Weight loss is one of the most common reasons people begin an exercise regimen.  Are you looking for ways to improve your body composition through gaining muscle and losing body fat?  After training hundreds of clients over the course of nearly a decade, I’ve decided to share a brief list of the most important, and often overlooked, factors for weight loss.

Lift Weights

Using cardio alone to combat fat loss will work if you never miss a workout session, and never slip up on your diet.  The problem is, cardio does not positively affect your metabolism like lifting weights does.  For this reason, cardio exercise only burns calories for the duration of each workout session.  When you build muscle through resistance training (lifting weights), that extra muscle actually increases your metabolism and will cause you to burn MORE calories ALL DAY, everyday!  Imagine your muscles as the engine that runs your body.  Just as with a car, the larger the engine, the more fuel it will burn!

Prepare Your Own Meals

Eating food that you’ve prepared at home allows you to control portion sizes and know for certain exactly what you’re putting into your body.  When it comes to fat loss, it’s crucial to eat less calories than your body uses in a given day, for weeks or months on end.  When you decide to eat out, the chance for you to over-eat calories and not realize it goes up significantly.  If you can measure and prep your own meals, this will ensure that you keep your caloric intake at or below your daily allowance and finally start seeing results!

Sleep Schedule

Sleeping less than 6 hours a night increases your levels of cortisol, also known as the stress hormone.  Cortisol is responsible for the retention of fat and breakdown of muscle tissue.  Additionally, the body actually builds muscle DURING sleep, not during your workout.  So if you’re not getting over 6 hours of sleep each night, you’re missing out on the ability to maximize muscle gain and increase metabolism, on top of risking current muscle breakdown via increased cortisol levels.

Drink Water

Water facilitates all of the body’s processes including getting rid of fat and building muscle.  Staying hydrated improves the efficiency of these processes and will lead to better results for all of your hard effort. On top of that, drinking more water throughout the day will help you feel full and therefore less likely to over eat.  Lastly, if you’re drinking water, you probably aren’t drinking sugary juices or sodas which are packed with calories.

Aim for around ½ ounce of water per pound of bodyweight.  So a 160lb. individual should get 80+ ounces of water/day.