How to lost body fat percentage in a week?
How to lose body fat percentage in a week?
Whether it’s to fit into an old pair of jeans, or you want to prevent health issues from deteriorating, there are plenty of reasons why you might want to lose weight.
Men and women store and burn fat at different rates/
For men, the typical healthy body fat percentage is between 8 to 24 percent. While for women, the typical healthy body fat percentage is between 21–35 percent.
Your healthy body fat percentage will depend on several different factors, including:
- Sex
- Age
- your weight and height
- your lifestyle (e.g., your diet and how often you exercise)
It’s important to be aware that having too little fat can be just as dangerous as having too much fat.
This is because your body needs a certain amount of “healthy fat” to function properly, and have enough reserves to burn for energy.
Falling below your minimum recommended body fat percentage can cause a number of side-effects including:
- vitamin deficiencies
- weakened immune system
- diabetes
- fertility issues
- nervous system damage
- risk of heart disease
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How to measure how much body fat you have?
There are several different ways you can use to measure your body fat percentage.
These include:
- Using a tape measure
- Using calipers
- Body fat scale
- Hydrostatic weight
- MRI or CT scan
To learn more about how each method works, read this article here.
You can usually get the most accurate body fat measurement from a doctor.
How to lose body fat percentage in a week
We’ll mention some of the top tips you can implement to lose body fat fast whilst also maintaining muscle mass in the process.
1. Strength training
Strength training or resistance training helps ensure you retain and build muscle mass. This is important because short-term diets can sometimes cause muscle cells to shrink as you consume fewer calories than you burn, leading to what’s known as a calorie deficit.
One study showed that people who d0 resistance training/strength training for a 10 week period could lose up to 4 pounds of body fat and even burn calories while they’re resting.
The best exercises to do for strength training is either weight lifting or if you don’t have access to weights, there are a number of full-body workouts you can from home which build up muscle including:
- Squats
- Pull-ups
- Push-ups
- Lunges
- Deadlifts
- Bench press
- Mountain climbers
- Russian Twists
For more advice and tips on workouts you can do to lose weight and tone up, check out our other articles here and here.
2. HIIT
High-intensity interval training or HIIT is a form of high-intensity workout that combines bursts of vigorous exercise with short periods of rest so you keep your heart rate beating fast.
HIIT has been proven to burn more calories in a shorter period of time than other types of lower-intensity cardio exercise, and in turn, leads to more fat loss and weight loss.
Check out a HIIT workout routine you can do from home here.
3. Cardio exercise
Cardio workouts also help you burn fat and lose weight.
Walking, jogging and biking are all types of low-intensity cardio exercise.
For even greater fat burning results, try more-intense exercises such as running, swimming and biking at a speed of over 10 mph.
4. Eat plenty of lean protein
Protein is not just a supplement you can take after a vigorous workout; it should form part of your core diet.
Protein fills you up for longer, and curbs your appetite for eating in-between meals so will help you reduce your overall calorie intake fast.
In addition to this, protein helps you maintain and build your muscle mass, this is crucial to give you the energy you need to exercise.
The best sources of lean protein include chicken, fish, lean beef, legumes and eggs.
5. Eat plenty of vegetables
Vegetables are an excellent source of fiber and another type of food that keeps you feeling full for longer. Moreover, fibers and good for your gut health and help you digest foods more easily.
Meals which are heavy on protein and low-carb vegetables (such as broccoli, spinach and bell peppers) help increase your metabolism and stabilize your blood sugar levels which in turn helps you burn more fat and lose weight.
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6. Eat healthy fats
Not all fats are unhealthy, and as we mentioned earlier our body needs a certain level of body fat in order to give us enough energy to function.
Foods that should be avoided are those with trans-fats such as sugary snacks, and baked goods (e.g., croissants, donuts, etc).
Instead, you should go for foods with healthy fats that fill you up, and take a long time to digest so you get a longer-release of carbohydrates.
Good sources of healthy fats include:
- Avocados
- Cheese
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Olive oil
- Fatty fish
- Dark chocolate
Do bear in mind that all of these high-fat foods should be eaten in moderation as they are high in calories, so you do need to ensure you don’t go overboard.
7. Cut back on refined carbs
Refined carbohydrates are found in some of the most appealing foods such as white bread, white pasta, some cereals and pastries.
However, too many refined carbs can lead to fat build-up on your body and also cause bloating.
Try and replace these foods with whole-grain alternatives such as wholegrain bread, brown pasta, oatmeal, brown rice, and quinoa.
8. Avoid alcohol
Most alcoholic beverages are high in calories and water-retaining carbohydrates, which can quickly lead to increased body fat build up.
Try cutting our alcohol from your diet to bring down your weekly calorie count and replace this with healthier alternatives like water or natural fruit juices with no added sugars.
9. Go for foods with probiotics
Probiotics are a type of healthy bacteria that clean out your gut and keep your digestive system working well.
Studies have shown that people who add probiotic supplements to their diet lose more body fat and more weight compared to those who took a placebo.
Probiotics can be found in natural yogurt, sauerkraut and kefir.
10. Drink tea
Many people know that tea contains antioxidants which have calming properties to relieve stress and tension. But perhaps what is less known is that tea can also help you lose weight and has also been shown to help lose weight.
Teas have a substance called catechins that help increase your metabolism and help your body break down fat more quickly.
The best teas to drink for weight loss include green tea, camomile, and peppermint tea.
There are plenty of other benefits from drinking tea. See here for more information.
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11. Intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting involves abstaining from food and drink for part of the day and only being permitted to eat during a specific window.
It’s a great way to start cutting down your calories quickly and can help you make a great start on your weight loss journey.
A number of studies have pointed to the benefits of intermittent fasting in helping overweight people to achieve weight loss.
There are a number of different types of intermittent fasting which you can read more about here.
However, three of the most popular methods are:
- Alternate day fasting: This involves fasting every other day and eating normally on non-fasting days.
- The 5:2 method: This involves fasting 2 days a week and eating normally during the 5 other days of the week. During the fasting days, it’s recommended to reduce your calorie intake to between 500–600 calories.
- The 16:8 method: This involves fasting for 16 hours at a time, and having an 8-hour window to eat. Many people prefer to choose the 8-hour window to fall between midday and 8 pm.
Studies on this method have shown that eating during a restricted window resulted in people consuming fewer calories and losing weight.
You should bear in mind for the most effective results with any of the intermittent fasting plans, it is strongly recommended to eat healthily even during the non-fasting days to ensure you don’t undo the benefits you’ve gained while fasting.
12. Get a better night’s sleep
Getting a good night’s sleep is important not just to be able to function properly the next day, it can actually help you lose weight.
Studies have shown that getting less than the recommended 8 hours of sleep a night can lead to increased levels of obesity.
When you don’t get enough sleep, your body’s rate of metabolism drops, meaning your body isn’t converting calories to energy as fast as it should.
When the metabolism goes down, your body can start to store more fat.
On top of that, lack of sleep can lower the levels of the leptin hormone in your body, which can cause you to feel hungrier and have more of an urge to overeat.
Below are a few tips we recommend to improve the quality and length of your sleep.
- Sleep on a comfortable pillow
- Put up some blackout blinds
- Keep your cellphone away from you at least an hour before you go to bed and turn it off before you sleep so you don’t get distracted. This will help unclutter your mind and focus on sleeping.
- Take a hot shower before you go to bed to relax your body
- Try some breathing techniques to relax before you go to bed.
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DISCLOSURE: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. This means at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. These commissions help me create free valuable content like this article. Any representations are aspirational statements only and results are not typical. There is no guarantee that you’ll receive the same results or any results at all. Your results will depend entirely on your work ethic.