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Whether you want to lose 5 pounds or 50, the following tips will help you to
achieve your weight loss goals a little easier. Here are some practical and
effective methods to rev your metabolism, burn fat, and when you burn fat you
will begin to see your belly flatten.
The following tips are simple, but the effects will add up. When you
successfully implement one change, you’re more likely to do another. The more
you’re able to stick to your goal, the greater your confidence, and the more
chance you’ll have to start and accomplish new goals. These small changes can
add up to a lifestyle change and helping you to become the best you can be.
Hit the gas early during your workout.
Men who started a 30 minute running workout at high speed, working at 70% of
their VO2 max, and then eased up to 50% of VO2 max burned 5 to 10% more fat than
those who started slow and then revved up the pace. The after burn of the high
intensity workout seems to carry over into the lower intensity period,
increasing overall fat burn.
Use public transportation.
Taking the bus or train is as good for your body as it is for your wallet and
the environment. Researchers found that people who switched from driving
everywhere to using a light rail system lost an average of about 6 pounds in a
year. The theory is that by walking the extra blocks it takes to get to and
from bus stops and train stations, you naturally increase your activity level
enough to result in weight loss.
Drink two cups of coffee, black.
A study found that drinking two cups of
caffeinated coffee can boost your
metabolism by 16% compared with the decaf kind. Make sure to drink it black
though. The 67 calories in a spoonful of
sugar and a tablespoon of cream can negate caffeine’s calorie burning
benefits.
Blot your pizza with a napkin.
You’ll dab off about 4.5 g of fat or close to 30 calories per slice. Of course,
depending on the pizza and your toppings, the amount of excess oil you can
remove varies.
Avoid Alcohol.
A study found that drinking as little as 1 ounce of
vodka can slow your metabolism by as much as 73%.
Douse your food in Tabasco.
Capsaicin is the spicy compound found in the white membrane of chili peppers and
has been shown to rev up your metabolism and can burn somewhere near an extra 50
calories. Eating salsa may boost fat burn a little bit, but don’t pile on the
chips and guacamole. You still need to watch out for overall calorie intake.
Fuel up on fiber.
In addition to making you feel full, longer and therefore helping you eat less,
fiber can help you burn through as much as 30% more calories. Fiber has
roughage, and roughage takes a longer time for your body to break down and
requires more energy to digest.
Sleep more.
Dieters who logged 8.5 hours of
sleep burned more fat than those who slept 5.5 hours. While both groups lost
a similar amount of weight, the people who got a full night’s rest dropped the
majority of their weight from fat while those who slept less lost most of theirs
from muscle.
Increase physical activity outside of the gym.
In a recent study, overweight women completed the same 150-minute-a-week
exercise program, and while some women lost up to 7 pounds of body fat,
others gained up to 5. The researchers think that the women who lost the most
were the ones who maintained or increased their physical activity beyond the
gym; those who gained weight had cut back on their everyday activity. If you’re
going to the gym, you don’t want to negate it by eating a lot afterward or to
stop taking the stairs. You have to live the same life, if not improve on it,
when you begin to exercise.
Eat breakfast.
If you eat
breakfast
daily you may boost your metabolisms by as much as
10 %.
Pump iron.
Lifting weights can help you burn a few more calories even after you finish your
workout.
An hour-long strength-training program burned 100 more calories in the next 24
hours than when you don’t use weights.
Choose tuna swimming in water.
Stick to tuna packed in water not oil. Three ounces of water packed tuna
contains 109 calories and 2.5 g of fat compared with 158 calories and 6.9 g of
fat in the oil soaked kind. Tuna is a good protein source that’s rich in omega-3
fatty acids, which can help reduce your risk of heart disease and help prevent
depression.
Drink chocolate milk.
Researchers compared the effects of drinking low-fat chocolate milk, fat-free
soy protein drink, and a traditional carbohydrate recovery drink after exercise.
Not only did the milk drinkers gain more muscle than those who drank the soy and
carbohydrate beverages, but they also lost twice as much fat.
Drink cold water.
Your metabolism can increase by as much as 30% during the 10 minutes after you
drink a cold glass of
water. Why? Your body burns more calories as it tries to warm the water.
Brew a cup of green tea.
A 2010 study found that after 3 months, people who drank two glasses of decaf
green tea a day lost 2.6 more pounds than those who drank a herbal brew.
Researchers believe that catechin compounds in green tea may prevent fat
formation and stimulate your metabolism.
Say yes to yogurt.
Eating yogurt as part of a low-calorie diet may help burn more fat. People who
eat three 1-cup servings a day lost 22% more weight and 61% more fat than those
who dieted without including yogurt. Even better, most of the fat lost was from
the belly.
Eat an orange.
People who don’t get enough vitamin C burn 25% less fat when working out than
those who have adequate levels. People who are
vitamin-C deficient can quadruple their fat burn after taking 500 mg of
Vitamin C.
Do intervals.
You’ve probably already heard it, but doing interval training, alternating
between periods of intense exercise and recovery, burns more fat and calories
than exercising at a steady rate. Cyclists who switched between exercising for 4
minutes at 90% of their max and than 2 minutes of recovery for an hour burn up
to 36% more calories after their workout, than those who biked at a moderate
pace for the same amount of time.
Go
organic.
People with the highest levels of organochlorides, a chemical found in
pesticides, are more likely to have slower metabolisms.
Munch
on almonds. Spanish researchers found that people who eat a diet
high in MUFAs(monounsaturated fats) lose more fat from their stomachs than
people who follow a high-carb diet or a high-fat one.
Outsmart the elliptical trainer. The calorie-count mechanisms on
cardio equipment are often off by 20 to 30%. So if the readout says that you’ve
cranked out 260 calories’ worth of exercise, a more accurate estimate could be
200 calories burned. To even things out, aim to burn off 30% more than your
target. Even if your machine’s calorie tally is accurate, ramping up your
workout will help you achieve your weight loss goal.
Pick
a smarter spread. Rather than smear on a tablespoon of butter
over your morning toast (102 calories, 11.5 g of fat), try apple butter (20
calories, 0 g fat). It tastes delicious and packs a fraction of the fat and
calories.
Choose Canadian bacon. You can get a heftier portion of the
leaner meat and still cut fat. Two slices of Canadian bacon are 89 calories, 4 g
of fat (57 g); two slices of the regular kind contain 86 calories and 6 g of fat
(16 g).
Try
Meatless Monday. Vegetarians usually have a lower body mass
index than those who eat meat. For instance, lacto-ovo vegetarians (doesn’t eat
meat but eats dairy and eggs) have an average BMI of 25.7, where as meat eaters
check in at a BMI of 28.8. Not ready to forgo meat entirely? Incorporate
Meatless Monday into your eating routine. You’ll still be able to reap the
benefits as vegetarian diets tend to be lower in saturated fat and cholesterol,
and higher in fiber, potassium, and antioxidants than other diets.
See
the sun. People with higher levels of
vitamin D were able to lose more weight on a reduced-calorie diet than those
who had inadequate levels, even though both cut 750 calories from their diets.
Your body generates vitamin D naturally through sunlight, and it’s also found in
foods like salmon, tuna, fortified milk, cereals and yogurt.
Broaden your circle of friends.
Having a lot of friends might not just help you live longer it may make you
leaner, too. Having a more active social life can turn regular white fat into
calorie-burning brown fat, increasing your overall calorie burn. Researchers
found that when lab rats were placed in a living environment with 15 to 20 other
mice and had greater opportunity to play, they lost weight due to increased
brown fat stores.
Have
half a grapefruit. There’s no need to go on an all grapefruit
diet, but incorporating the fruit into your diet can help you lose weight.
People who ate half a grapefruit before every meal lost 3 pounds more than
those who didn’t. Why? Not only is grapefruit a good source of fiber, but it
also seems to help regulate insulin levels.
Sweeten with cinnamon. The spice can increase the rate at which
sugar is metabolized by 20 fold. Eating 1/4 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
a day has also been shown to lower blood sugar levels. The spice is also a great
low-calorie alternative to sugar to sweeten your coffee.
Clean
your house. A tidy home may translate to a fit body. How clean a
house is or isn’t, is a better indicator of the occupant’s fitness level than
the home’s proximity to safe walking trails and sidewalks.
Avoid boxed baked goods.
Store-bought cookies, cakes, and mixes are often loaded with saturated fat. A
serving of coffee cake is loaded with 260 calories and 13 g of fat, 4 of which
are saturated. Make your own dessert at home for 172 calories, 3.4 g of fat and
0.6 g of saturated fat.
Switch to sorbet. A 1/2-cup serving of chocolate sorbet has half
the calories and a whopping 16 grams fewer fat than a serving of chocolate ice
cream.
Slurp broth-based soups.
A bowl of creamy New England clam chowder contains 154 calories and 5 g of fat.
Switch to the broth-based Manhattan clam chowder at 73 calories and 2 g of fat
per cup. People who had a cup of
soup
before lunch ate 20% fewer calories at the meal. When you choose a low-cal soup
to fill up on beforehand, you can actually consume fewer calories overall.
Cut
the can. Fresh is better than canned. People who ate canned
soup for 5 days in a row had BPA levels in their blood that were 10 times higher
than those who ate homemade soup for the same amount of time. Elevated levels of
BPA, a chemical- and hormone disruptor that’s found in plastics and
plastic-lined cans, has been shown to increase the number and size of fat cells.
Skip
fried food. Deep-frying adds tons of fat and calories. Make this
fast-food swap: Instead of a Chipotle BBQ Snack Wrap (Crispy) try the grilled
version. You’ll save 80 calories and 7 g of fat.
Pop
smarter. Popcorn is a great whole grain snack, but don’t pour on
the butter. Three cups of Butter popcorn will set you back 154 calories and 12 g
of fat. Choose the Smart Pop version and snack without guilt for 48 calories and
1 g of fat.
Take
a fish oil supplement. People who took 6 g of fish oil a day and
exercised three times a week lost 3.4 pounds more in 12 weeks than those who
just hit the gym and didn’t take a supplement.
Max
out. Stoke up your after-burn by lifting heavy. Women burned
twice as many calories the 2 hours following a workout that involved doing 8
reps of lifting 85% of their max as when they did 15 reps at 45% of their max.
Your max refers to the maximum amount of weight that you can lift in a single
rep of an exercise. To estimate your one-rep max, determine the greatest amount
of weight you are able to perform an exercise to exhaustion. Plug in the weight
and number of reps into this formula: Weight × [1 + (0.033 × number of
repetitions)] or use an
online calculator. Then multiply by 0.85 or 0.45.
Load
up on lobster. Arginine, an amino acid found in lobster, nuts,
seeds, and watermelon may help you burn more fat. Researchers followed two
groups of people on a diet and exercise program. One group received an 8.3 g
arginine supplement daily. While both groups lost about 7 pounds in 21 days,
those who took the arginine supplement lost only fat, while 57% of the weight
loss of the control group was from muscle.
Eat
lean protein. Your body burns through more calories when
digesting high protein foods as compared with fatty or carb heavy fare. Your
metabolism can increase by as much as 35% after eating protein.
Eat
more eggs. High-quality protein, such as eggs are considered a
perfect protein and can help older adults build and maintain muscle. Because
muscle burns about 50 calories more per pound than fat, you won’t just be
stronger you’ll burn through more calories on a daily basis.
Go
skinless. Take off the skin from half a roasted chicken breast
and save about 50 calories and 2.5 g of fat.
Ask
for your dressing on the side. A shot glass sized serving of
creamy Ranch dressing contains 140 calories and 14 g of fat, but it’s easy to
pour much more than that on your salad.
Corn
over flour. Choose a corn tortilla. While they have the same
amount of fiber (1 g), a 6-inch corn wrap contains 40 calories and 0.5 g of fat
and the same size flour tortilla has 110 calories and 2.5 g of fat. Flour
tortillas have more protein (3 g versus 1 g), but also 64 times as much sodium.
Channel Popeye.
Spinach is loaded with iron, a mineral your body needs to bring oxygen to your
muscles to burn fat. When your body has low levels, your metabolism can slow
down. Other good sources of iron include beans, lean protein, and fortified
cereals.
Eat whole grains.
People who ate muesli with milk, peaches, yogurt, and apple juice burned almost
twice as much fat during an hour-long walk than on the days that they ate
cornflakes with milk, white bread, and an energy drink. Why? The first breakfast
ranks much lower on the glycemic index than the second, and researchers think
that the spike in insulin levels that occurs when the body digests simple carbs
may interfere with your body’s ability to burn fat.
Eat at least 1,200 calories a day.
Your
metabolism
slows down when it doesn’t have enough fuel, so going on a crash diet can
actually reduce the rate at which your body burns fat. If you eat fewer than
1,200 calories a day, you can’t meet your nutritional needs for enough protein,
healthy fat, and vitamins for your body to run properly, she adds.
Snack in the afternoon.
Afternoon and evening snackers may lose more weight than those who eat in the
morning. Researchers followed the snacking patterns of dieters and found that
those who snacked in the morning lost 7% of their body weight after a year,
while those who ate a treat later in the day or not at all lost 11% of their
weight. Not only are morning snackers more likely than afternoon snackers to
snack more than once a day, afternoon snackers tend to choose healthier foods to
munch on, such as fruit and veggies.
Choose the smarter topping.
Eating two slices of ham pizza will save you 80 calories and 4 g of fat over two
slices of pepperoni.
Stand up.
The simple act of
standing engages muscles in your legs, abs, and back and when your muscles
are activated, they release myokines, hormones that stimulate metabolism. The
reverse also seems true. When you don’t move like sitting in front of a computer
or television your metabolism slows.
Don’t serve meals family-style.
Heaping platters of home cooked foods might be a staple at your family’s dinner
table, but keeping those dishes at the table can increase your likelihood of
overeating. When
serving platters were out of sight, diners ate 20 to 29% less than when
second helpings were within arm’s reach.
Just add ginger.
Like cinnamon, black pepper, and red pepper, spicing your food with ginger may
prevent weight gain. Researchers found that mice fed a ginger supplement while
on a high fat diet gained less weight than those on the same meal plan but
without the supplements.
I know you want to get in
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your fitness goal…to slim down…gain muscle…tone your arms or
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