To lose weight and get in shape you must have a good diet and exercise regularly to burn fat. The first thing you must understand about exercise is that just because you are burning calories does not mean you are burning fat. Your main focus when you exercise should be losing body fat, and you can’t lose body fat just from burning calories.

When we exercise, our bodies will start burning calories, but the calories that are burned are the calories from carbohydrates in our system. In order to burn calories from your stored fat, your body requires the presence of oxygen. There is a certain amount of oxygen that your body needs in order to start burning fat and the only way for you to measure the amount needed for your own body is to keep up with your target heart rate during exercise.

Please understand that if you continue to only burn calories from carbohydrates, you will lose mostly “water weight” which leads to a decrease in your metabolism. Also, think of the calories that are burned from carbohydrates as your energy calories. If you lose too much energy calories then your muscles will not receive enough energy to increase your metabolism which indirectly burn fat. Therefore you must increase your calorie intake when you are on an exercise program to replace your burned energy calories.

Burning Fat Calories during exercise

During aerobic exercise, your body goes through several stages before it reaches the point where you are burning fat. You will hear people say that you are only burning sugar (carbohydrates) not fat during the first 10 minutes of exercise. This is true to a certain extent. I say this because you will continue to burn sugar past the 10 minute mark if you are not working out hard enough for your body to want more oxygen; or you are working out too hard and you can’t supply your body with enough oxygen for fat burning. When you exercise you must move at a steady pace (not too fast, not too slow) so your body will utilize your stored fat (not carbohydrates or sugar) as its energy source. Also remember that just because you reached the fat burning stage does not mean you will stay there. Staying at the fat burning stage once again depends on if you are moving at a pace that is right for your body. Make sure that you are within your target heart rate range.

Burning Fat Calories at rest

The only way for you to continue to burn fat calories hours after you have finished working out is through the anaerobic exercise of weight training. Weight training is the key to burning fat at rest. Weight training is an anaerobic activity that will cause you to burn more calories than aerobic exercise. The calories that you are burning during weight training exercises are mostly calories from carbohydrates (meaning you must eat even more calories per day for energy); but the calories you burn at rest are mostly calories from fat. The reason you are burning fat at rest is because weight training increases your metabolism which uses your stored fat as energy.

To make your body the ultimate fat burning machine you must do aerobic (cardio) and anaerobic (weight training) exercises.

Anyone who’s been on a low carb diet will tell you that the first week is the hardest. Some report actual physical symptoms of carb withdrawal, like irritability, headaches, and lack of energy. Others say it’s the emotional struggle to stay away from rice, bread, pasta, potatoes the staples that they’ve grown used to serving with every meal.

These carb cravings can easily tempt you into giving up on your diet altogether. Don’t. You have so much to gain (or in this case, lose): think 10 pounds in the first two weeks, as some diets claim, and a visible reduction of tummy handles. (Hey, you’ll be able to fit in a smaller size of jeans!) So how do you survive the battle against bread? Here are some tips:

Indulge in the right food

One of the advantages of low carb diets is that you don’t starve yourself. You can eat very well, just stay away from certain types of food. How does help beat the carb cravings? If you’re not ravenous, you’re less likely to raid the fridge in a mad fit of hunger. You can also replace a high-carb snack (like a chocolate bar) with an equally tasty bag of peanuts, and not feel deprived.

Veteran low carb dieters actually advise keeping stashes of low-carb diets in their desk drawers, or by the television the places where most people get the desire to munch on something. Keep the portions small, just enough to make you feel that you’ve had a treat, without actually turning into a binge. You’ll need a lot of small plastic bags, or tiny plastic containers. Another tip: prepare the individual servings beforehand, preferably after eating a meal so you’re not tempted to put more than you should.

Keep yourself busy

Most of us eat not out of hunger but habit. You’re bored, stressed, or you’re killing time before you take on the next item on your to-do list. Avoid temptation by keeping your mind on something you enjoy. Some dieters carry a book around, others start a hobby like scrapbooking which will let them pass long hours without even thinking about food. For those who work at the office, and need something to keep them away from the vendo machine, bookmark a website that you can browse until the snack attack passes.

Look for other forms of recreation

It’s become customary to make meals the center of any recreational activity: eating chips while watching a movie, going out to dinner with friends. While you’re still getting used to the low-carb regimen, pass up the invitation to have drinks after work and invite everyone to watch a play, hit the badminton courts, or attend a museum opening.

Get a diet buddy

Dieting becomes more fun when you have a diet partner to give encouragement, praise you for every lost pound, and even help you scout for the low-carb friendly restaurants in your area. Don’t know anyone? Go online and join a dieter’s forum. Exchange recipes, share thoughts, and hey, even make new friends. You’ll still feel the carb cravings, but somehow, saying no is a little easier.

It’s unfortunate that the phrase ‘low carb’ (like many diets) is sometimes associated with diet fads. Sensible people may dismiss them because of that. But far from being based on junk science, a low carbohydrate diet can be healthy and just the right choice for some.

No single dieting method is perfect for everyone. But low carbohydrate diets help lower the one thing that all good diets aim at: reduced calories. There’s no getting around the fact that more calories consumed than used leads to weight gain. Reducing carbs the right way can ‘cut to the chase’, nutritionally speaking.

A carbohydrate is just some combination of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. They’re consumed in the form of sugars or starches. A sugar is a relatively simple carbohydrate. Starches are considered complex carbohydrates.

Far from being harmful, carbohydrates are the body’s primary energy source. That makes them essential. But in modern society, some people get too much potential energy, which turns into real body fat. Any excess calories the body acquires are stored mostly in the chemical bonds in fat cells.

But low carb does not mean no carb. Even the most extreme low carb diets recommend that no less than 40% of calories should come from carbohydrates. Most are in the range of 45-65% depending on the individual. Some people simply process carbs more efficiently than others. At the high end of the range, about 10% should be sugars, 55% complex carbs.

Those considering a low carb diet also sometimes believe it necessarily recommends no fruit or vegetables. Fruits like apples and oranges, it’s true, are often high in sugars. Many vegetables are very starchy. But here again low carb does not mean no carb. A healthy, balanced diet, even while focusing on reducing carbohydrates, will include some fruits and vegetables.

One of the big advantages of a low carb diet is that it doesn’t spend too much time counting calories. The focus, instead, is on adjusting the percentage of certain types of foods eaten. In particular, things like pasta and bread are reduced, sometimes considerably.

But that can lead to a problem, because the bottom line is calories consumed vs calories used. Reducing carbohydrates doesn’t just reduce calories from that source. It alters the way the body uses them, tipping the scales. As with any diet, it’s necessary to observe the results. A healthy diet, even one that aims chiefly at weight loss, should not leave you feeling low on energy all the time.

The way out is simply to adjust according your specific body’s responses. It may mean abandoning the low carb diet approach entirely. It isn’t the perfect choice for everyone.

Some who consider this approach worry about not getting enough fiber. Since fiber contains carbohydrates (technically, it is a carbohydrate), it may need to be reduced. But no responsible low carb diet recommends eliminating fiber entirely.

More importantly, fiber – because of its unique properties – is not digested, at least not fully. That’s part of its usefulness in the diet. So, since it isn’t digested it doesn’t contribute to the body’s amount of calories consumed. It aids digestion and health in many ways, but not by adding to the ‘energy store’. No need to forego fiber.

Investigate the different types of low carb diet and find out if one of them is right for you.