Well, body fat is not exactly the most forgiving of foes. Fat is the storage center and manufacturing plant for the hormone leptin, which is partially responsible (the irony of it all) for the regulation of fat storage! The problem starts when fat cells begin to decrease in size. Leptin decreases along with it, and this begins and age-old chain reaction—your body thinks a famine is approaching, and fights the release of the fat.

Make sense?

So, what’s our best strategy around this evolutionary process that no longer serves its purpose? Simple—we bear down and demand the release of the fat! Now, here’s three ways you can do that, and all three work like a charm. This article could have easily made it into the “fitness” category, but since nutrition tricks are used, it’s considered a nutrition article. Nonetheless, it involves training, timing and nutrients.

Ready?

Weapon 1: Burn Off All The Free Fatty Acids

That sounds a bit vague, so let me explain. When you train (weights or otherwise), eventually your body releases fat into the bloodstream to be used for energy. These free fatty acids float about until they’re no longer needed and then tend to be restored for future use.

Most people assume that if they “burn X amount of calories”, all is well. No no no! Not so. The really stubborn fat likes to hang on to those little fatty acids. After all, fat and leptin are like husband and wife, and they don’t care for Divorce Court.

So, we need to burn off all these suckers we can while we can—and by far the best time to do this is immediately ‘after’ a workout, especially an intense weight training session.

Here’s what I do: First, I have some expresso right before training. Moderate amounts of caffeine has been shown to liberate more fat into the bloodstream, making it a thermogenic agent. I have to be careful, as I’m a bit sensitive to shifts in blood pressure, so I have a single shot. This has had no negative reactions on my health, and it really helps on the days when you’re a bit tired!

Next comes the nutrition tricks…and timing is everything as they say. (When someone finds out who ‘they’ are, please…email me.)

Immediately after weight training, consume a large glass of cold water mixed with 5 grams of L-Glutamine (a tasteless, powdered amino acid.) This will boost recovery like you won’t believe, and there’s no calories to content with. Along with this, swallow 10-15 amino acids capsules (Frank Zane makes the best I’ve found) along with 5 desiccated liver tabs (I like Jay Robb’s brand.) This little cocktail will keep you from munching on your own muscle as you proceed to the next phase of our little biochemical extravaganza. It’s protein without the calories…and that’s important. Once calories are ingested, free fatty acids run home. This is a ‘cheap trick’, but it works pretty darn well.

Now, hit the cardio—about 20-40 minutes steady-state at 70-80% maximum heart rate range. Nothing earth-shattering, just enough to burn off some of those fat monsters. Plus you’ll burn calories and elevate your metabolic rate slightly—it’s a win-win.

Then, to top things off, consume your post-workout drink. If you’re in a fat loss stage, I recommend passing on the old “insulin spike” window of opportunity stuff and just taking in 40 grams of good carbs along with 20 grams of lean protein. Eat in the gym. Yeah, no kidding. Like I said, timing. Have your food with you. This is a good time for a protein drink!

Weapon 2: Nuke Nighttime Insulin

Have you ever heard about people who refuse to eat after a certain hour? It’s an old trick for losing body fat…however, the price is rather heavy unless you do it right. I’m about to tell you how to do it right, and once again, you’ll need some supplemental help.

Rather than fasting at night, you can get the same benefits without the massive muscle loss fasting can cause. Also, when you fast, you’re obviously hungry—a really surefire way to blow any fat loss protocol! The moment hunger hits and you see a burger commercial…well, it can mean lights out for the night. We don’t want that. So, here’s the plan:

Take 5-10 aminos every 2 hours along with a bowl of raw vegetables only. Use some nonfat Ranch dressing if you must, but keep it light—our goal is to consume all the protein we need, very little carbs, and very little calories. This trick will keep your body guessing and out of starvation mode. I do not suggest using this for more than 8 weeks, however, as food should be consumed regularly throughout the day during normal conditions to keep your metabolism nice and healthy. However, for people in critical fat loss periods, this technique works wonders. Your insulin is reduced to nothing, and your fat loss during the night is rather dramatic.

Weapon 3: Fasting Training And Cardio Work

A lot of people have trained on a fasting state. Again, this requires nutritional trickery if you’re going to avoid muscle loss. And, again, we return to our friends: amino acids, higher doses of L-Glutamine, and a few other goodies.

Here’s the stack I like: cold water (helps the body heat up due to the cold, a natural response), 5 grams powdered L-Glutamine, 10-15 amino acid capsules, 5-10 desiccated liver tabs, and 4 grams of L-Carnitine. L-Carnitine is another amino acid, and usually it does little for fat loss, even though that’s one of its primary functions in the body (to mobilize fat stores.) However, without insulin present (and if you did weapon #2, your insulin is very low), and prior to training, L-Carnitine can boost fat loss rather dramatically in high doses.

Then, train as usual. You may find it takes a week or so to adjust to fasting training, but I personally favor it for many reasons. The fat loss is worth it, and your blood pressure is lower during training when conditions such as these are present.

What If I Don’t Want To Be This Radical?

I understand—not everyone wants to nor needs to be this radical to lose body fat. That’s why I wrote The Every Other Day Diet™, available online now (www.jonbenson.com/books/). You’ll find some similar strategies, but without the extremes—and you’ll get to enjoy your favorites foods throughout the week to boot.

However, for the hard-core guys and gals, these weapons are strong and efficient fat-killers!