With a few easy steps, you can burn fat all day and night. The secret to fat loss is burning more calories than you consume. But if you select the right foods and exercises, you can crank up that fat burning even higher without feeling deprived or spending your whole day in the gym.
Step 1
Reduce your total calorie consumption by 500 calories each day to lose about 1 lb. a week. Use an online calorie counter to keep a running tally of your daily calories consumed. Selecting foods rich in fiber and protein helps regulate your appetite, keeping you fuller longer and making a reduced-calorie diet easier to stick with.
Step 2
Exercise daily with high-intensity cardiovascular exercise. A study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that after only two weeks of vigorous aerobic interval training, study participants increased their fat oxidation by 36 percent.
Step 3
Build lean muscle to burn fat around the clock. Lean muscle burns more calories than fat, so lifting weights ultimately helps you burn fat even after you've left the gym. Lift heavy enough weights that you can only complete about 12 repetitions. Exercises performed while standing and that recruit several muscle groups--such as squats with biceps curls to overhead press--burn more calories than seated, single-muscle-group exercises.
Step 4
Sit less during your work day and leisure time. Even four hours of sitting at a time can decrease fat burning enzymes. To combat this, choose active leisure time activities and take frequent breaks to stand, stretch or walk the stairs throughout your work day.
Step 5
Stop eating two to three hours before bedtime. While you sleep, your liver converts stored body fat into energy to keep basic body functions working. If you eat before going to bed, you delay that fat-burning time frame until you've metabolized all of the calories you consumed.
Step 6
Sleep seven to eight hours each night to help your body rest, recharge and burn fat. Sleeping directly affects the hormones leptin and ghrelin, which regulate your appetite. Get too little sleep and you reduce leptin--the satiety hormone--and increase ghrelin--a hormone that increases appetite.
Step 7
Drink cold water to burn fat through a process known as thermogenesis, or raising the temperature of the water to body temperature. Additionally, adequate hydration maintains optimal metabolism throughout the day and prevents you from confusing thirst with hunger.
Tips and Warnings
- Avoid refined carbohydrates, which can stimulate appetite and lead to central body fat deposits.
- Do not reduce calories to less than 1,200 per day without a doctor's permission.
Things You'll Need
- Online calorie counter
References
- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: A High-Protein Diet Induces Sustained Reductions in Appetite
- Journal of Applied Physiology: Two Weeks of High-Intensity Aerobic Interval Training Increases Fat Oxidation
- International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity: Joint Associations of Multiple Leisure-time Sedentary Behaviours and Physical Activity
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