1. Nutrition – This is so important, it is almost 90% of the importance of the rest of the list combined. Whole natural foods, diet low in processed items (white flour and sugar), and high in lean proteins, fruits and vegetables will always be the best course to long term weight loss. Carbohydrate choices that favor whole fruits and vegetables over grain based carbohydrates should dominate your diet, but a small amount of whole grain carbohydrates will round out a sensible effective diet.
2. Intensive exercise – Intensive is a relative word. Intensive to the average person isn’t going to be intensive to an elite athlete. The key is to keep your average intensity scale in the “difficult be manageable” category. Interval training can be based on cardiovascular equipment like a treadmill or a airdyne exercise bike, or with circuited weight routines or bodyweight circuits. All of these forms of exercise can be combined to elicit the same effect of a portion of hard work followed by a portion of rest. 15-45 seconds of work to 60-90 seconds of rest for 6-15 intervals is a good scale for setting up the exercise circuit.
3. Hydration - Water makes up a large majority of your body, so getting into a dehydrate state is very detrimental to your over all metabolic levels. Water emulsifies fats in your system, flushes toxins from your digestive system, and allows for proper endocrine function.
4. Sleep – study after study has shown that people that get inadequate sleep eat more and gain more weight than those that sleep more. Enough said.
This is a short but important list of facts that will get you on the road to better body composition.
