[1]As we welcome 2014, let’s declare it the year to fight fat and those stubborn unwanted pounds you’ve allowed to creep onto your body over the previous years. Maybe you’ve fought it for a week or a month before, but the next thing you know, you’re back to your old eating habits and have even gained five pounds!
There’s no reason to feel guilty or regret the diet decisions you’ve already made. Get over it and get to work so you can rock your jeans better than ever. It takes your commitment and a willingness to get back on track if you have a bad meal or a bad day of eating. Just don’t let it turn into months of poor eating, where you find yourself looking forward to starting fresh again in 2015. Take action now.
Below are my top five strategies to burn your stubborn fat.
As we welcome in 2014, let’s declare it the year to fight fat and those stubborn unwanted pounds that you have allowed to creep onto your body over the previous years. Maybe you have fought it for a week or a month before, but the next thing you know, you are back to your old eating habits and even gained five pounds!
There is no reason to feel guilty or regret the diet decisions you have already made. Get over it and get to work so you can rock your jeans better than ever. Button. I know you can do it. It takes your commitment and a willingness to get back on track if you have a bad meal or a bad day of eating. Just don’t let it turn into months of poor eating and your looking forward to starting fresh again in 2015. Take action now. Below are my top 5 strategies to burn your fat.
1. Eat foods that satisfy. One of the hottest words in diet research today is satiety. A recent study showed that eating oatmeal for breakfast was more satisfying than eating other breakfast cereals. Research has also showed that almonds help people feel satisfied. In my new book, The Pinterest Diet: How to Pin Your Way Thin, I share my top 50 MSF (Most Satisfying Foods) Factor. Eating enough protein also helps you to stay satisfied and resist the temptation to snack excessively between meals. To burn fat better, boost your protein intake to about 0.7 grams of protein for each pound of your body weight. Just multiply your body weight, in pounds, by 0.7 to determine the number of protein grams to eat each day. Protein helps boost your metabolism, since it takes more calories to metabolize compared to fat and carbohydrates. Some of my favorite high-quality protein sources include: cottage cheese, lean beef, chicken breast, fish, lentils, beans, and Greek yogurt.
2. Say “no” to 5-6 small meals per day. As a registered dietitian for over 16 years, I have seen many people who are trying to lose weight following the common expert advice to eat 5-6 small meals each day. However, I rarely see this actually work for clients or with my own diet. I have found that people who do this actually graze all day long and never stop eating except to sleep. Shift to a three-meals-per-day mentality. During these three meals make sure it includes a good source of protein, a whole grain along with fruits and vegetables at mealtime. Eat a satisfying meal, and then wait to eat again until the next meal. That also puts your body into the calorie deficit you need to start losing body fat.
3. Drink your water. You hear it all the time but a lot of people don’t always follow the advice of drinking enough water throughout the day. To calculate your water needs take your body weight and divide by 2. This is how many ounces of water you should drink each day. I am frequently asked about any water options with a hint of flavor but no artificial ingredients. For years, I have been recommedinging LaCroix Sparkling Water [2] and this past year I have started working with them. LaCroix is 100% natural sparkling water with a hint of pure fruit flavor. I love LaCroix because it is calorie, sweetener and sodium free and tastes delicious.
4. 7:30 pm Rule. Evening eating is a huge problem for a lot of people as I’ve seen them sabotage their daily efforts with their eating after 7:30 pm. Late-night eating is often done mindlessly while watching TV or browsing the Internet. When you eat after dinner, your body is already busy digesting your dinner so instead of burning fat while you sleep, you will be digesting the food from your late night munchies. You want your body to be burning fat while you sleep so stop eating after dinner. This is a key to losing weight more quickly! This is the rule that helped me lose my “Freshman 15” from college.
5. Get HIIT fit. After doing the same ‘ole, same ‘ole at the gym for years without getting the results you desire, it is time to change it up and try high-intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT Training is a great way to maximize calorie burn in a short amount of time. Boosting your hear rate above 75% of its maximum has shown to increase metabolism. My personal HIIT fave is doing Tabatas, which were developed by Izumi Tabata, a former training coach for the Japanese speed skating team. The basis of his method is to work at an extremely high level for short periods of time. Each workout is four minutes long, consisting of 20-second, high-intensity work followed by 10 seconds of rest; this continues for a total of eight cycles. Using his method has worked wonders for my clients as well as myself. A few exercise examples that you could do Tabatas include: jump squats, burpees, star jumps, and mountain climbers.
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