The Lean-Body Laws

Supplement with L-Theanine

Low calories, lots of training, and thermogenics can cause sympathetic nervous system overload—putting you on edge and making you jittery. L-theanine—a unique amino acid found in tea—has a neurological calming effect, without taking away from any of the benefits of stimulants.

Breathe Deeply

Sometimes you just need to take a moment to breathe in and breathe out. Deep diaphragmatic breathing has been shown to decrease levels of exercise-induced oxidative stress in athletes. Emphasizing a long exhale stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system and further aids in the recovery process.

Eat Fewer Meals

Eating 6-7 times per day while dieting isn’t a smart move. Research from the University of Missouri shows that the size of your meal—not how often you eat—is a more powerful driver of satiety. Instead of eating like a rabbit 7 times a day, eat like a king 3-4 times.eat

Stay Active with Aerobic Conditioning

Don’t dismiss the importance of steady-state cardio. High-intensity sprinting and intervals are great for calorie burning but, when it comes to improving your overall fitness levels, aerobic work could be the answer. Maintaining a steady intensity for an extended period of time—think 45-60 minutes of work at a heart rate of 130-140 beats per minute—strengthens your hearts ability to pump blood so that you can train harder and recover better.

Focus on Your Actions

Unfortunate newsflash: You really have no control over the rate at which you lose fat. There are a lot of different individual metabolic and environmental factors at play and, as of yet, we don’t fully understand them all. Don’t get obsessed with losing 1-2 pounds a week. Instead, focus on actions that are under your control. Stick to your diet and training plan, focus on being consistent, and train with intensity. Train hard, eat right, and the fat loss will come.

Plan for the Worst

Being optimistic is great but, when it comes to fitness, being realistic is better. Always have a backup plan. Don’t focus on how awesome your diet and training regimen is; instead, try to figure out when it will fail. Determining sticking points ahead of time (when you would skip a workout, in what situation you won’t have the food you need) is a proven strategy for increased success. Plan for the worst so that, when it happens, you’ll be ready.

Indulge Without Gorging

Restricting your dietary options—and categorizing everything into “good” and “bad” foods—works in the short term but is a terrible long-term strategy. Instead of eliminating entire food groups from your diet—and running the risk of binging later—find a way to enjoy the foods you like in moderation. Take the “if it fits your macros” (IIFYM) route and eat treats in the context of your diet.

Sleep Like a Baby

Fat loss is usually an adventure of more—more dieting, more training, and more cardio. One thing that’s continually left off of the list: more sleep. Cutting down on your sleep is a nightmare for fat loss. When you sleep poorly or too little, fat-loss and hunger hormones are kept from doing their thing, making your fat-loss efforts more challenging. Avoid this by getting 7-9 hours of sleep each night.

Lift with a Consistent Tempo

Metabolic training is often synonymous with fast lifting. That refers more to your rest periods than your lifting tempo, however. Keep a controlled and deliberate tempo when lifting. As opposed to just leaving you winded, a consistent tempo creates greater metabolic stress, which leads to better body composition changes.

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