Getting to the heart of the matter: Losing weight means burning calories. Doing it as fast as possible is best for the waistline, for health and for the hectic pace of our life.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Managing the Workout
Step 1. Try a high intensity workout
If you think cardiovascular exercises are a great way to burn calories, well, you are right. But what you are not considering is that there are better methods: interval training. The benefits of cardio exercises (which are innumerable) are amplified with this strategy.
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High-intensity interval training consists of high-intensity exercises repeated for 30 or more seconds followed by 1-5 minutes of recovery (rest or low-intensity exercises). Here are the benefits:
- Burn more calories. The more energetic the exercise, the more calories you consume, even if you increase the intensity for a few minutes at a time.
- Improve your aerobic abilities. This way you will be able to train longer or more vigorously. Imagine being able to finish your usual hour-long walk in just 45 minutes or how many extra calories you can burn if you continue at the same pace for another 15 minutes.
- Keep boredom at bay. Changing the intensity of the exercises will make them more varied and less boring.
- You don't need special equipment. You just have to change your habits.
Step 2. Lift the weights
Weight lifting isn't the fastest way to burn calories. For nothing. But you need to do both cardio and strength exercises to achieve all the benefits. Your metabolism works like this: the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism. And the faster it is, the more calories are burned.
Many women do not exercise with weights because they fear they will gain weight. But light weights are the key to burning calories: the more muscular your body is, the faster your metabolism speeds up, the more calories you will burn and the leaner you will be. This happens because muscles, even when they are at rest, need three times as much energy as fat tissue for their life cycle
Step 3. Train to burn fat
You need both cardio and weight training exercises to increase your calorie burn. But what's more, if you do this workout well, you can burn up to 300 calories even after the exercise session is over. For real.
- In a nutshell, you should lift something heavy, take shots and repeat it several times. It helps your heart, lungs but also increases your muscle tone. Combine running with burpees, squats, weight lifting and sprinting to burn calories even when you're on the couch.
- Gyms often offer courses that include all of these exercises. Find out if there are any courses available. You will thus have companions to complain to after training.
Step 4. Try circuit training
To burn calories, you need to train several muscle groups at the same time and "circuit" training allows you to do this. Did you know that there are also beneficial effects on the psyche? Improve your mood, relieve stress and increase your cardio-vascular training.
The reason why circuit training is so effective lies in the fact that it switches from one muscle group to another quickly. Furthermore, you do not waste time between one exercise and another. Your heart rate increases and remains at high levels, which is not the case with weight lifting. And if you add a little aerobic exercise to your circuit, all the better
Step 5. Vary the exercises
Many people believe that cardio exercise is equivalent to running. While running is very effective in burning calories, there are other exercises: swimming, rowing, boxing and dancing.
- A good rowing training session burns 800 to 1000 calories in an hour.
- 45 minutes in the pool burns 800 calories that would otherwise be stored as fat.
- Boxing consumes about 700 calories per hour, depending on your weight.
- Something as simple as dancing burns 450 calories in an hour.
Step 6. Play a new sport
If you are able to run around the block blindfolded and with your hands tied behind your back, it's time to find something new. Not just to keep your mind active, but also because your body tends to adapt and burns fewer calories. Give your metabolism a boost of novelty and do a cross workout.
Don't forget the post-workout effect. When your body isn't used to exercise, it needs time to recover. During this time the metabolism is still high. Whatever exercise you do, you discover muscles you didn't know you had to make them work
Part 2 of 3: Updating Your Diet
Step 1. Get some green tea
It not only prevents cancer but speeds up the metabolism. In a recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, subjects who took green tea extract three times a day increased their metabolism by 4%.
What does 4% mean to you? 60 calories a day. In the long run almost 3 kilos! And just by taking a little pill. And if you are the "scientific" type you will believe in the increase in norepinephrine levels
Step 2. Drink lots of water
And then you think that miracles do not exist: a recent study has shown that drinking just under half a liter of cold water in 10 minutes accelerates your metabolism by 30-40% in the next half hour. This means that you can burn 17,400 extra calories per year by just drinking 1.5 liters more per day. Basically 2.5 kg!
Water, in addition to accelerating your metabolism, gives you a feeling of satiety and will make you avoid overeating. Before having a snack, drink a glass of water. When you work out, take a bottle with you
Step 3. Eat more dairy (low fat)
A study published in the Journal on Obesity Research found that women who consume at least three times a day of non-fat dairy products (such as low-fat yogurt) lose 70% more fat than other women. In practice, those who consume dairy products have less fat, not the other way around.
Calcium tells your body to increase the consumption of fat tissue. Unfortunately, products with added calcium do not perform the same function, so to enjoy the benefits of calcium you must include dairy products in your diet. Try 120 grams per day
Step 4. Eat fish
Those who eat fish regularly have low levels of leptin, a panacea for the metabolism and prevents obesity. Include fish in your diet: salmon, tuna, mackerel and other fatty fish.
Replace foods that make you fat with healthier ones like fish. Fish has a taste that satisfies the palate, is low in calories, is rich in omega-3s (useful for heart health). Omega-3s are essential fats that your body cannot produce. They keep blood clotting at optimal levels and are a source of good cholesterol
Step 5. Increase the fibers
Foods low in carbohydrates but high in fiber require longer digestion, giving you a feeling of satiety for longer and freeing you from the urge to snack. Spinach, broccoli, asparagus and cauliflower are healthy and high in fiber.
Beyond the fiber content, chewing and munching on a piece of fruit is more satisfying and takes a long time to eat. Therefore, psychologically, it is more effective than drinks and soft foods. Chewing increases the production of saliva and gastric juices that "fill" the stomach
Step 6. Protein
Not quite as extreme as in the Atkins diet, but adding a little protein to each meal speeds up your metabolism. Your digestive system needs more energy to digest them, so it consumes more calories. In any case, include proteins in an amount equal to 20-35% of the foods in your diet; eating too much can cause kidney problems and excessive fat accumulation.
Not all proteins are created equal. Make sure your protein-containing food is also high in nutrients and low in fat and calories such as lean meat, peas, soy, and low-fat dairy
Part 3 of 3: Optimizing Your Lifestyle
Step 1. Eliminate the stress
Stress contributes to the formation of abdominal fat, as shown by several studies, including one carried out by the University of California at San Francisco. When you are stressed, hormones such as cortisol stimulate appetite, slow down metabolism and promote the accumulation of fat on the belly.
What can you do? Find an activity that will relax you, listen to calming music or do yoga
Step 2. Don't skip breakfast
Many studies have shown that breakfast plays a fundamental role in weight loss: about 80% of people who regularly eat breakfast achieve satisfactory results according to a study published by Obesity Research.
When you sleep, your metabolism slows down and the digestive process required by breakfast "awakens" it. The first meal of the day should provide about 300-400 calories with eggs, cereals rich in fiber (other metabolism boosters) with skim milk or oatmeal
Step 3. Eat little and often
Most people burn more calories by eating small but frequent meals rather than eating the same amount of food two or three times a day.
Eating like this is an excellent diet because it prevents the metabolism from slowing down. The body must believe that it is constantly eating. Eat five small meals (200-500 calories) a day rather than three much richer ones. Don't let them go more than four hours without eating. If you have breakfast at 7, for example, have a snack at 10, have lunch at noon, and have another snack at 3 pm. At 7 pm dinner
Step 4. Avoid alcohol
Perhaps it is not easy to understand, but alcohol weakens your central nervous system with a consequent lowering of your metabolism. Now you have another good reason to choose water! A British study has shown that those who consume high calorie meals while drinking alcohol burn far fewer calories (which will accumulate in the form of fat).
But that's not entirely true. If you drink a glass of red wine a day with your meal, you are less likely to become obese. However, we are talking about a glass of wine and not a carafe
Step 5. Get moving
People who are constantly on the move - continually crossing their legs, stretching and moving - burn more calories. During a study conducted by the Mayo Clinic, people were asked to eat an extra 1000 calories every day for eight weeks. The result showed that only the least "restless" people gained weight.
Overweight people have a tendency to sit down, while, according to research, thin people spend an extra two hours on their feet a day and have a hard time staying still. This difference translates into 350 calories per day, enough to lose 13kg to 18kg in a year without going to the gym
Step 6. Try to get enough sleep
Okay, there may be your favorite show on TV but for your line it's more important that you go to bed. A study conducted by the University of Chicago Medical Center has shown that people who sleep only four hours a night have more difficulty metabolizing carbohydrates. Because? Because poor sleep raises insulin and cortisol levels.
When you are tired your body loses the energy it needs for daily functions including that of properly burning calories. So the best way to ensure your metabolism is functioning properly is to sleep 7-8 hours a night
Step 7. Exercise as much as you can
Don't think that burning calories is reserved for those who go to the gym. You can do it too anytime, anywhere. The following activities burn 150 calories for a 68 kg person:
- Play golf by carrying the clubs alone for 24 minutes.
- Shovel the snow by hand for 22 minutes.
- Dig the garden for 26 minutes.
- Push a lawn mower for 30 minutes.
- Whitewash the house for 27 minutes.
- Play ping pong and chase your kids around the park for 33 minutes.
Advice
- Eat small portions of food. Instead of having 3 large meals a day, divide them into 6 smaller ones. It will allow you to burn more calories quickly.
- Another very simple and effective method is to drink a glass of water with a slice of lemon first thing in the morning. It also purifies the body.