Weight Loss and Fat Burning Tips
Increase Metabolism For Weight Loss and Fighting Fat
Metabolism is the rate at which the human body burns fat and is the key variable in weight control and weight loss. The speed of metabolism varies greatly from person to person and many factors affect the speed of it. When you get your metabolism just right, fighting fat is easy and lifestyle change.
Some people are simply born with slow metabolisms and cannot seem to lose weight no matter what they do. Although your weight has a lot to do with your metabolism, there are ways to speed it up and help you lose weight, burn more calories, and add muscle.
3 Ways to Increase Metabolism
Exercise
Exercise will increase your muscle mass and reduce body fat. The more muscle mass, the more the body’s metabolic rate increases and the more fat will be burned in the body. Recommended exercises include walking, cycling, and swimming along with lifting weights. These activities have even been shown to speed up your metabolism up to eight hours after you stop exercising. Combining aerobic exercises with weight lifting is ideal for burning fat and adding muscle.
Eat Regularly
If you tend to wait a long time between meals this can actually slow down your metabolism. If your body is not being fed properly, your metabolic rate will slow down as a survival mechanism in order to keep the fat you have in case you need it later on. When your body is constantly being fed the nutrients it needs, there is no reason for it to hang on to fat, and your metabolism will increase and naturally keep burning fat throughout the day and night. Eating several small meals throughout the day is ideal.
Drink Green Tea
There is evidence that green tea contains antioxidants which can speed up metabolism and promote healthy weight loss. Not only does this drink help you lose weight, but it has been linked to fighting other diseases such as cancer-and it contains less caffeine than coffee does. When choosing a green tea try make sure it is organically grown.
By increasing your metabolism, you will yield many positive benefits. When you have a faster metabolism you will have to do less work because your body will naturally burn more fat, weight loss is permanent and the fat usually stays off, and you can still enjoy the foods that you like to eat instead of relying on a calorie restricted diet.
Tips For Fighting Fat
The best way to tone loose muscle and decrease fat is by incorporating cardiovascular exercise into strength training. Burning overall body fat is an essential part of training your body. By trying to only spot treat one specific area of the body you will most likely discover that the effort you exert will be greatly hampered by a general excess of body fat.
You can kill two birds with one stone using a combination of fat burning and isolating certain muscle groups. Blending strength and cardio training can trigger a boost to your metabolism and subsequently, fat loss.
Typically with back muscles, shoulders, and arms you can start to see toning happen within as little as four weeks of a regular strength training and cardio routine. You may want to make sure your workout includes a range of exercises to train the muscles of your lower, middle and upper back for maximum results.
Toning Exercises
Rowing – This is a top choice for your back muscles as well as cardio. If you haven’t tried rowing before, expect a good challenge with this exercise as it can be quite an intense workout. Rowing can be done on an indoor rowing machine or on a real boat to get an effective work out. You can target your lower or upper back muscles based on the position and angle you’re in and as an added benefit rowing will also help to firm up both your shoulders and your arms.
Jogging – The arm motion used while running causes the back muscles to tense and relax, toning them up. Of course jogging also works other body parts; it’s more of a complete cardio exercise than rowing. Walking is similar to jogging because the arm movements are the same. However, walking is much less intensive than jogging, so expect slower results. Jogging doesn’t place the same strain on the muscles as rowing does but is an effective calorie roaster.
Swimming – Every stroke made while swimming is an excellent cardiovascular workout and targets back fat since it incorporates the upper body muscles. Regardless of the stroke you decide on, swimming tones up the entire upper body and is an effective fat burning activity.
Choosing cardiovascular exercises that engage the arm and shoulder muscles will be an effective combination that will help reduce your overall body fat percentage while toning and firming up the look of your back, arms and shoulders.
Healthy Habits For Weight Management
In order to lose weight most people need to follow a diet or other weight loss program and increase their activity levels. But when it comes to weight maintenance, that’s when things can get somewhat more complicated. All too often, people who have successfully lost weight, gain it back once they’ve reached their weight loss goals. This happens for a variety of reasons, but most of all it happens because people go back to their old, negative eating habits.
In order to maintain your current weight, you’ll want therefore to pick up some better habits. Below are some of the best habits to develop for long term weight maintenance and management success.
1.Keep up your water intake.
Drinking the right amount of water a day dramatically increases overall health and keeps you from overeating. Sometimes we eat when we are actually dehydrated. Misreading our body’s cues is one of the main causes of weight gain. So be sure you are keeping your body well hydrated as a means to stave off excess eating.
2.Regular exercise.
Exercise isn’t just something that you can take or leave. Exercise and regular physical activity are key to weight maintenance. If you have developed an exercise program that works for you during your weight loss phase, keep this up. While you might be adding back a few foods that were off the list while dieting, you’ll need to maintain workouts in order not to gain the weight you’ve lost back.
3.Develop a regular sleep routine.
Getting enough sleep is often underrated in our busy and stressful lives, but sleep deprivation leads to overeating and weight gain. Getting adequate amounts of rest will not only keep you healthy, but it will also make it easier to stick to a healthy eating plan and keep your scheduled workouts.
4.Limit late night snacking.
If you think that after reaching your target weight you’ll be able to start back with the late night snacking on chips and other off limit foods, you’ll have to readjust your expectations. After all the hard work of losing weight you don’t want to jeopardize this by going back to bad habits. Hopefully you’ve learned a few tricks for substituting high fat and high carb treats for healthier alternative. Opt for low fat yogurt and fruit if you feel you need a sweet end of the evening pick me up.
5.Finally, remember moderation.
If after dieting you feel you really have deprived yourself and need to indulge here and there then go right ahead. But know that you will have to make up for it by extra time on the treadmill or smaller portion sizes at dinner. If you must have a taste of the chocolate truffle or whatever it is, just make sure you keep it to a few bites. If this will satisfy an intense craving then go right ahead, but don’t let this lead you into a full on chocolate binge or you’ll be very sorry.
Keeping weight off is one of the hardest things to do for those who have successfully lost pounds. Make sure to follow the above guidelines so that you don’t let yourself slip right back to where you started, or worse!
