It's no secret that successful weight loss comes down to two basic factors. You shouldn't consume too many calories, and you need to increase your physical activity. Certain tips, such as avoiding foods with high fat and sugar content, and doing at least 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise most days of the week, get a lot of air time. But, a few lesser-known strategies can also impact your efforts to lose weight positively.
Longer Workouts for Beginners
Exercise increases calorie burning. With the right intensity, you can continue burning extra calories for several hours after a workout. However, when you first start exercising it's unlikely you'll be able to meet the intensity level needed to continue burning extra calories after exercising safely, according to Tom Venuto, author of "The Body Fat Solution." If you're just starting to work out or if you are overweight, you'll need to rely more on longer, less-intense sessions to generate "after burn," notes Venuto.
Effects of Acid-Promoting Foods
Sometimes your battle with weight can be due to consuming too many acid-forming foods, according to Bruce Krahn, author of "The Fat-Fighter Diet." When it's difficult for your body to neutralize acidic foods, it stores acid in fat cells, explains Krahn. Also, an acidic diet decreases growth hormone, which in turn causes you to lose lean muscle mass so you burn calories less efficiently. Every day, consume more alkaline-forming foods, such as fruits and vegetables, including black cherries, black olives, broccoli, cucumber and honeydew. Also, drink a green drink containing a super food or two, such as spirulina or chlorella, which are also alkaline-promoting foods.
Benefits of Watery Foods
Foods with lots of water are lower in calories and encourage you to eat less. According to Barbara Rolls, a professor of nutrition at Penn State University, water in food is also chemically different than water you drink, as it leaves the stomach more slowly. Adding water to food -- in soups, for instance -- also increases the food's volume size and tricks your brain into thinking you're eating a larger portion.
Why Pure Cardio Is Bad
Relying only on cardiovascular or aerobic exercises to lose weight causes your body to burn calories indiscriminately, warns Lee Labrada, author of "The Lean Body Promise." Instead of coming from just glycogen and fat, the calories may also come from lean muscle mass. It's for this reason that weight training is so important when you're trying to lose weight, even if you're concerned about bulking up. Do weight-training exercises at least two days each week.
References
- MedlinePlus: Tips for Losing Weight
- "The Body Fat Solution"; Tom Venuto; 2009
- "The Fat-Fighter Diet"; Bruce Krahn; 2007
- Penn State: Eat Water, Lose Weight
Member Comments