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15 Science-Backed Strategies You Can Use to Lose Fat

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Despite what major companies shilling vacuum-packed meal plans and diet shakes would have you believe, your weight is not inextricably linked to your health. But in some instances, it can be important to lose fat, especially visceral fat, which studies show can seriously undermine your health. Even if you have the best intentions and fully commit yourself to your fat-loss goal, it can be quite challenging to achieve meaningful results, in part because of the masses of contradictory information on the best tactics to use to achieve that goal.

In this article, we cut through the noise and share 15 strategies for losing weight that have been validated by reliable research.

Why Fat Loss Matters More Than Weight Loss

Many health organizations uphold the inaccurate link between weight and health by using BMI (body mass index) as a predictor for health conditions such as metabolic syndrome. The truth is, it's entirely possible for someone at a higher weight to be in better health than someone at a lower weight. What's far more relevant is the amount of visceral fat you carry.

This type of fat has been identified as a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain kinds of cancer, and other adverse health outcomes, as discussed in this article published in Obesity, a research journal. Even if you have a BMI in what doctors term the normal range (between 18.5 and 25) and you appear slender, you may still have excess visceral fat that puts you at an increased risk for developing a multitude of diseases.

Individuals with BMIs in the normal range and excess visceral fat have an even more elevated total risk of mortality than do individuals whose BMI falls in the overweight to obese ranges, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, an influential academic medical journal published by the American College of Physicians.

Using data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), the study authors examined the relationship between both BMI and visceral fat and total and cardiovascular mortality risk for 15,184 adults (52.3% women) between 18 and 90 years of age. They determined that individuals with BMIs in the normal range and excess visceral fat had the worst long-term survival. "For example, a man with a normal BMI (22 kg/m2) and central obesity had greater total mortality risk than one with similar BMI but no central obesity (hazard ratio, 1.87 <95% CI, 1.53 to 2.29>)," the authors wrote, "and this man had twice the mortality risk of participants who were overweight or obese according to BMI only (HR, 2.24 and 2.42 , respectively)." The same pattern held true for female participants, with slightly different numbers.

While it can be difficult to lose fat, it can also lead to significant improvements to your overall health. Read on to explore 15 scientifically validated ways to encourage fat loss, including the vital importance of the mind-body connection.

Use These 15 Proven Strategies to Lose Fat

First, the bad news. No single weight-loss strategy can be deemed universally applicable. Factors like your physiology and lifestyle will influence your success with using various approaches to decrease your body fat percentage. You're likely to see the best results when you combine multiple approaches to create a healthy way of living that works for you.

15 Science-Backed Ways to Lose Fat

1. Engage in Resistance Training

While strenuous cardiovascular exercise has historically been lauded as the gold standard for melting away excess fat, new data indicates that resistance training can be even more effective.

Resistance training, simply defined, is any type of exercise that necessitates the contraction of your muscles against resistance. Strength training, a popular form of resistance training, typically involves building strength by lifting increasingly heavy weights over time. Researchers have found that increasing your muscle mass can be a powerful factor in the fat-loss equation.

Findings published in the International Journal of Cardiology indicate that resistance training induces even greater visceral fat loss than endurance-heavy cardiovascular workouts do. The randomized trial showed that, when paired with what the authors termed "sound nutritional conditions," high-resistance-moderate-endurance exercise produced more significant visceral fat loss than either moderate-resistance-high-endurance exercise or moderate-resistance-moderate-endurance exercise.

Another study published in Current Sports Medicine Reports demonstrated that 10 weeks of resistance training increased participants' lean muscle mass by 1.4 kilograms and their resting metabolic rate by 7% while reducing their body fat by 1.8 kilograms. The benefits associated with resistance exercise become even more relevant with age, according to study author Dr. Wayne Westcott, as adults can lose between 3% and 8% of their muscle mass as they age, which results in a slower metabolism and fat accumulation. Westcott believes resistance training can also assist with the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, and low back pain.

Furthermore, it appears that resistance training can be especially effective for belly fat loss. It's common for stubborn deposits of visceral fat to form on the abdomen, and many conventional weight-loss methods are ineffective when it comes to targeting this type of fat. A study done by a research team from the Department of Medicine at the University of Verona and Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata of Verona in Verona, Italy found that resistance training produced significant benefits for visceral fat loss as well as superficial (SSAT) and deep (DSAT) subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue.

While lifting weights or using weight machines in a gym setting are the forms of resistance training many of us think of first, it's possible to use bodyweight exercises to obtain the same health benefits. If you want to lift weights but have no prior experience, it's best to work with a certified professional to ensure you learn the proper form and don't overtax untrained muscles.

2. Raise Your Heart Rate with Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic or cardiovascular exercise, often referred to simply as cardio, refers to any type of physical activity designed to elevate your heart rate and expand your lung capacity.

Though cardio does not produce the increases to muscle mass that result in a higher overall rate of fat loss, it still confers crucial benefits.

Studies have yielded mixed verdicts on whether moderate- or high-intensity cardio is more effective for stimulating fat loss. And it appears that the frequency and duration of your cardio sessions is more impactful than their intensity.

A systematic review of clinical trials published in the International Journal of Obesity identified a clear dose-response relationship between aerobic exercise and visceral fat reduction, meaning that the more aerobic exercise someone does, the more dramatic their fat loss will be.

According to a 2015 study done by a Canadian research team, higher-volume aerobic exercise is a more reliable means of reducing total fat and other adiposity measures than lower-volume cardio programs. The 12-month, two-armed, two-center randomized dose-comparison trial enrolled 400 participants (all postmenopausal women) who were healthy, previously inactive nonsmokers with BMIs between 22 and 40. Half the participants carried out 30-minute aerobic exercise sessions 5 days weekly while the other half carried out 60-minute sessions. Three of the weekly sessions took place under supervision while the remaining two were unsupervised.

Participants achieved 65% to 75% of their heart rate reserve for at least half the duration of each session. The study authors asked participants not to change their diets. The efficacy of each exercise program was determined using measurements of total body fat taken with dual energy x-ray absorptiometry scans as well as measurements of subcutaneous and intra-abdominal fat from computed tomography scans and other measures of body composition. Participants in the high-volume exercise group obtained more substantial reductions for total fat as well as subcutaneous abdominal fat.

Based on the findings of the study cited above as well as general expert consensus, the minimum threshold you should strive for would be 150 minutes of aerobic exercise weekly, with the best results occurring in the 300 minutes weekly and above range.

Running is perhaps the most obvious example of cardio, but jogging and brisk walking also count, as do cycling, swimming, and games like tennis and basketball.

3. Try High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

High-intensity interval training, commonly abbreviated as HIIT, describes exercise programs that intersperse short bursts of intense exertion with recovery periods. This approach can actually keep your heart rate elevated more consistently than traditional cardio workouts can.

Research into the benefits of HIIT has shown it to be highly effective at both burning fat and stimulating weight loss.

A team of Australian researchers looked into the impact of HIIT on total body fat mass as well as visceral fat mass. At the end of the study, participants in the exercise group had lost more weight than those in the control group (1.5 kilograms) and also reduced the amount of fat more substantially (2 kilograms). They also achieved a significant reduction to visceral fat—17% in just 12 weeks.

One reason for the impressive results produced by HIIT may be that it prompts the body to burn more calories than if you engaged in other forms of exercise for the same amount of time.

Findings published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research showed that HITT led to a 30% greater caloric burn than aerobic or resistance exercise. The authors compared the caloric expenditures of 30-minute single sessions of resistance, aerobic, and HIIT of the same duration. HIIT proved to be conclusively able to stimulate the greatest caloric expenditure. "These data suggest that individuals can burn more calories performing an HIIT session," the authors wrote, "than spending the same amount of time performing a steady-state exercise session."

A major benefit to HIIT is the flexibility of this training approach. For instance, you can simply alternate between walking and jogging (or jogging and sprinting if you're more fit) or cycle between bodyweight exercises like burpees, push-ups, and squats with short periods of rest between each set.

4. Make Time for Sleep

Getting adequate rest in the form of high-quality sleep can be every bit as essential to burning fat as your exercise regimen.

A wealth of research reveals that getting enough sleep is vital in order to lose fat, or simply to prevent weight gain.

According to a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, sleeping 5 or fewer hours per night increases your risk of weight gain compared to those who sleep for 7 hours or more nightly. The study conclusions came from self-reported sleep duration and subsequent weight gain data from 68,183 women over a period of 16 years.

Plus, an analysis conducted by researchers from the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson determined that individuals with better sleep quality as well as longer average sleep duration are more likely to be able to successfully lose weight. "Better subjective sleep quality increased the likelihood of weight-loss success by 33%," the authors wrote. Conversely, they found a link between poor sleep quality and a lower likelihood of continued successful weight loss.

The amount of sleep you need will vary depending on your age and other factors, but most research shows that an average adult requires at least 7 hours of sleep each night for optimal health, including successful fat-loss efforts.

Adhering to a sleep schedule, limiting your caffeine intake in the evening, and avoiding the use of electronics in the hour leading up to your bedtime can all help you to get a sufficient amount of high-quality sleep.

5. Take a Daily Dose of Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar (or ACV) is a time-tested folk remedy for a variety of conditions, and modern research indicates that there's a verifiable basis for many of these claims, including potential benefits for heart health, blood sugar control, and fat burning.

It appears that acetic acid is the primary active ingredient behind vinegar's benefits. A number of studies done with animals have shown that acetic acid can prevent the accumulation of harmful visceral fat. According to one such study, acetic acid can "protect from the accumulation of lipid in the liver as well as abdominal fat." Another showed that acetic acid upregulates genes that instruct the body to burn fat, thereby inhibiting weight gain without altering food intake or leading to skeletal muscle loss.

It appears that these results translate to humans. A 12-week Japanese double-blind trial investigated the effects of vinegar intake on fat loss and found that daily intake of both 15 milliliters of vinegar as well as 30 milliliters of vinegar led to reductions in body weight, BMI, and visceral fat mass.

Vinegar also supports efforts to lose fat by enhancing feelings of satiety. Findings published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition show that consuming vinegar led to increased feelings of fullness. Participants ate a portion of bread containing 50 grams of available carbohydrates after an overnight fast with a dose of vinegar containing either 18, 23, or 28 mmol of acetic acid. Those in the placebo group consumed the same portion of bread without vinegar. The higher the acetic acid intake, the greater the increase in satiety at 30, 90, and 120 minutes postprandially.

Studies suggest that most people can take 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, a dose range shown to stimulate fat loss, daily without experiencing adverse side effects.

Some people dilute vinegar (essential as undiluted vinegar can cause enamel erosion) and drink it as a beverage while others prefer to incorporate their daily dose into dressings, marinades, sauces, and so on.

6. Adopt a High-Protein Diet

A number of high-quality studies have demonstrated that high-protein diets can help to reduce your appetite and heighten your fat-burning capacity.

According to an article published by the Journal of the American College of Nutrition: "There is convincing evidence that a higher protein intake increases thermogenesis and satiety compared to diets of lower protein content. The weight of evidence also suggests that high protein meals lead to a reduced subsequent energy intake."

One reason for protein's beneficial effects on fat loss and weight loss is likely its influence on peptide YY. Protein induces the greatest release of this anorectic hormone (meaning it decreases your appetite) of any macronutrient.

Protein also helps you lose belly fat specifically. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at how energy intake from different macronutrients affected waist circumference over a 5-year period. The authors enrolled a cohort of 22,570 women and 20,126 men aged 50-64. The most telling connection they uncovered was an inverse association between protein intake and increased waist circumference: the more protein participants ate, the less likely it was that their waist circumference would grow larger.

It appears that protein's essential amino acid content is also significant. One study found that the amount of times a person's food intake hit the threshold of 10 grams of essential amino acids inversely correlated to their percentage of central abdominal fat. In order to decrease abdominal fat deposits, then, it's important to maintain an optimal intake of essential amino acids (more on this later).

To learn more about how to incorporate high-protein foods into each meal, review this helpful resource.

7. Consume Fat Strategically

Some healthy fats can provide vital support as you work to lose fat, but other unhealthy types can majorly undermine your progress.

Trans fats, manufactured by pumping hydrogen into unsaturated fats, are perhaps the most concerning type (read more about them in this article). These fats can be commonly found in margarine and many types of packaged foods. Scientists have found connections between trans fat consumption and increased body fat, belly fat, and waist circumference, as well as inflammation, heart disease, and insulin resistance. Safeguard your health by reading labels carefully and avoiding products made with trans fats, which may also be listed as partially hydrogenated fats.

Healthy fats, however, can help quell your appetite because they take a long time to digest. This may be why studies show that individuals who eat diets rich in healthy fats, like the Mediterranean diet which features plenty of olive oil and nuts, have a lower risk of weight gain than those who follow low-fat diets.

Certain fats, like coconut oil, may have unique fat-burning benefits. A randomized, double-blind, clinical trial showed that a daily dose of 2 tablespoons of coconut oil can lead to reductions in waist circumference and abdominal obesity.

Olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, and many types of nuts and seeds all contain healthy fats that research has linked to a plethora of benefits, including fat loss. Keep in mind, however, that these foods do contain a high number of calories and over-consuming them could stymie your weight-loss efforts.

8. Avoid Refined Carbohydrates

While it can be beneficial to adopt a high-fat, low-carbohydrate eating plan like the keto diet, simply avoiding refined carbohydrates may be sufficient to help you lose excess fat.

Refined carbohydrates contain grains that have been stripped of their bran and germ during processing, resulting in a finer texture but a lower fiber and nutrient content. Foods made with these grains tend to have a higher glycemic index, making you more susceptible to blood sugar spikes and dips, which in turn increase the likelihood of making less-than-ideal food choices.

Researchers have found that consuming a diet high in refined carbohydrates increases your likelihood of accruing excess visceral fat and developing insulin resistance. Studies show following a reduced-carbohydrate diet can lead to greater overall fat loss, abdominal fat loss, and total weight loss.

While many studies look at the effects of strict low-carb diets, other research indicates that replacing refined carbohydrates with unprocessed, nutrient-laden choices can suffice for fat loss.

Grain-free carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes and other starchy vegetables may be the healthiest choice, but it appears that even making the switch to whole grains can yield demonstrable benefits. A cross-sectional analysis of participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging found that compared with subjects in the lowest quintile of whole-grain intake, subjects in the highest quintile had lower body BMIs and weights, smaller waist circumferences, lower total cholesterol, lower LDL cholesterol, and lower 2-h glucose.

Furthermore, data sourced from 2,834 participants (49.4% women, age range 32 to 83 years of age) in the famous Framingham Heart Study revealed an inverse association between whole-grain intake and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue as well as visceral adipose tissue. Contrastingly, refined-grain intake was positively associated with both abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue and visceral adipose tissue. Both findings accounted for age, sex, current smoking status, total caloric intake, and alcohol intake.

To maximize the efficiency of your endeavors to lose fat, keep a close eye on your consumption of pastries, pasta, white bread, and other foods containing refined grains. Preferentially choose whole grains such as buckwheat, oats, and barley or pseudocereals like quinoa.

9. Increase Your Soluble Fiber Intake

If you're serious about losing fat, you should take care to maximize your soluble fiber intake.

This special type of fiber absorbs water to form a gel in the digestive tract, which slows the passage of food through your digestive system. This promotes fat loss by ensuring that you feel full for longer, helping you naturally limit the amount of calories you eat. It may also shift the way your body digests food so that you absorb fewer calories, according to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition.

Furthermore, it seems that soluble fiber can help you lose potentially harmful excess abdominal fat. A team of scientists set out to examine how lifestyle factors affected abdominal fat over a 5-year period. This observational study found that soluble fiber intake was inversely associated with visceral abdominal tissue. For each 10-gram increase in soluble fiber, intake, the rate of visceral abdominal tissue accumulation decreased by 3.7%.

Some top sources of soluble fiber are: flaxseeds, shirataki noodles, legumes like lentils and black beans, avocados, Brussels sprouts, and blackberries.

10. Optimize Your Beverage Intake

When taking steps to eat a healthy diet, be sure to consider your beverage intake. Sugar-sweetened beverages like soda and juice can account for a large portion of your intended caloric intake without providing much in the way of nutrients. The same holds true for alcoholic beverages, and doubly so for sweet ones.

Studies have demonstrated a link between the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and abdominal obesity as well as alcoholic ones.

Consuming drinks that contain high amounts of sugar can undermine your fat-loss goals even more than eating a sugary food containing an equal number of calories. The reason for this appears to be that your body does not register liquid calories in the same way it does solid ones.

A study done by researchers from the Department of Foods and Nutrition at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana demonstrates this point neatly. Study participants consumed 1,880 calories in the form of soda or jelly beans for 4 weeks, then after a 4-week reset period, they flipped. Body composition was measured weekly. During the jelly bean period, participants consistently decreased their intake of other calories. During the soda period, however, they did not, producing increases to body weight as well as BMI.

Limiting your intake of sugary and alcoholic beverages will likely be key to your ability to lose fat and keep it off. Fortunately, replacements like water and green tea can actually increase your odds of success.

One study found that drinking a glass of water prior to a meal can increase weight loss by an average of 4.4 pounds, perhaps because it results in decreased caloric consumption during the meal.

And green tea, another excellent option, contains caffeine and antioxidants including catechins like epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) that can escalate the rate at which your body burns fat.

According to a study published in Obesity, ingesting catechins can produce reductions in body fat, systolic blood pressure, and LDL cholesterol. From this, the authors concluded that consuming green tea can decrease your risk of obesity as well as cardiovascular disease. It also appears that the catechins found in green tea can stimulate visceral fat loss specifically, per a study published in the Journal of Functional Foods.

When paired with exercise, the fat-burning effects of green tea can be even more pronounced. Two studies with a counterbalanced crossover design found that, after ingesting green tea, average fat oxidation during moderate-intensity exercise rose by 17%. Consuming green tea also increased insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance.

If you're a devoted fan of the sweet stuff, start off by substituting a glass of green tea (iced, if you prefer) for your usual soda and take it from there.

11. Experiment with Intermittent Fasting

When you eat can influence fat loss just as much as what you eat. Intermittent fasting, an eating approach that relies on alternating between periods of eating and periods of fasting, can amplify fat loss.

There are a number of ways to practice intermittent fasting. Some variations involve fasting for a few days out of the week while eating on the remaining ones (the 5:2 diet), while others limit the number of hours each day during which you eat (the 16:8 method). Other popular options range from meal skipping to alternate-day fasting to Eat-Stop-Eat all the way to the Warrior Diet, a fairly extreme iteration that involves restricting caloric intake to raw fruit and veggies during the 20-hour fasting window and eating a single large meal during a 4-hour window at night.

Findings published in Nutrition Reviews indicate that both alternate-day fasting and whole-day fasting can effectively reduce body weight, body fat, total cholesterol, and triglycerides. Over a period of 3–12 weeks, alternate-day fasting reduced body weight by up to 7% and decreased body fat by up to 12 pounds.

Another study looked at the benefits of the 16:8 method and found that it produced notable decreases to fat mass without depleting muscle mass. It also improved other health-related biomarkers.

Participants often find it easier to stick with intermittent fasting than more traditional approaches to calorie restriction, and it appears to be just as effective, if not more so, particularly in terms of reductions to visceral fat mass. A review of studies on intermittent fasting and alternate-day fasting carried out by researchers at the University of Illinois found that participants achieve between 4% and 7% decreases to belly fat on average within 6 to 24 weeks.

12. Cultivate a Positive Outlook

Many observers have noted the difficulty that people in the midst of a weight-loss journey often face when it comes to dropping pounds.

A scientific-research article, “Positive psychological correlates of successful weight maintenance in Australia,” addressed key components of the issue. Unsurprisingly, it corroborated the fact that the mental aspect played a significant role in dieters’ ability to lose fat. More specifically, researchers note that a substantial amount of research and subsequent treatments regarding weight loss had been based on behavioral and medical interventions and that—many times—these had been met with limited success. As a result, they aimed to look at reliable psychological predictors of successful weight maintenance.

The study was conducted on 250 Australian residents, 18-65 years old, who had attempted to lose weight over the last 12 months. Online surveys gauged their mentality by measuring qualities such as satisfaction with life, positive and negative affect, gratitude, flourishing, strengths, and hope.

Results of the study suggest that there are significant differences in some positive psychological variables (e.g., being a hopeful person) between successful weight-loss maintainers and non‐maintainers in this population. As you may be able to predict, individuals with more positive variables proved more successful when it came to maintaining weight loss.

The study also showed that by adding specific positive psychological variables to their existing weight-loss treatments, the mood and motivation of those attempting to lose weight may improve. This, in turn, may lead to more effective overall weight-maintenance behavior.

To summarize, nurturing a positive attitude will help you enter into the proper mindset for manifesting the fitness goals you’re hoping to achieve.

If you're not a naturally positive person, don't despair—there are concrete steps you can take to increase your optimism. For instance, try displaying confident, upbeat body language throughout your daily routine to get the feeling of success ingrained in your body and mind. You can also borrow the visualization technique beloved by athletes and imagine yourself tearing up the trail, track, or gym session as well as how the weight is going to start melting off your body thanks to your tenacious efforts.

The words you use matter too. Start incorporating positive, energetic language into your daily speech (especially the inner kind) in order to establish a winning frame of mind. And if you encounter a set-back, don't allow that to discourage you. Progress is rarely linear and negative self-talk will only make it harder for you to achieve success in the future.

13. Address Your Stress Levels

In the same way that positive thinking can augment your resolution to lose fat, stress can hinder that by adversely impacting hormone production.

Studies have found that stress triggers your adrenal glands to produce more cortisol, known colloquially as the stress hormone. Increased levels of cortisol, in turn, can lead to a greater appetite and increased abdominal fat storage. These effects are exacerbated by the fact that cortisol also increases your craving for what researchers term "palatable foods" and what laypeople typically refer to as "comfort foods."

Unfortunately, there also appears to be a correlation between a larger waist size and higher-than-average cortisol production. Researchers from Yale University found that subjects with high waist-to-hip ratios tend to secrete more cortisol in response to stress. They gauged this by taking multiple measures of cortisol and mood during a session of stressful tasks (eg., timed arithmetic) as well as during a time-matched, control rest session. They also considered background life stress and psychological trait variables.

Finding ways to lower your stress should be a priority as you strive to lose fat. Some popular, research-validated methods for doing so include yoga and meditation.

14. Boost Your Probiotic Consumption

Probiotics, a beneficial type of bacteria native to your digestive tract, can positively influence many aspects of your health, including the rate at which your body burns fat.

Research indicates that increasing your intake of probiotics from the food you eat or taking high-quality supplements can help you lose weight and change your body composition by dropping your fat percentage.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that participants who took probiotics consistently experienced a significantly larger reduction in body weight compared with participants who took a placebo.

It's important to note that not all strains of probiotics produce the same effects. Those in the Lactobacillus genus, including Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus amylovorus, and Lactobacillus gasseri, appear to be the most effective at stimulating weight and fat loss.

A multi-center, double-blind, parallel-group randomized controlled trial found that consuming fermented milk containing Lactobacillis gasseri decreased participants' abdominal visceral fat areas by an average of -8.5 %. Other measures including BMI, waist and hip circumferences, and body fat mass were also significantly decreased at the trial's conclusion.

Probiotic-rich foods include kimchi, sauerkraut, natto, tempeh, and beverages like kefir and kombucha.

If you find it difficult to incorporate probiotic foods into your diet, probiotic supplements offer an alternative means for obtaining the same benefits. Be sure to choose one containing the strains linked to the benefits you desire.

15. Ensure an Ideal Supply of Amino Acids

As touched on previously in our discussion of the importance of a high-protein intake, amino acids play a vital role in your body's fat-burning process.

Your basal metabolic rate, which measures how many calories your body burns while at rest, is determined largely by the energy cost associated with ongoing protein turnover.

Experts estimate that between 33% and 50% of our basal energy production goes toward protein turnover. The precise amount of energy required, in other words, the number of calories burned, is determined by the amount of muscle you have.

The best way to increase your protein turnover demands is by building muscle. A 10-kilogram muscle gain, with no other changes, results in a 35,000 increase to the number of calories burned by protein turnover. A pound of fat contains approximately 3,500 calories, so the 35,000 increase translates to the loss of 10 pounds of fat over the course of a year.

When working out to build muscle, it's essential to provide your body with enough protein as well as enough amino acids. To learn more about the relationship between amino acids and weight loss, read this article.

To begin losing fat and building muscle, supplement with Life, a patented essential amino acid formula that is proven to stimulate muscle growth 3 times more than any other protein source. 

Amino acid supplements may help you lose weight.

How to Lose Fat: The Bottom Line

As you may recall from an earlier section, no single dietary shift or exercise program will help you reach the end result you desire on its own. In order to lose fat and keep it off, you will need to find the combination of methods that works for you. It's likely that this will require a shift to an overall healthy way of eating and healthy lifestyle.

While there's no magic solution for fat loss, you can undoubtedly make the process easier by supplementing with essential amino acids. To find out more about how an ideally balanced essential amino acid blend can help you lose weight, click here.

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