how do you burn fat?

[iuhoosiers]

One burns fat if you take in less calories than you use but how do you prevent your body from falling into a catabolic state? I want to start cutting and I am going to roughly cut my diet from 4000 down to 1800-2000 and bump my cardio up from 30 min - 1hr, but I want to know how I can prevent my body from entering a catabolic state. Or will my body just get used to the lack of calories?

Its virtually impossible to keep your body from becoming at least somewhat catabolic. No matter how many anabolics you are on, in a calorie defecit you lose some muscle (at least I always do). You best bet is to use a good anabolic like anavar and keep protein as a major chunk of your caloric intake. Other things like bcaa's may help if taken prior to and during your cardio, but probably not significantly. The best way to lose fat is to do so slowly, keeping your calories just below maintenance. Patience is key.

[iuhoosiers]

Thats what I figured erokyrwrld. I think I got caught up in bodybuilding hype, rather than a normal person. I could care less if I lose a little muscle as long as I get ripped again. Thanks for the advice!

[SaTisFieR]

Originally Posted by iuhoosiers

One burns fat if you take in less calories than you use but how do you prevent your body from falling into a catabolic state? I want to start cutting and I am going to roughly cut my diet from 4000 down to 1800-2000 and bump my cardio up from 30 min - 1hr, but I want to know how I can prevent my body from entering a catabolic state. Or will my body just get used to the lack of calories?

Bro, Simply maintain the target heart rate in ur cardio work out.
Trust me on this, i've tried it and it works perfectly

[Rondo]

reduce your carbs thats what works for me!

[iuhoosiers]

Rondo don't you feel run down and like you have no energy when you reduce your carbs?

[BACKIN]

Keep your protein intake up with that much cardio if done right you don't have to drop so many calories and rememer to still eat like 5 meals a day to keep your metabolism going. Good luck bto you can do it.

[iuhoosiers]

Thanks Backin, the only problem is I do have to drop that many calories. I don't know why but its so hard for me to drop weight! Sucks man!

[Rondo]

Originally Posted by iuhoosiers

Rondo don't you feel run down and like you have no energy when you reduce your carbs?

not really it depends on how low you drop your carb intake.

[getingbiger]

Your question coul require an extremely wordy answer, but I will try to be as brief as possible. First you need to know that a pond of fat equals approx. 3500 calories. In order to lose body fat, you must have more calories out than calories in per day. The trick is to not reduce your cals. by to much therefore reducing too much muscle mass (some muscle loss or catabolism is inevitable). An easy formula to remember is RMR + daily activity - 500. RMR = resting metabolic rate which is the amount of cals you need for normal body function i.e. breathing, thinking, and blinking. A semi accurate way to figure this is weight x 10% +/- 5%. Example: I weigh 230, therefore my RMR is roughly 2300 cals./day +/-115 cals. RMR makes up roughly 65%-80% of your daily caloric needs depending on how active your job and life are which equal the other 35%-20%. Therefore I burn approx. 2760-3105 cals./day. In order to prevent too much catabolism the standard is to cut 500 cals./day which would equal 3500/wk. or 1pd./wk. Hope that helps...