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How to “drop the last 10″ has become a very popular question in the fitness world and people are always trying to find the answer. You see it connected to expensive products on website programs, book covers, etc. We wanted to give you some advice on what you can do to drop your last 10 – 20 lbs of body fat that you just can’t seem to get rid of. And since we aren’t making money off what we are telling you, then you truly know we are just giving our honest opinion and letting you know what has helped us. It’s that simple. No gimmicks, no books to buy, just some advice from people trying to help.

In this post we are going to go over a few key things we think will help you reach your goals in “dropping the last 10″. The concepts are actually pretty simple and we don’t want to over load you with information because that can become confusing. So consider this a short guide or reference to remind you how you can make small changes to your daily lifestyle that could change your life forever and get you showing those abs you have been dying to see.

Ok, no more talking, time to get down to business…

For starters, quit worrying about the calories you are burning during exercise and concentrate on the calories you are burning the other 23 hours of the day. A lot of people think they will get thin and fit if they simply run or jog every day. Because we burn a lot of calories when we run right? So therefore, this must be true. The problem with this thinking is that when we run we burn fat, and then our body looks for other places to get energy and thus it begins to start burning off your muscle too. The biggest problem with this is that muscle is what will burn calories for you day and night even while you are sitting still or sleeping. It is also known that muscle naturally burns 3x the amount of calories as compared to fat. So we do not want to rid ourselves of this natural calorie burner. We want to embrace it and build our muscles to allow us to burn calories long after we are done at the gym. This does not mean running is bad. Here at MidwestFit we run a pretty good amount (as you have probably noticed) and not all types of running will diminish muscle gain. But it does mean that we need to concentrate on building muscle as well as mixing in cardio if we want to be lean. So look to have 3 days a week of some real good strength gains as well as days in which we will concentrate just on cardio. Notice that cardio will also be mixed in during some of the strength days. Most importantly, to burn the fat we need to elevate our heart rate for 30+ minutes. A lot of our workouts are high intensity and will help to accomplish this. But this is one of the main reasons people seem to fail at burning the fat they desire. They go for a 45 minute jog at a light pace they can tolerate when in reality they should be pushing themselves for 30+ minutes in order to get that heart rate into the fat burning zone (60-85% of its max).  Here is a site that will help you look up your max and target heart rate: Calculate Heart Rate.

Building on that concept, we want to fuel our muscles. How do we do this? Protein. Lean meats that have protein will help your to build your muscles and will fuel your body to become the fat burning furnace that it was meant to be. Examples of some lean meats are chicken, salmon, beef, pork, etc. You can find more information on lean meats all over the web. Also, as a snack you can put together healthy protein shake combinations by including whey protein, plain organic yogurt, ice, and some fresh fruit (like raspberries or blueberries). At the end of this post we include a “Meal Schedule” displaying how we suggest you to eat throughout the day and this will show you some of the food options that you could choose from as well.

(See section of “Protein Powders” for help finding the right kind of protein supplement)

A healthy, well balanced diet may be the most important aspect when it comes to burning off the last bit of fat on your body, especially the stubborn fat around the waste. There are tons of free resources all over the web about healthy foods and what you should be eating. As time goes on our “Recipes” section will be including some great healthy meal choices that can assist you. But in an attempt to make things short and sweet we will say this: 3 to 6 healthy, well portioned meals a day containing things like fruit, veggies and lean meat. Eating 1 to 2 meals a day will put your body in what is called starvation mode and make it impossible to lose weight. That’s about as simple as we can make it. In terms of veggies, eat as many as you want. When you have a serving of broccoli do not bother measuring it out, just eat the damn broccoli. Also, do not soak your veggies in dipping sauces like ranch, or butter (yes, even light ranch dummy). Simply steam your veggies and enjoy. You will learn to love them. After all they are nutrient packed power foods that fuel your body to become the best it can be. How is that not something you want? Most people flee from veggies and then spend hundreds of dollars on shakes that claim to have the nutrients you need when all this time the answer was sitting idle on the outer edge of your local grocery store. Do you want to be big-man strong or little-girl weak? Eat your damn veggies then.

Another important factor in regards to daily nutrition is staying hydrated. When you first wake up in the morning chug some water since your body can become dehydrated at night and this can get your metabolism going again. It is also recommended that you drink a glass or two of water before a meal. This can help your body feel full before you eat. A lot of times when we think we are hungry we are actually thirsty so by doing this you are helping your body decipher between the two. Another great thing about water? It doesn’t contain calories. You should be eating your calories not drinking them!

Alright so now you know a little bit about what to eat and how often. But how MUCH should you be eating? The best and simplest way to explain this is by giving you a tool to figure out how many calories you should consume so that you can continue to lose weight. Now, we do not recommend that you simply concentrate on how much you weigh. This can be very misleading. You really should be looking at your body fat percentage and how you can lower that. In all honesty you could gain 10lbs. in a year and be in a hell of a lot better shape than if you had lost 10 lbs. (muscle weighs more than fat folks!).

Though these are not completely accurate or the best way to see how many calories we need, they can help. So here is a calorie calculator we found: Calorie Calculator. The best thing to do would be to visit a trained professional – Registered Dietitian - and get their opinion but if this is not possible, just compare different calorie calculators on the web and then calculate the average. So how about body fat percentage? This can be tough but we have found that the best way to do this at is using a skinfold caliper. Here is a great video showing you how you can do this: Calculate Body Fat Percentage.

So how about we sum things up a bit?

STEP 1: Concentrate on building lean muscle as well as daily cardio exercise that elevates your heart rate to a level necessary for burning fat (60-85%).

STEP 2: Find out how much you should be eating (caloric intake per day) and what your body fat % is so that you can measure improvement/failure. Try to get body fat down to 7-10% range.

STEP 3: Eat less and eat healthy…3 to 6 nutritional meals a day.

STEP 4: Always stay hydrated by drinking water.

EXAMPLE MEAL SCHEDULE:

8:00 A.M. – 1 Cup of oatmeal (original, not flavored), 1 piece whole wheat toast w/ organic peanut butter, and if necessary a cup of coffee (black).

11:00 A.M. – Snack time! Have a banana (or other fresh fruit) and 1 oz. plain almonds.

1:00 P.M. – Lunch. Try low sodium, fresh sliced deli turkey on whole grain bread with lettuce, tomato, onion, etc.

3:00 P.M. – Snack time! Have some fresh veggies and a side of light string cheese.

6:00 P.M. – Dinner. 1 grilled chicken breast, side of steamed broccoli or other assorted veggies. (Or one of our great recipes!)

8:00 P.M. – Snack time! Have a protein shake. Include 1 scoop whey protein, ½ cup of organic plain yogurt, 1 tbsp of organic peanut butter, 1 cup skim milk, and 1 cup ice.

Feel free to throw in a cheat meal on the weekend or once a week so that you have something to look forward to and don’t go insane! This can be critical in sticking to your nutritional plan. (i.e. a burger and some fries!)

(Remember: It is important to consult a trained professional - Registered Dietitian - Medical Doctor - when starting any new type of diet and/or exercise program!)