You might already be feeling motivated and working hard to lose weight and get in to great shape this year but it can be difficult knowing what to do sometimes with all the info out there. In this short post I give you some key pointers that are proven to help you lose weight and get leaner this year…
1. Don’t skip meals.
Eating regularly will not only keep your metabolism fired throughout the day burning more energy but will help keep your blood sugar levels stable, preventing you from getting cravings and reaching for high sugar/fat snacks.
2. Eat Breakfast.
yes you know this already but its massively important. 75% of people who lose weight and keep it off eat breakfast. Skipping breakfast is known to cause weight gain as blood sugar level is low meaning you get cravings for high calorie foods mid-morning before lunch. Eat breakfast with a slow releasing carbohydrate, a good portion of protein and some healthy fats to kickstart your metabolism each day. This combination will keep you alert and full through to lunch time.
3. Do resistance training
Yes lift weights in the form of dumbbells, barbells, kettle bells and your own body weight for a super metabolic workout that will keep you burning calories for hours after you train. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat meaning it needs more energy to sustain itself even when you are sleeping. The more lean muscle you gain the faster your metabolism becomes and no you wont get muscly because you have a different hormone profile to men. Men have much more testosterone than women and that is needed for big muscular development. However you can expect to lose fat, inches from your waist, become more toned and strong, burn more calories at rest and prevent osteoporosis amongst many other benefits..
4. Do High Intensity Interval Training rather than steady state cardio.
Not only can you burn more calories in a shorter time but you can keep burning extra calories long after you finish working out. HIIT is very effective at improving resting metabolic rate and can be done anywhere. It involves a short burst of maximal exercise effort either on a piece of gym equipment or body weight exercise followed by a short rest and repeated continuously for 10-20 rounds.
5. Eat more vegetables especially dark leafy greens.
Vegetables are low in calories but high in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre which provide numerous health benefits. The extra fibre helps slow digestion keeping you feeling fuller for longer so you won’t feel as hungry throughout the day. Aim to eat at least half a plate of vegetables with meals. If you don’t like vegetables, be inventive and cook them into meals so you enjoy them. There are literally thousands of exciting recipes you can make incorporating lots of veg. Eating lots of vegetables is the single BEST dietary change you can make with exercise for weight loss and your health.
6. Eat protein at every meal.
Protein is a highly thermogenic food. This means you burn up to 30% of the calories you eat from protein in the digestion process....pretty cool hey? This is compared to around 10% for other foods. Not only does this help you burn more calories, because digestion of protein is slower, you will feel fuller for longer. It's also essential to growth and repair of every cell in the body especially if your are exercising regularly.
7. Drink water throughout the day.
We have all heard this a million times but are you doing it? Dehydration of as little as 3% can slow metabolic rate and negatively affect your exercise performance meaning you dont work as hard. Studies have not only found that drinking water regularly and before meals prevents overeating, it also causes the body to burn more calories in heating it to body temperature. :~) Nice
8. Get enough sleep and rest.
Get a good night sleep and make sure you find some time to unwind and relax in the week. There is a strong link between stress, lack of sleep and weight gain. A bad night sleep can cause you to eat more throughout the day due to an increase of the stress hormone cortisol. High levels of cortisol will cause the body to store fat around the midsection more easily and cause cravings. Not only does sleep loss appear to stimulate appetite. It also stimulates cravings for high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods.
9. Avoid Highly Processed Carbohydrates
Carbs get a bad rep but you do need them in your diet. Starchy carbs provide our body with its best source of energy. However many processed carbs have had much of their nutrition stripped away including fibre which means they give us a lot of energy but don't fill us up. This means we can eat a lot of calories without feeling full. To exercise effectively you need starchy carbs in your diet but making choices like home made sweet potato oven chips over processed frozen oven chips can have a huge impact on weight loss. Avoid white flour/pastry products, breads and pastas but if you cant live without them opt for wholegrain options and make sure its wholegrain and not wholemeal. Although still processed wholegrain options are much better for weight loss efforts.
10. Do more activity
Apart from working out 2-3 times per week, aim to do as much moderate intensity exercise as possible. Take the dog out for longer or more frequently, park as far from the supermarket entrance as you can, go for a lunch time walk at work etc. If you find it helps try buying yourself an activity tracker like a fitbit or a cheaper version to motivate you and monitor your extra activity.
