Slimmers often face a wave of motivation when they begin their weight loss journey, but restrictive plans and intense workout regimes can make it difficult to stay on track.
Speaking exclusively to GB News, an expert shared how to stick to your plan and burn fat when trying to lose weight.
To slim down and tone up, global fitness expert at Curves Joanna Dase explained you can not spot reduce fat. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t achieve your dream body.
She explained it is important to do resistance training in order to build muscle. This means that, as the fat melts away, you will have a toned physique underneath.
An expert shared the best way to stay on track when losing weight
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She said: “Fat will reduce from the whole body. You have the ability to lose fat and gain muscle, but the two have to happen where the fat comes off and the muscle gets built, in a way that it shows.
“We all have different shapes. For myself, I lose weight from the top down and the last place to go is the thighs.
“But if the whole time I’ve been working on strength training and walking, when that fat reduces, the shape is there. But I couldn’t get my thighs to lose [fat] first.”
While it is not possible to choose where fat drops off from – this is largely decided by genetics – if you burn fat while building muscle, you are much more likely to end up with a toned body.
Many people will lose motivation during their weight loss journeys so Joanna shared some key advice to help you stay on track.
Keeping a clear vision of why you want to lose weight can help Britons stay motivated when they are tempted to give up.
The expert said: “The most important thing is to drill down on your key motivating reason for wanting to do it. It’s important to have a short term goal or reason and maybe a longer term goal.
“So depending on our ages, your longer term goal may be something like an excellent quality of life with your young grandchildren, being able to take them to the park, lift them up, play with them. This, for example, might be a long term goal.
”A short-term goal might be a family event that you want to be in a certain dress for by a certain time. So you’ve got that reason, you’ve got that motivation.”
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Losing fat and building muscle at the same time will help slimmers reach their goals more quickly
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What you eat is important for anyone looking to slim down and Joanna advised people to ditch processed foods where possible, opting for healthy whole foods instead.
She said: “To do it from a healthy perspective, as much as possible, [slimmers should] be eating the best quality foods that they can reasonably afford. Because that’s our challenge nowadays, right?
“We’re looking at whole foods and natural foods. That’s the first thing to look at, avoiding as much chemical processed food as possible.”