While there is no magical pill that instantly melts away unwanted fat, there are some tips and tricks to more efficiently, healthily burn fat.
Losing fat and maintaining a healthy weight takes consistency and can take more time when doing it the right way. True and lasting fat loss means skipping the restrictive and harmful fad diets that lead to deficiencies rather than fixing lifestyle habits.
If you are looking to lose fat, following these key suggestions can help you to do so in a more efficient manner without sacrificing your health along the way!
Processed Junk Foods
Processed foods, especially the junk foods, are a sure way of packing on some unwanted pounds! These foods not only contain harmful ingredients that can cause addiction, allergies, toxicity, and fat gain, they also provide little, if any, nutritional value. When the body receives little to no nutritional value, it gives the brain hunger signals to obtain the nutrients it requires through more food.
Eating processed foods, including diet foods, can cause hormone imbalance, imbalanced body pH, over-burdened liver, and digestive problems, all of which lead to weight gain. The good news is that most processed and junk foods have clean-eating, real-food versions offered at many health food stores or that can be easily made in your own home!
Too Much of a Good Thing
While there’s so much more to health and weight loss than calories in and calories out (and the focus should not be on counting calories), it is important to not over-indulge in any one particular food. When it comes to weight loss, it’s especially important not to overdo certain foods, such as high starch foods. This can even mean certain natural foods such as white potatoes, corn, etc. Part of being in tune with your body means knowing when to eat and when to stop, and knowing which foods are actually nourishing your body. We also tend to get too much of a good thing by eating the same foods week in and week out. Variety is important to providing the spectrum of nutrients the body needs to function optimally, and, when the body can function optimally, excess weight sheds much more easily.
Sugar
Though we briefly mentioned starch above, sugar gets its own category! Sugar from processed, added sources should be avoided. Processed sugars contain little if any true nutritional value, decrease immunity, feed inflammation, are addictive, and cause cravings. Research shows the detrimental effects of sugar on our health and our waistlines. Natural sugars from sources such as fresh fruit are better but should still be eaten appropriately and in moderation. Moderation means not drinking a gallon of fresh pressed apple juice every day!
Water
Being dehydrated can, among other things, lead to increased feelings of hunger or appetite, as many of us confuse the signals for needing water with being hungry. Staying properly hydrated keeps hunger and appetite at bay and can also help prevent overeating at meals. An easy way to stay hydrated is keeping a water bottle with you at all times and sipping on it consistently throughout the day.
Watch Snacking
While snacking is good and can be part of a healthy routine, it’s the extra snacking here and there we often tend to do that can add up. Many of us take a handful or a bite of things here and there that we often don’t even consider. Those little handfuls and bites can really add up especially since they usually come in the form of cookies, chips, or sips of soda or juice. Remember that everything we put in our mouth makes a difference on our waistline and is either getting us closer to our goal or further away!
Concentrate on Natural
When the focus is on real, fresh, whole foods, health and weight loss follow. Whole foods provide the components necessary for a balanced and healthy metabolism, hormonal system, digestion, and other systems. When we’re only eating the foods our bodies were designed to have, the burden on the body is decreased, and it’s better able to balance itself out, meaning that excess pounds shed off!
Sweat
Sweating can do some amazing things for our health and weight loss efforts! When we engage in regular and properly intense workouts, our metabolism is boosted, fat is burned, muscles are developed, and we tighten, tone, and slim down! Beyond exercise, another great way of sweating away excess fat is to spend some time sitting in an (infrared) sauna. Infrared saunas help us shed excess water, burn calories, decrease inflammation, and help eliminate stored toxins. When the body is toxic, it’s going to be much harder to let go of excess stored fat. A sauna is a good way to detox.
Sleep
Making sleep a priority is essential not only for health but also for our ability to lose fat weight. We should focus on the quality of sleep as well as on quantity. When we’re sleep deprived, not only do we not have the same levels of energy and power, but we tend to eat more and don’t digest as well, hormones are thrown off, and everything can start getting out of whack. If you’re serious about your health and weight loss, make sure to get an average of 7–8 hours of sleep nightly.
Start out your healthy eating with this amazing, tasty smoothie!
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