How to Get to 8 Percent Body Fat

To get in shape it takes a lot of hard work, discipline, knowledge and time.  Most people would like to get a six pack and they would be satisfied well beyond their expectations.  But for some people, the buck doesn’t stop there.  Eight percent body fat is extreme when it comes to the average person losing body fat.  Some people even go beyond 8 percent – as low as 4 or even 3 percent.

These are your bodybuilding competitors who are trying to attain physical perfection when it comes to dieting.  So you ask, “How to get to 8 percent body fat?”  Well discipline is one of the main factors when it comes to achieving this goal.  First you must mentally be ready to prepare for the suffering that lies ahead.  Second, you must have the time to devote to all the training, preparing the meals, and eating throughout the day in order to supply your body with the amount of food you’ll need everyday.

This doesn’t mean 5 days a week,  8 hours a day.  It means 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Depending on how low your body fat is before you start can determine how long you’ll have to endure the suffering.  If you have experience with getting your body fat down this low in the past, it won’t be as challenging for you, but for the newcomers – you’re in for the ride of your life.

The first week you may think that you can handle the dieting and training with no problem.  But as the weeks go on, you will soon learn a new found appreciation for everyday food as you are denied this when it comes to strict dieting.  The average diet can be anywhere from 3 to 5 months.  Again this all depends on your overall condition – meaning body fat levels.

Let’s start with the beginner.

Diet What Nots

Month 1:  You want to clean the diet up.  This mean eliminating processed foods such as canned foods, frozen foods, and sandwich meat.  Also, things that may have different types of additives like sugars, fats, sodium, etc,.  Next you want to make sure that you’re getting rid of dairy products.  And yes this means yogurt as well as the rest of the foods that come from a cow, excluding the cow itself.

You want to also eliminate all the natural juices.  Even though they are natural they do contain a lot of added sugar.  You want to try to avoid a lot of fats.  In other words you don’t want to use grease or oils when you’re cooking food, excluding cooking spray which can be used throughout the diet.  You want to try to stay away from beans even if they are fresh.  These tend to hold you back when trying to lower your body fat.

I know a lot of you at this point are saying, “What can I eat?”  And the answer is not a whole lot, hence the word suffering.

Lean Protein Diet

So now what you should be eating for the first month.  First and foremost, lean protein.  This doesn’t mean that you can’t eat red meat.  Steak is fine.  But if you’re a beginner, through my experience, I’ve found that by weaning my clients off of some of the heavier meats like ground beef, they remain somewhat sane.  This allows for more strength and energy throughout the day the first month of the diet.

Chicken and fish are also important parts of your lean protein diet.  Again if you stove top fry any chicken or steak, make sure to use the cooking spray or you can always grill the meat.  You should be eating 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily.  For example, a 150 pound person needs about 300 grams of protein a day.  One chicken breast is around 35-37 grams of protein.  One steak is about 60 grams of protein.

Another important part of your diet is the green ruffage which would be broccoli, green leaf salad and even spinach without all the extras that people tend to put in there.

Complex Carbs versus Simple Carbs

What are simple carbs?  Well it’s simple – it’s sugar.  And this means fruits as well.  Complex carbs are rice, potatoes, pastas, and breads.  The first month of your diet, you want to eliminate all sugars that do not come from fruit.  So in the first month, fruit can still be taken in but on a minimal daily basis.

Complex carbs can also be used for energy like simple carbs but also need to be kept to a minimum on a daily basis.  This means less than 200 grams a day during the first month.

Fluids

Water is the best source of fluid intake and I suggest dousing your system with a gallon a day.  Other drinks can be utilized such as teas and coffees with non-dairy creamer and sugar substitutes.

Supplements

This is where supplements come in.  Supplements were created for people like you who have to for some reason or another omit different foods from their diet.  And the more advanced supplements have been created to enhance those seeking to get to 8 percent body fat or less.  There are many supplements on the market for burning fat, but let’s talk a little about the essentials.

Multivitamins, calcium magnesium combo, Omega 3-6-9, amino acids, L-Carnitine, and other amino acids are just a few that can aid while on a diet.

Fat burners and muscle building supplements are also a great aid while you’re on your diet.  Prohormones can really aid with utilizing the body’s testosterone by boosting it and speeding the fat burning process as well as increasing the strength which promotes more muscle size.  Fat burners have a lot of thermogenic ingredients that provide energy which can be useful while on a diet and also speeds up the metabolism and promotes a small amount of fat and fluid loss through sweating and urination.

Just keep in mind that supplements alone aren’t wonder drugs and will not work unless they are used in conjunction with weight training and cardiovascular exercises.

Training

And of course cardio and weight training are necessary to burn calories and build muscle.  Five days a week, 1 hour and 15 minutes of weight training and 1 hour of stationary cardio a day is a good start but again for the beginner, 3 hours of cardio a week and 3-5 days of weight training a week is acceptable during the first month.

Going Forward

The first month’s diet and training plan can be duplicated throughout the five months but the training and cardio should increase.  As far as dieting goes, sugars and fats will decrease.  Ground beef will be eliminated by the middle of the diet.  Carb intake will be minimized as low as 100 grams a day or less depending on your tolerance.

Supplements will be utilized throughout the entire diet.  Other types of supplements can also be added such as pre-workout supplements for extra energy.

This is just a little information to get you started.  Everyone’s needs are different.  Everyone’s tolerance is different.  So when deciding on your next diet to get to 8 percent body fat or lower, make sure you’re well informed mentally and financially in order to succeed.