Do you have to do a million crunches or run a million miles just to lose that extra flab? How many pizza opportunities do you have to say no to just to slim down? The answer is – you don’t really have to.
This is not to say you can still eat your favorite calorific foods without expecting to pile on the pounds.
However, with these smart ways you can achieve the appropriate weight for your BMI without having to do a ridiculous amount of exercising or food sacrificing.
Just one condition, though-you need to be fully committed to getting into shape, so you persevere in your fitness goals.
Use these methods to burn fat faster:
- Sleep at least seven hours every night
Studies have shown that getting enough shuteye helps curb cravings for high-calorie food. That’s because the hormones that increase your desire for sugary, greasy, salty foods remain at manageable levels as long as your biorhythm, or body clock, is ticking normally. Skimping on sleep causes imbalances in your internal clock and hormones, including those that influence your food choices. Also, you still burn calories (about 69 cal. per hour for a 160-pound person during sleep).
2. Don’t go on a diet
Although 70-80% of weight loss is from your food intake , it doesn’t mean that you should deprive yourself of essential nutrients just to burn the flab. Instead, you should eat less of the bad stuff and more nutritious food, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and nuts. Also, restricting your diet can slow down your metabolism and, consequently, your fat-burning progress.
3. Eat five to six small meals daily, so you keep stoking that metabolic fire, helping it burn all day long.
Doing this will also help you feel more energized and prevents you from feeling lethargic or heavy, which is how two or three big meals can make you feel. Just make sure that each of your five or six meals are relatively small and not calorie-packed.
4. Do short, high-intensity workouts
This helps your body burn fat faster than running at a steady pace for an hour. Do ten reps of 100-yard sprints or jumping jacks. Or, if you’re the dancing type, dance furiously for about two minutes. Then, rest for about a minute before doing it again for two minutes. Repeat 10 times.
5. Change your regular dinner plate to a small, blue one
Studies have revealed that this color has an “appetite-suppressing effect” compared to red and yellow plates. This is why a good number of restaurants, if not all, have red or yellow in their color motif.
6. Incorporate strength training in your workout
You can pump iron or do body weight exercises like pushups, pull-ups, planks, and lunges. This is because you burn more calories faster when you have more muscle mass.
7. Avoid alcohol as well salty, greasy, and sugary food
However, you need fat to burn fat, so it’s wise to eat foods that are rich in the “good fats” like avocados, salmon, tuna, walnuts, and plant-based oils. Of course, you still need to watch your calorie intake – balance is key.
8. Drink much water
Being thirsty or dehydrated makes your body think it’s hungry, so you end up eating when you really just need a cold glass of water. You also feel fuller and are less likely to take in more food.