Bodybuilding Advice For Women: Using Bodybuilding To Lose Fat And Tone Up

By Mercedes Khani, IFBB Figure Pro, CFT

How to lose fat, without killing yourself in a tough diet... There are so many stories, so many tales. How do they do it? And who really knows the best way to do it, without it being too hard on you? We all have our jobs, a busy lifestyle and family to attend to.

There is no time for a complicated diet added to your busy schedule. I understand it's hard to take the first step and get started if you don't know what to do. When you see someone who has done it, then you know this person must know the answer.

Being a fitness model, a figure competitor and a personal trainer, I know how to do it and now I am telling you all to learn! Just follow the free schedules and titles below as a guidance to your new lifestyle, to the new you. Are you ready to see the fat melting off, easy and stress-free? Let's go!

Training As Little As 3 Times A Week

You can train with weights as little as three times a week, just 45-60 minutes per session. After weight training I want you to do 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise to burn off the fat even faster. You can also do up to 45 minutes of cardio if you're up for it, but no more than that. I will leave that up to you.

Alternatively, you can do your cardio on your days off from the weights. The best time to do it in this case is as soon as you wake up on an empty stomach since research indicates that more body fat is burned when performed on a fasted state since glycogen (stored carbohydrates) levels are low. A walk outside or on a treadmill will get the job done but in reality, you can choose any machine you like. However, do not underestimate the power of walking on the pavement.

There is no need to spend your life in the gym. That is what the commercials tell you on TV, to sell you their 'new innovative' product. But it's really not that hard; actually you will find yourself enjoying doing the exercises. Time flies by as you're occupied and before you know, you're done. You just need to get up and go. I promise that you'll feel great when you're done!

Sample Training Schedule

To spend only three days a week in the gym, and have significant results, here is a great sample schedule to do it. Follow this exact schedule if you like, or feel free to adjust it to your preference if you wish to train other body parts on different days.

Monday: Legs and shoulders, calves
Tuesday: Training off
Wednesday: Back and biceps, abs
Thursday: Training off
Friday: Chest and triceps, abs
Saturday: Training off
Sunday: Training off

Number of Exercises, Sets, Reps

Try to do 3 or 4 exercises per major muscle group (legs, back, chest, shoulders), and 2 or 3 exercises per minor muscle group (biceps, triceps). You can do 1 or 2 exercises for abs and calves. Go for 3-4 sets of about 15-20 reps per set as I have found this repetition range to be optimal for toning and fat loss.

Training Time

On training days, try to train not later than before the 4th meal, so that you have enough energy to train well during the day.

Mercedes Khani's Bodybuilding Diet Advice for Fat Loss and Toning

Instead of talking about what you can not eat, let's talk about what you can eat. There are actually a lot of food items that you can include in your bodybuilding diet plan!

I want you to have six 'meals' a day as eating more frequently will increase your metabolism which in turns helps you to lose fat and will also feed the muscle so that it gets that firm and toned look you are after. Don't worry, you won't have to spend your time in the kitchen cooking all day; some of the 'meals' will be a quick shake or a small snack. You will be eating every 3 hours so that your body becomes more efficient at burning all the calories faster. This is what we want to happen in order to lose that body fat.

I made a great tasting diet schedule for you, which will help you get the results you are looking for. Each meal consists of carbs, proteins and fat sources as you can see in the diet plan below. Feel free to switch the foods from the sample diet below up with any of the other food sources from the same category. Just pick what you feel like having from the table, or follow my sample diet schedule and you will be well on your way to great results. It's easy as that!

Food Preparation

Preferably I want your vegetables to be steamed and I want you to use Pam fat-free cooking spray instead of olive oil or especially butter to cook your food. You can find calorie-free salad dressing in all flavors for a great tasting salad and delicious calorie free marinades for chicken, beef or fish. You can also use fat-free mayonnaise, ketchup, sweeteners, herbs and spices to enhance the taste of your food. Told you this diet would be good!

The amount per food item is based on a 120-140 pound female who wishes to lose body fat and add some muscle at the same time to become more toned and firm looking. Add a little more amount per food item if your weight is higher and/or if you are very active during the day.

Meal Timing

I like to train after the 3rd meal and before my 4th meal, so I added some good fats in the meal before my training. If you want to train earlier, try to move your good fats (in this example the almonds) to the meal before your training. They will give you extra energy to train and will make you feel full, especially with a full glass of water to spread out the fibers in your tummy, which the almonds contain.

You don't want the good fats in the meal after your training. Fat slows down the uptake and digestion of nutrients in your body and after training the body needs carbs and proteins as fast as possible in order to start the recovery process. By having a post workout meal that does not include fats, the necessary carbs and protein nutrients will be taken up by the body faster after your training.

Next Page: Mercedes Khani's Sample Diet Plan For Fat Loss and Toning