What's the best way to

StormWarrior

Burn as much fat as possible, and gain just a little muscle? (For a woman). How frequently to eat, what to eat, which types of exercise are best?
Is it ok to lift heavy weights if you want to decrease your overall size?

EileenG

Weight training and cardio.

Women find it very very hard to build up muscle. We have this pesky testosterone deficiency. No matter how hard we lift, we still just look toned, not like Arnie's little sister.

So go to the gym, do squats, deadlifts, bench press, military press, dips, barbell rows, all the "guy" lifts using free weights, and you'll improve your muscle tone, your balance, your core strength and speed up your metabolism.

You know those fitness models you see on the covers of magazines? They don't get to look like that using pink dumbbells, they lift hard and heavy.

You also need to do cardio. That's any exercise that makes you sweat and pant. The harder you work, the more fat you will burn. Ignore that crap about "Fat burning zone", harder work gives better results. You can do running, cycling (I love road bikes for this), rowing, aerobic classes, martial arts, elliptical or a mix of all of them. Swimming should be good cardio, but for some reason, in spite of Micheal Phelps, most people have trouble losing significant fat while swimming. Maybe because they get hungry afterwards.

Ideally, I'd do weight training three times a week, and a good cardio session three other days and have one rest day.

Food: Stick to whole fresh unprocessed food, the sort you buy in butchers or green grocers, not in supermarkets with endless "best by" dates. Each meal should have a quality protein, a health fat and a green vegetable. Six meals a day are popular with bodybuilders, but three meals will work just as well if you have your calories right. Aim to eat just slightly below your maitenance calories, so you lose weight slowly and consistanly, and without being constantly hungry.

Gavin "shels"

Add Chilli to stuff it's proven to speed up your metabolism, how true that I'm not too sure.