When it comes to fat burning, the first thing that we think of is which route to take, do we exercise, or do we go on a diet, or do we do a combination of them both. The traditional advice to burning fat is to eat less and to move more.
There is a ton of things to do to burn fat however we are constrained by our finite resources such as time and money. Weight gain and loss revolve around caloric expenditure and consumption.
Diet Only Route
This is the easiest route because we are going to be eating anyway so we might as well cut out the calories in our meal. For most people cutting out calories is easier than burning them off but what we really want is burn fat and not to lose muscle. When we take the diet only route that is exactly what happens, not only do we burn fat but we also lose muscle as well.
When most people hear the word "diet" they think of grilled chicken and salad only, however this is an extreme diet that you probably won't have to commit yourself to. You might want to try a more balanced diet that includes high fibre and a variety of colours.
The diets with the fastest results are the low carb diets which make them the most popular, but they are difficult to sustain. Unfortunately though, most people on a diet only program tend to gain the lost weight back within two years.
Exercise Only Route
Exercise is an important part of weight loss, without it, part of the weight loss would involve muscle loss and not just fat loss. The problem with an exercise only plan is that you could possibly end up eating more and thus gaining extra unwanted weight. However those who do exercise regularly tend to keep the weight off for longer than those who don't exercise.
Exercising for just twenty minutes can boost your mood for up to 12 hours and can even help treating people with depression. Exercise has many benefits like reduced stress and better sleep at night. The most important benefit of exercise is that it increases the rate at which your body burns fat.
Muscle tends to take up less space than fat so even though you'll gain muscle weight you will defiantly look and feel better.
A Combination of both Exercising and Dieting
This is probably the best route to take.
The great thing about this approach is that dieting and exercising help to complement each other. The general rule is that weight loss should be 75% diet and 25% exercise. The important thing to remember is that dieting initially helps the process of weight loss but exercising helps keep the weight off.