Despite what you may have heard on television and in the media, it is simply impossible to target an area of your body for fat loss. This concept, known as "spot reduction," is impossible because as your body uses fat for energy, it burns this fat from deposits all over your body, including your thighs, stomach and other areas where fat is deposited. In order to burn fat and develop lean muscle mass and reduce the levels of fat on your thighs and stomach, you're going to have to create a caloric deficit, that is, burn more calories than you put into your body.
Cardiovascular Exercise
Cardiovascular, or aerobic exercise, increases the amount of blood flow to your muscles in order to deliver nutrients to your muscles as you exercise. This exercise also helps you burn fat more efficiently because you're increasing your need for energy. A good aerobic, or cardiovascular, exercise plan should include exercise that increases your heart rate for at least 30 minutes three times a week. Whether it's taking an aerobics class, swimming, bicycling or jogging, try to find an activity that you enjoy because this will help you stick with your exercise plan.
Strength Training
Just because you're focusing on burning fat doesn't mean that you can forego a trip to the gym. Simply put, more muscle means more calories burned. This means that you can eat more calories without having them stored as fat. Weight training causes your muscles to require more energy to perform the work necessary to lift weights and even causes your muscles to burn more calories during the recovery phase following a workout. Try going to the gym at least three times a week, but the more time spent lifting weights, the better.
Pay Attention to Calories
Every pound of fat on your body equals 3,500 calories of unused energy. One calorie is the amount of energy necessary to raise the temperature of one gram of water one degree. In order to lose weight, you need to reduce the amount of calories while at the same time becoming more active to burn more calories. According to the President's Council on Physical Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, adding just 15 minutes of exercise, such as walking one mile, to your daily routine can burn up to 100 calories a day and about 700 calories a week, or around 10 pounds per year. Conversely, eating just one extra slice of bread every day can result in 10 pounds added to your body after just one year.
Cut Out the Fatty Fried Foods
One easy step that just about anyone can take is to stop hitting the drive-thru at fast-food restaurants. Cutting down on heavily processed, high-fat foods can have a great impact on the amount of fat stored on your body. Try instead to eat more whole grains, green vegetables and fruits. The calories in these foods are combined with high nutrient levels and are burned much more efficiently than calories stored in processed fat.
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