Eat less ... lose weight?!? Here's the other stuff you can do to get leaner.
1)
Don’t diet to extremes. Reducing calories by 15-20% a day will almost
exclusively burn fat while larger cuts in calories will burn a combo of
muscle tissue and fat. Muscle drives the metabolism – calorie burning.
If you’re currently eating 3000 calories, reduce to 2400-2550, but do so
according to smart guidelines like those laid out in The Living Health
Weight Loss Audio.
2)
Graze all day. Professional athletes and
models eat all day long yet keep their total calories under control. The
grazing method, 5-6 small meals, elevates the metabolism. Each time you
eat, the metabolism increases, and over a 6-10 week period, that
increase can parlay into another 2-3 pounds of fat loss.
3)
Increase Protein. Carbs, protein and fat –
are equal in their efficiency to be stored as body fat, but protein
exerts a greater metabolic boosting effect than carbs or dietary fat.
When calories drop, protein saves muscle which helps keep the metabolism
elevated. Aim for 1.2 grams per pound of bodyweight daily.
4)
Play with Carbs. Carbs help retain metabolic boosting muscle yet they
can stimulate fat storage. Following a modified low carb diet –
staggering your carbohydrate intake is one of the most effective ways to
jump start your
metabolism and to burn stubborn fat fast (as outlined in Maximize Your Metabolism and the Living Health Audio Program.)
5)
Go Backward. One reason fat loss comes to a halt; the body downgrades
its metabolism to meet its dwindling intake of calories. The solution:
dramatically increase your calorie intake once every 2-3 weeks. The one
day splurge “re-sets” the metabolism by restoring thyroid levels, the
calorie burning hormone that declines with dieting.
6)
Skip the
Late Night Carbs. Carbs eaten before bedtime are more likely to be
stored as body fat so focus on lean proteins and fiber based vegetables
like broccoli, cauliflower and salad fixings. The lone exception: if you
train late at night and your goal is to build muscle mass, you’ll need
the carbs to replenish glycogen and support growth.
7)
Go Fish.
When calories are controlled, the inclusion of omega-3 fatty acids
found in salmon, trout and sardines may promote speedier fat loss. One
study revealed dieters who ate fish on a daily basis lost more weight
than those who ate fish just once a week (Am Journ Clin Nutr 70:817-825,
1999)
8)
Go Spicy. Red peppers, the spicy ingredient in
Mexican and Indian dishes contains Capsaicin which can increase the
metabolic rate by effecting the Sympathetic Branch of the Nervous
system. Spiking your chicken dishes with red might be a small benefit or
you can gulp 5 to 10 encapsulated grams of Capsaicin from your local
health food store. (Journal of Nutrition 116:1272-1278, 1986.)
9)
Don’t Be Cardio Crazy! Radically reducing calories slows the metabolism
short circuiting fat loss. Same is true with radical caloric
expenditure. You know: 2 cardio sessions a day. Excess cardio slows the
metabolism, promotes a loss in muscle and even can lower testosterone
levels. For real results, stick to 4-6 sessions a week, 30 – 45 minutes
at a clip and maintain a high level of intensity.
10)
Separate
Cardio From Weight Training. What happens when you do cardio first and
follow it up with weight training? You don’t build as much muscle
density. How about cardio after training? You risk overtraining and the
negative hormonal milieu that can stifle the metabolic rate. The best
scenario; hit the cardio in the morning – on an empty stomach – get in a
few meals and return to the gym later in the day to build muscle
density.
11)
Serotonin Control. Serotonin is a brain chemical
that helps controls hunger. Guess what? It can take a nose dive with
dieting. ( R.J. Wurtman and J.J. Wurtman, “Brain serotonin,
carbohydrate-craving, obesity, and depression.” Advances in Experimental
Medicine and Biology 398 (1996): 35-41.) One way to prevent a drop;
smaller, more frequent meals.
12)
Garlic Chicken! Mother Earth’s
flavor enhancer stimulates adrenaline and uncoupling proteins (UCP).
Adrenaline triggers fat breakdown and UCP, located in metabolically
active “brown fat”, increase calorie burning. Garlic also controls
cortisol levels which can supports muscle retention while dieting. For
best results use fresh raw garlic in your salads or on your other meals,
but if you can't handle raw garlic then use fresh bulbs in you cooking
or give supplements a try. (Oi Y, et al., Allyl-containing sulfides in
garlic increase uncoupling protein content in brown adipose tissue, and
noradenaline and adrenaline secretion in rats. J Nutr 129:336-342,1999.)
(Wang HX, Et al., Natural products with hypoglycemic, hypotensive,
hypocholesterolemic, antiatherosclerotic and antithrombotic activities.
Life Sci 65:2663-2677,1999.)
13)
Sip Green Tea. Green tea
contains caffeine and polyphenols called epilgallocatechin gallate which
have been shown to increase calorie burning. These special calorie
burning compounds help burn an extra 100 or-so calories a day, about
equal to a brisk walk. In maximizing fat loss, every calorie counts.
(Dullo, A.G., et al., Efficiency of a green tea extract rich in catechin
polyphenols and caffeine in increasing 24-h energy expenditure and fat
oxidation in humans. Am J Clin Nutr, 1999. 70(6):p.1040-5.)
14)
Fat? Yes Fat! To rip up, you have to eat fewer carbs, but on occasion –
say once a week - you can add a little healthy fat, 2-3 tablespoons of
olive oil, some red meat, walnuts or cashews. The reason? Dietary fat
can make the body more effective in using and burning fat – as long as
calories and carbs remain under control. (Thomas CD et al. Nutrient
Balance and Energy Expenditure During the Ad Libitum Feeding of High Fat
and High Carbohydrate Diets in Humans. Am J Clin Nutr 1992;55:934)
15)
Thyroid Support. Irony of Ironies. When you eat less and try to dump
body fat, a lot of times the metabolism adapts and burns quite a bit
fewer calories. One way to get around the slowdown is with phosphates. A
combo of 537 mgs of calcium phosphate, 107 mgs of potassium phosphate
and 25 mgs of sodium phosphate given to strict dieters yielded a 12-19%
more elevated metabolism than dieters who did not use phosphates.
16)
Write It Down. This one seems simple, but it’s one of the most
overlooked tips in shedding fat. Dieters who record what they eat, meal
by meal, day by day, not only make better choices, but cheat less and
eat fewer total calories. Writing it down “keeps you honest” and is a
tool for reminding you that getting lean is a day by day process.
Source: Best Ways To Get Weight Loss
