We recommend that you stick to the exercise norm and fit the model. We also advise you to do strength training. This ensures that you lose as little muscle mass as possible during weight loss. Muscle mass is essential in daily life and keeps your energy consumption going to lose weight more quickly.
Doing strength training twice a week is sufficient for this. In addition, interval training is a more efficient way to burn calories than endurance training. But you can also burn some fat mass with moderately intensive efforts such as brisk walking and cycling.
You must choose an exercise and sports rhythm that you can sustain for a more extended period. Unfortunately, we still see too often that people drop out because they don’t enjoy sports much. So choose something that you want and can do together with others. This motivates and keeps you going. In addition, it is essential to ensure that you do not compensate for sports. For example, by exercising less or eating more outside of sports. These are reasons why exercise may not be effective for weight loss.
Frequently asked questions about burning fat.
How fast can I burn fat?
We recommend that you do not lose more than half a kilogram per week. This is partly because you also lose more muscle mass when you lose more weight. To lose half a kilo a week, you will need to eat about 3,500 calories less than you need each week. Stay in control of your energy intake by tracking your diet in an app and then creating a diet plan that works for you.
How much fat can I burn?
In theory, to burn 1 kilogram of fat, you need to burn 7000 kilocalories. But if you are losing weight, this does not mean that all the calories you burn come from fat mass. If you lose weight too quickly, your body may use more muscle proteins and glycogen as an energy source. That is why half a kilo per week of weight loss does not have to mean half a kilo of pure fat loss.
You can therefore assume that you need several weeks to lose 1 kilo of fat.
How do I burn my belly fat?
Unfortunately, you can’t burn fat in one place. So losing only your belly or specifically the fat on your arms is impossible. We explain in this article why burning fat locally does not work.
How fast can I burn belly fat?
You cannot burn belly fat directly. As you have read before, there is no such thing as burning fat locally. This means that you cannot make factual statements about how quickly you will burn your belly fat. This differs per person and depends on your starting situation.
Burn visceral fat
Visceral fat is the fat surrounding our organs and is often referred to as unhealthy fat. Research shows that if subjects were more active and exercised, they burned more visceral fat than those who only went on a diet without exercise. So definitely move more if you want to lose fat, even if this is mainly for aesthetic reasons! Read more about the relationship between activity and burning visceral fat here.
Learn to get a grip on your unhealthy eating habits
More exercise and sports are not a panacea. If you still compensate for those calories burned by eating more, you will eventually lose very little weight or not at all. If you suspect that you suffer from this compensation effect, take a critical look at your eating habits.
Recognize patterns in your eating behaviour. Do you drink too much during the day? Get rid of that unhealthy habit and create an if-then plan for yourself. We explain how to do this in this article about behavioural change.
Get enough fibre
Another helpful weight loss consideration is fibre. Getting enough soluble fibre from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains will help you feel fuller and improve digestion.
If you think you’re not getting enough soluble fibre from your diet, you may want to consider a supplement. Research has shown links between soluble fibre and successful fat loss.
It sounds like a lot to think about, but following a healthy, balanced diet doesn’t have to be complicated. If you’re trying to lose weight, you want to make sure you feel complete (enough) – being hungry all the time isn’t essential for burning fat. Choosing satisfying “whole” foods and taking supplements when you need them can be easy and sustainable to help you meet your fat loss goals.
training
Looking back at the basic equation for fat loss, you need to burn calories – that’s where exercise comes in. We all burn a different number of calories, even when we don’t exercise (known as our resting metabolism), based on our body size and composition.
While it’s difficult to measure this number, even in a lab setting accurately, some calculations can help you estimate how many calories you’ll burn at rest.
If you’re interested, check out the Harris-Benedict equation.
Do Anaerobic Exercises
People with more lean body mass (muscle) burn more calories at rest than people with more fat mass. Think of strength as active, calorie-burning tissue, while fat hangs out there for storage purposes without burning much energy.
This is one of the reasons why many people exercise – to optimize the ratio of muscle mass to fat mass, thus burning more calories in the long run. We can increase this lean muscle mass through weight lifting or anaerobic exercise.
One weightlifting strategy is called “drop sets.” This means lifting the heaviest weights for a set number of sets and reps and then doing the same exercise with lighter weights until your muscles get tired. It trains your muscles to work harder and see optimal results. Another strategy is to use “supersets,” where you perform two opposing muscle groups quickly without taking a break to recover.
