subject: Planning How To Burn Fat Fast Takes Time [print this page] Anything worth doing is worth planning out before you start. This is especially true when you're trying to figure out how to burn fat fast. All too often, diet plans encounter snags, delays and setbacks because they weren't well planned before getting started.
It All Starts with Setting Diet Goals
At the very beginning, you should be setting diet goals. You should look at it realistically--you're probably not going to lose one hundred pounds in a week, or even a month. You should start out with an overall goal and not worry about a time frame just yet. Often times, you can get your overall goal by talking to a doctor or dietician.
After you set your overall goal, you should set milestones that will lead you to this goal. This is where you really have to be realistic and take into consideration factors that can change as your fat burning mission continues.
For instance, nearly every diet will start with a ten pound loss in the first week from losing excess water weight. This is often a particular selling point for many fad diets, and what they fail to mention is that it's a pretty common result.
What they also don't tend to mention is that it won't happen again for several weeks until your metabolism gets increased to that level again, assuming the diet plan actually increases your metabolism.
Understanding Weight Loss Plateaus and Setbacks
Another thing to consider is how you're going to handle weight loss plateaus and setbacks. Again, these problems aren't discussed very often in most commercial weight loss plans. Here are a few ways to get through these frustrating times.
Plateaus are probably the most frustrating aspect of burning fat. You're doing everything right, it's been working for the past few weeks, now suddenly, you're not losing weight. Basically, your body has found stability in what you're doing, so it's not burning fat anymore.
What you have to do is shake things up a little. Increase your weight training or your cardio or both. Intensify your diet. You can also slack off for a day or two and go back at it full force.
"Slacking off" is another issue some people have with dieting. These people become so determined to lose weight that they develop a "hardcore" mindset and see a day where they "fall off the wagon" as a failure.
Nothing is a failure until you give up completely, and having an "off day" might be what it takes to trick your metabolism into REALLY kicking up the fat burning. An off day can be a useful tool to break plateaus, and it can also be helpful to keep you on track with your diet.
Many dieters feel sick and bloated after an off day, and it can build an aversion to carbs and strengthen their resolve to diet.
Building a Timeline But Keeping It Flexible
Now that all your milestones are in and you've considered all potential setbacks, you can start building a timeline. There are several things to keep in mind at this point.
First of all, don't think that you're "done" when you reach your weight loss goal. This is, in and of itself, a milestone in a lifetime of healthy living. This will greatly influence how you go about losing weight--will you choose diet and exercise, will you choose pills and powders, will you count calories? In short, you will have to decide on what you can live with for the rest of your life.
Also, with this in mind in your planning for how to burn fat fast, don't beat yourself up if you don't reach any of your milestones on time or if you lose your total weight in the projected time frame.
Remember, you have a lifetime to work with, and the only reason to set these goals is to have something attainable to go for. The glory of the Roman Empire wasn't because they won most of their battles, because they didn't. Their empire was formed because they wouldn't give up.
