Where do I start on my diet?
Fat Burning Exercise

In addition to the 2 ways exercise can speed up your metabolism there is another way that it can be used to dramatically reduce your weight. We have already talked about calorie deficits created by eating under your maintenance level and burning the of calories you eat while going about your every day activities. Now we will introduce the next method.

Heart rate

There is a well known way that exercise can get rid of that stubborn fat, but a lot of people get confused about the details on how to achieve it. It is commonly know that cardiovascular exercise like running, swimming, cycling etc... (anything that makes you move around a lot and gets you breathing heavily) can burn fat straight off your body, but it has to be done in the correct way to get it to work.

The first key here is your heart rate. There is a specific heart rate range where you body will start to burn fat. It is called the "fat burning zone" and is around 150bpm (beats per minute.) However it does differ from person to person, so it is important to work out your own personal "fat burning zone" below.

Length of activity

The second key to fat burning is the length of prolonged activity. You need to keep your heart rate at your fat burning zone for at least 20 minutes. 5 minutes just won't do it. You don't start burning fat until your body has used up the carbohydrate stores and this takes about 20 minutes. This is why the Government advises 20-30 minutes of exercise 3 times a week.

That is a guideline for the general population, so if you are trying to lose weight, then you should try and exercise about 5 days a week. Start with 1-2 days and build up so you get used to the intensity level, and make sure you don't overdo it. You need adequate rest to enable your body to cope with exercise.

How to calculate your heart rate

Now that you know your ideal heart rate to exercise at, if you stick to this level as closely as possible, then your body will burn a good amount of fat while exercising.

The easiest way to measure you hear rate is to count your pulse on your wrist for 15 seconds and then x it by 4 to get your heart rate per minute. Or you could go one step further and buy a heart rate monitor.