WANT TO GET A LEAN BODY?
How do we get a Lean Body? Check this write-up to know more!
“LBM” or the “Lean Body Mass”, otherwise known as the “FAT Free Mass” is a person’s body composition of lean muscles computed by deducting body fat from the total body weight. Simply said:
Lean Body Mass (LBM) = Body Weight (BW) – Body Fat (B For Lean Body Mass (LBM) + Body Fat (BF) = Total Body Weight (BW)
The typical LBM or lean body mass percentage in the body ranges from 60-90%, while the body fat or BF from 10-40%. Determining the amount of lean body mass in the body is significant in many ways. For example, when prescribing correct levels of medications and diagnosing metabolic disorders, look for the LBM and not the BF percentage because body fat is irrelevant for metabolism. Conversely speaking, if we want to know how metabolism is effectively working, we need to know the lean body mass percentage in the body’s composition.
In terms of physical fitness, how our body is made up or its percentage composition of muscle, fat, bone and water in conjunction with our total body weight, plays a very crucial role in determining leaness. Because muscle tissues take up less space in the body than fat tissue, our body composition and weight determine how fit and muscled our body appears. For this reason, 2 persons of the same body weight and sex can look very different, and this could be attributed to differing body composition. So you can weigh 65 kilos looking lean and sexy or looking fat and chubby. Or weigh 90 kilos looking firmed and muscled or looking fat and bulky. The difference is all accounted for in the percentage composition of muscle and fat in the body.
Essential body fat (BF) is actually important in maintaining life and reproductive functions. Because of the demands of childbearing and some hormonal functions, women generally have greater essential body fat than men. When fats are stored in the body, it is contained in the adipose tissue, which is also helpful in protecting the internal organs of the body such as the chest and abdomen.
You can measure your Fitness Level by determining the Body Fat Percentage in the body. In doing so, you can already calculate your body composition and determine your LBM or lean body mass, even without regard to body weight or height. And the most widely used method is calculating the Body Mass Index or BMI which allows you to calculate body fat composition. The higher the BMI, the higher is the body fat composition, which means it’s about time to burn fat.
How to Get a LEAN BODY?
Simple! Maintain a healthy body composition percentage of Lean Body Mass (LBM) vis a vis your Body Fat (BF) percentage composition. This means burning some unwanted fat and building up needed muscles in the body to look more toned, muscled and sexy.
Before you give up on weight loss:
Here are some TIPS to help you get that Lean, Muscled and Sexy Body!
TIP #1: NO Diet! Change Your Lifestyle First!
The fact is that ALL Diets Work! But it takes a Lifestyle Change to make a Diet Work!
All diets work! Diets such as the Ketogenic Diet, Atkins Diet, South Beach Diet, The Dukan Diet, or diet methods such as Intermittent Fasting,…….. when followed religiously and faithfully, specially those that are customized to the needs and goals of a dieter are proven to really work.
So, it is never a question of having a diet or not. Naturally, if you want to get a leaner, sexier and more muscled up body you must have a healthy and effective diet program to help you. But what is more important than having a diet program is a Lifestyle Change.
A lifestyle change means a little shift away from habits and styles that are not helping you achieve your “leaner and sexier you” goals. The fact that you are still struggling with weight gain or excess weight simply means there are things that aren’t working for you as it should.
Making lifestyle changes can actually help ensure your success of whatever diet program you have chosen. Fad diets work, but it can only offer short term solutions. This is not bad. But what you need to decide on it to get a more permanent fix to losing excess fat and maintaining a leaner body. You might need to make important dietary changes and seriously commit to a more regular exercise routine or some form of physical activity to flex and build those muscles.
Making significant lifestyle changes doesn’t mean starving yourself or leaving permanently your favorite indulgences. A healthy shift may just need you to lessen food intakes that your body doesn’t actually need. You can always get an occasional “me” or “cheat” time, but without losing your long term goal in the process, to becoming fit, healthy and sexy. Just stick to the diet you have chosen to help you shed those excess pounds.
TIP #2: Watch What And How Much You Eat
Avoid feasting daily! Instead of gulping one or two huge meals, try portioning your food into small meals taken throughout the day. This curbs your hunger pangs, helps you not overeat, and keeps your metabolism running.
More importantly, pay close attention to the foods you eat. Watch what and how much you eat!
What to Eat?
There are 3 important macronutrients that our body needs. Fats, Carbohydrates and Proteins. Proportions of these macronutrients in our food intake have much relevance in attaining our goal of obtaining or maintaining a lean body.
A healthy plate should give you a proportion of 50% low-carb fruits and vegetables, 25% healthy fat and 25% healthy protein. A low-carb diet is always beneficial, unless you have certain food requirements or physical conditions that prevents you from this kind of diet. A good proportion of low-carb fruits and vegetables gives you important nutrients and phytochemicals that combats aging and common ailments, proper digestion and prevents a sudden spike of insulin which is common in high carb foods.
See Here Some Sources of Low-Carb Fruits and Vegetables:
Supplement your low-carb fruits and vegetables with foods from healthy sources of fat and protein. Fat is an essential food stuff in life serving both important structural and metabolic functions. It is an important part of any diet, that is why you cannot totally eliminate fat from the food you eat, because it is the most energy dense and most efficient form of energy storage to fuel your bodily function and processes. Healthy sources of Fats include olive oil, coconut oil and avocados.
On the other hand Proteins are large biomolecules of one or more long chains of amino acid residues. They perform varied functions in the body which include catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, stimuli responses and providing important structure to the cells in the body. It also helps in transporting molecules from one location to the other. To build and maintain lean body mass or muscles, you should get your daily protein requirement for healthy sources such as fish, poultry, eggs and cheese. Meat can also be the source except that certain reservations have been made with red meat, so you may substitute the same with a more acceptable alternative depending on your preference.
Take Vitamin and Mineral Supplement
When on a diet, it is important to have a vitamin and mineral supplement, especially if the diet program that you have chosen is restrictive in nature of some food groups or you have personal preferences of certain foods that excludes others or when your lifestyle prevents you from preparing and planning a good healthy home cooked meal. The idea here is to get all the necessary nutrients your body needs so you are able to give it optimal support for health and fitness.
How Much to Eat?
We have addressed so far the question of what you should eat to get a leaner body. Now follows the question: How much should I eat?
Take as a rule of thumb, that your daily calorie intake should not exceed too far than 10 times your body weight. So take for example if your weight is 150 pounds, your daily caloric requirement should be around 1500 calories each day. In order to maximize this caloric threshold, follow our suggested healthy meal plate of 50% low-carb fruits and vegetables, 25% healthy fats, and 25% healthy protein. This will make you feel fuller and less likely to overeat, curb hunger pangs and thus help you avoid late snacking on unhealthy junk foods that only adds to your weight and takes much of your health.
TIP #3: Exercise! Work Out! Or Do Weight Training!
Yes, do not discount physical activity, exercise or weight training if you can. Just chose a program suited for your body, lifestyle and personal preference.
However, we have to understand that the kind of physical activity or exercise that is needed for physical fitness or optimum body composition differs from person to person. So it is important for you to know what suits you best. You may ask a fitness trainer to help you on this. Nevertheless, Fat Burning and Cardiovascular Exercises are the primary exercises that you need to improve body composition. So any exercise program that you might want to have must include these two, although the pace, impact and frequency largely depends on your own physical ability. Hit the gym, exercise, workout or do weight training if you can. You need this if you want that sexy, lean and muscled body.
But you ask: What about if I can’t go to the gym?
No problem!
Do it at home or wherever you are. Walk, jog, swim, bike or just get the help of some good exercise program that you can effectively follow and do in the confines of your home or wherever you are on a business trip or vacation with family or friends.
There are actually exercise routines that you can do without getting on the treadmill. For example the Anabolic Running Program. That one is very effective try to check that.
You need to find a healthy physical activity that is helpful and effective for your own personal lifestyle and convenience. The point is get some energy and flex your body to attain or maintain a lean body.
If you have a pool in sight try swimming, or run or brisk walk in a park, bike around the neighborhood, or simply do some chores around the house. Avoid using the elevator, walk to your home or office, park farther in the car-park. There are plenty of things to get you moving. Remember that if there is a will, there is always a way. Keep in mind that you are doing these to achieve a sexier and leaner body. Inspire and motivate yourself for your own benefit.
TIP #4: Avoid Too Much Food Intake Before Going To Bed
If you want to get a leaner body, watch what and how much you eat, and most especially when you eat right before bedtime.
It has been said: At breakfast eat like a King, at lunch eat like a Prince, but at dinner eat like a Pauper. This advice has proven to be very sound and effective in terms of contributing to physical fitness and avoiding common problems associated with going to bed with your stomach full such as indigestion, heartburn, acid reflux, obesity and even increases the risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.
However, eating before sleeping is not entirely bad. In fact, eating certain kinds of foods before bedtime can actually help you get enough rest and help your body recover quickly from the day’s work. Take for instance, when you eat sleep-inducing snacks before bed that are high in tryptophan and melatonin like milk, nuts, fish, eggs or beans, not only satiate your hunger pangs and provide enough energy for the body to recover and repair, but likewise give you a deeper sleep.
Although many people believe that eating before bed can lead to weight gain and obesity, there is yet no conclusive scientific evidence to prove this belief. On the contrary, the basal metabolic rate of a person during daytime actually averages almost the same at night time. This simply means that your body uses almost the same amount of energy whether it is asleep or awake .
So, Does Eating Before Bedtime Make Us Fat?
The answer depends on what and how much you are eating before bedtime. The main physiological reason for weight gain associated with eating before bedtime is not due to eating before bedtime per se, but rather it is due to the extra calorie intake you may have taken before bedtime which the body no longer needs but is just stored as fat. So avoid snacking on sugary, starchy and junk foods, not only before bedtime but throughout your day, especially if it tends to break your daily calorie threshold.
We have to understand that Overeating is the main reason for obesity and weight gain, unless of course there exist other underlying health issues. Again, if you want to attain or maintain a leaner body. You don’t need to starve to become fit and healthy. Eat correctly and just enough of what your body needs.
Watch what and how much you eat. Avoid or lessen your sugary intakes and indulgence on starchy foods. Just get advice from a health professional and try diets that are low carb such as the Ketogenic Diet………. Unless you’re snacking on healthy foods containing tryptophan and melatonin, avoid eating too close to your bedtime. And even when snacking on these rest-boosting foods, always be mindful of your daily caloric threshold.
TIP #5: Get Into Yoga or Pilate Classes
These kinds of exercises have been known to help obtain or maintain a lean and more toned body. Yoga as an exercise has become familiar across the globe and most especially in Europe and in America. Is a kind of physical activity made up of postures that are connected with flowing sequences and accompanied by breathing exercises. Each yoga session usually ends with meditation or relaxation lying down.
The postures in yoga exercises have been derived from those used in medieval spiritual discipline of Hatha yoga and which later came to be known simply as “Yoga”. Today, yoga is performed in a variety of names including modern postural yoga and transnational anglophone yoga.
Pilates on the other hand is like a German version of yoga. It is a physical fitness system developed by Joseph Pilates in the early 20th century called “Contrology”. Practiced worldwide, most specially in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, this kind of exercise was developed primarily in order to help improve ill health. Although no real scientific evidence shows that Pilates can cure an illness, it is however shown to improve balance and muscle conditioning in adult practitioners.
Joseph Pilates in his book “Return to Life through Contrology”, devised his method as an art of controlled movements to appear as a workout routine instead of a therapy session. When practiced correctly and consistently, Pilates can improve flexibility, strengthens the body and builds endurance. Strong emphasis is made on alignment and posture, breathing and building a strong core with improved balance and coordination. A strong core means well developed muscles in the abdomen, hips and lower back called the “powerhouse” which is said to be the key to a person’s overall physical strength and stability.
Both yoga and pilates exercises are gentle and therefore can be practiced by people of varied ages and physical shape. Unless there exist some physical conditions to the contrary, these exercises are highly recommended. Moreover, these have gained much popularity and there should be no problem finding a yoga or pilates class nearby. Check one out and find if you’re up to it. Just be sure to get your doctor’s advice before starting one.
TIP #6: DO NOT CUT THE FAT! Instead Eat FAT From Healthy Sources
Fat is an essential food stuff in life serving both important structural and metabolic functions in the body. It is an important part of any diet, that is why you cannot totally eliminate fat from the food you eat, because it is the most energy dense and most efficient form of energy storage to fuel your bodily function and processes.
Fats are likewise sources of essential fatty acids which makes it an important dietary requirement. Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat soluble, which means that they can only be digested, absorbed and transported in the body in conjunction with fats. Also fats are essential in maintaining a healthy skin and hair, insulates the body organs against unnecessary shock, maintains body temperature and promotes healthy functioning of the cells. When a particular substance (chemical or biotic) hits unsafe levels in the bloodstream, the body can dilute it effectively or regain equilibrium by storing the offending substance in a new fat tissue. This can help protect our vital organs until such time that it can be metabolized or removed from the body by excretion or urination, sebum excretion, hair growth or bloodletting (accidental or intentional).
What is important is choose the fat to use and not totally eliminate it from your diet. Studies have shown that replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats can reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Various studies have concluded that consumption of trans fat, which is present in processed and junk foods increases the risk of contracting cardiovascular diseases. So the Harvard School of Public Health has advised to replace trans fat and saturated fats with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats to be beneficial for health.
Yes, do not cut the fat if you want to build a leaner body. We mean healthy fats from healthy sources as olive oil, coconut oil or avocado. Cutting fat entirely from your diet is disastrous for its physiological functions. Instead lessen your food intake from sugary and starchy foods that are sources of carbohydrates. By cutting on carbs and shifting to healthy fat sources for fuel and energy, you are allowing your body to shift its energy source from glucose to ketones. When the body starts using ketones instead of glucose, you lose weight as ketones come from fat. When ketones are produced, it means the body is burning up fat instead of glucose.
As you start to tip the scale and slim down when burning fat, you begin to build and strengthen muscles as you do your exercise and weight training. This is a sure way to get that sexy and leaner look.
Final Note:
A Real Diet Advice: Follow these 6 simple but effective tips to Get A Leaner Body. Becoming fit and healthy, or looking muscled and sexy is not a short term event but a lifelong process. Changing your lifestyle to support your desire to have a leaner body will go a long way. Not only will it increase your appeal but saves you from common illness later on. If you are struggling with excess weight, know that there are practical and effective solutions to help you. Check on these 6 tips written here which if done properly and regularly will and can work to your great advantage.
Choose to have a lean body and do it for yourself and for your own sake. Love and be kind to yourself by taking good care of your body. Exercise, build muscle instead of accumulating fat. Watch what and how much you eat. Eat low-carb fruits and vegetables and add healthy sources of fats and proteins to make you feel fuller, curb hunger pangs and help you avoid overeating. If you’re struggling with diet, get a good diet plan. And if one diet plan doesn’t work for you, then never give up, try another until you find your own suitable method. Discover a workable rhythm of your diet and exercise. Set your goals and be determined enough to achieve it.
Finally, do not be afraid to make mistakes or to fail. It’s not how many mistakes we have made that matters, but how often we stood up after we fell and gathered enough courage to try again until we succeed.
Have a Blessed Day!
Sources:
- Stoelting’s Anesthesia and Co-Existing Disease, 6th Edition. Pages 329-330.
- “composition of the body – FREE composition of the body information | Encyclopedia.com: Find composition of the body research”. www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
- ^ “Body Composition Tests”. www.heart.org. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
- “Normal ranges of body weight and body fat”. human-kinetics. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
- ^ “Examples of Body Composition Exercises”. Healthy Living – azcentral.com. Retrieved 2015-11-25
- De Michelis 2004, pp. 1-2.
- Singleton 2013, p. 38
- Pilates, Joseph (1998) [1945]. Pilates’ Return to Life through Contrology. Incline Village: Presentation Dynamics. pp. 12–14.