ones. A four-month study demonstrated that 63 overweight subjects who ate higher-fat fish daily lost more weight than those eating fish only once per week.

NEVER EMPHASIZE CUTTING CALORIES OVER MUSCLE RETENTION

The minute you cut calories too far, you start compromising muscle mass. Burning muscle, in turn, significantly impairs your long-term objective by slowing down the metabolic rate. As metabolism slows, continued fat loss becomes nothing more than an exercise in futility.

20 TAKE A TOTAL BREAK

The body simply does not respond well to continually pushing past the boundaries of lower-calorie intake, especially when implementing all kinds of diet and training strategies. When the body no longer responds, the ideal remedy is to take two or three days off from training while consuming a reasonable menu before beginning again. It's a contrarian approach, yet it can be remarkably effective.

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Disclaimer: Hypermuscles.com does not promote the use of anabolic steroids without a doctor's prescription. The information we share is for entertainment and research purposes only.