Now that winter’s officially here, most people are trying to stave off winter ‘gains’. But with the outdoors freezing, what’s the best way to cut a few pounds? After all, there’s an endless selection of ‘trendy’ diets out there, it’s hard to find the one that’ll work best for you. With that in mind, we’ve put together what we think are the 10 best and scientifically backed ways to help you shed pounds quickly!
10. Drink plenty of water
As a general rule of thumb, if you’re looking to lose weight, you have to drink water- there’s no avoiding it. Staying adequately hydrated has been shown to boost metabolism and eliminate bodily wastes. And, oddly enough, drinking more water encourages your body to not retain so much, resulting in a few less pounds of unnecessary water weight. This helps your body look more lean and defined.
Also, because water’s a natural appetite suppressant, we suggest drinking it before meals to make you feel fuller. This helps prevent overeating and also reduces the total amount of calories you consume at one time. Moreover, research shows that drinking water before even one meal each day could result in a staggering 27,000 less calories being consumed each year!
9. Reduce snacking
It’s not uncommon to see most people trim their meal portion’s to try and limit their consumed calories. While noble, most dietary progress can be totally set back by the snacks eaten in between those meals. So, to be able to ensure your body is receiving the proper nutrients it needs without unnecessary calories, you’ll have to concentrate on eating whole foods which keep you full, for longer.
Also, cutting out snacking in its entirety may increase the risk of overeating at your next meal, so don’t go cold turkey. Instead, opt for meal portions made up of low-calorie and low-fat foods. Some good examples would be whole-grains, like rice cakes and crackers, fresh fruit, and vegetables to name a few. Another way to limit your calories is by ensuring you get adequate complex carbs and protein per serving.
8. Cut the carbs
One of the most safe and effective ways to lose weight is by reducing both carbohydrate and sugar intake. See, carbohydrates and sugars stimulate more insulin production than just about all other nutrients. This is important for a number of reasons, but mainly because insulin is the body’s prime way of stockpiling fat. In short, more fat is readily accessible for metabolization when insulin levels are lowered.
As mentioned above, doing this is beneficial for a multitude of reasons. Another plus to lowering your carb and sugar intake is that your kidney’s will have an easier time processing sodium out of your body, thereby significantly shedding a large portion of unnecessary bloat in the form of ‘water-weight’. Many people report losing upwards of 10 pounds or more during their first couple of weeks, which is phenomenal.
7. Lift weights to lose weight
Generally speaking, most of us have been taught our whole lives to think cardio is the absolute best way to burn fat. Trouble is, you stop burning that fat the moment you stop running. That said, if you want to keep metabolizing fat all day long, start building more muscle by lifting weights. Put simply, think of your body as an engine. The bigger the engine (muscles), the more fuel (fat) it’ll need to burn.
In addition to torching body fat, lifting weights also helps improve your overall tone and bodily definition. Ladies can and should lift heavy weights since they can’t get massive muscles due to low levels of testosterone. And, according to scientific research, heavy weightlifting has been shown to not only help maintain current bone-density, but also build new additional bone mass.
6. Eat more healthy fats
Sounds counter-intuitive, right? The truth is actually quite the opposite, and here’s why. Throughout the years we’ve all been programmed to a certain degree to believe that the best way to shed weight is by eradicating fat intake completely. After all, if you don’t consume fat, then surely your body fat can’t possibly increase – or so they say. In reality, this notion couldn’t be farther from the truth and might even hurt you.
Eating the right fats can offer a multitude of benefits. One of which is enhancing your body’s ability to metabolize fat for energy. This in turn requires digestion, thereby burning additional calories in the process. Furthermore, ingesting proper amounts of healthy fats leaving you full and satiated, for longer. This is also helpful for healthy regulation of appetite so you don’t go back for a second helping.
5. Eat more protein
Known as arguably one of the single most important macro-nutrients, protein plays a key role in helping you lose weight. For starters, protein helps keep you feeling fuller longer by slowing down digestion. This leaves you more satisfied and less willing to eat more. Granted you continue this pattern over the course of several weeks, you’re looking at a solid reduction in caloric intake, which is great.
In addition, protein is also surprisingly useful and necessary for burning fat. Scientific research has shown us that your body simply cannot effectively metabolize fat to use it as energy without the help of carbs or protein. This is because as you lose weight, your body also uses up large volumes carbs and protein in the same process, thereby highlighting the importance of ingesting sufficient amounts of it.
4. Start intermittent fasting
Lots of people, both men and women alike, often times achieve noticeable results by utilizing an eating pattern known as intermittent fasting. To summarize, intermittent fasting involves cycling between periods of eating and fasting. Technically, you and most everyone else already fast each day while you rest. You can extend this by skipping breakfast, eating your first meal at noon, and your last meal at night, or 8:00PM.
Doing this allows you to fast for about 16 hours each day and restricts your eating period to an 8-hour window. This method is known as the ’16/8′ form and is also the most commonly used. Many people who try intermittent fasting, including ourselves, report an increase in energy, focus, and significant natural loss of bodily fat over time. Just remember not to eat anything caloric and to drink plenty of water.
3. Rest up!
According to the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), more than one third of people aren’t getting enough sleep on a regular basis. Essentially, sleep deprivation is a widely occurring health issue and is largely detrimental to one’s well-being and overall bodily function. And, when you take into account how strikingly similar the CDC’s statistics are on obesity, it’s not hard to find the connection.
Moreover, scientific research shows that sleeping less than 7 hours per night can drastically lower or even completely undo the benefits associated with dieting. In a nutshell, exercising is just as important as sleeping. On that note, if you find yourself feeling groggy or unable to lean out, simply adjust your sleep schedule so you rest more. We suggest getting at least 8-9 hours of rest per night – every night.
2. Start running
In terms of burning fat, just about any exercise is helpful – but it’s hard to beat running. Running is arguably one of the most effective ways to shed excess pounds after all. That said, understanding the best ways to run beforehand can help prevent typical errors and get you the results you deserve. Let’s get started.
Our favorite way to run is to run fast. The reasoning behind this is simple: In addition to burning the most calories when you sprint, you’ll also end up metabolizing fat for a longer period of time after you’re done. Furthermore, running on a positive incline (uphill) is much less stressful on the body and also boosts your heart rate, making it an excellent tool for losing weight.
1. Try a fat-burning supplement
Before we begin, we just wanna highlight the fact that diet is and should be your main weapon against fat. Unfortunately, many people make the mistake of believing they can take a few pills and that’s it – they’re done. This notion couldn’t be farther from the truth as fat burners aren’t a miracle solution by any means. However, when taken under proper circumstances, they’re considerably helpful.
As we mentioned above, diet is your primary weapon against fat. But, as long as a clean diet is maintained, we highly recommend utilizing a fat burning supplement to help you burn a significant amount of weight. Most fat burners are thermogenic by nature, meaning they’re made up of a blend of active ingredients. A couple popular examples of these would be caffeine and green tea extract. These ingredients work by stimulating energy levels, raising body temperature, boosting metabolism, and accelerating fat burn.
That being said, to those of you who are looking for a cost-effective fat burner, we highly recommend Staunch Nation’s Burning Man. We took it for 3-weeks and were blown away by its effects. For more information, check out the link below or read our full detailed review Here.
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