8 WAYS TO BURN CALORIES FAST
Transform your body by giving it a calorie-burning boost and send your metabolism into overdrive.
After what seems like forever, the weather is finally warming up, and we’ll soon be saluting the arrival of summer, our favourite time of year. The warmer weather calls for a diet rethink. If your goal is to slim down, cranking up your metabolism is the way to go. It controls how efficiently you burn calories from the foods you eat. The faster this complex system works, the easier it is to lose weight – and the slower it is, the harder it is to beat the bulge.
The good news is that giving your metabolism a kickstart isn’t too hard. In fact, it isn’t even a big commitment. All you have to do is eat your meals at the right times, in the right quantities, and pack in some secret foods with extra fat-burning powers. This will help pummel away the kilos, lift your energy levels, and improve your concentration and complexion.
KICKSTART IT NOW
Want to get your body going with minimal effort? There are a few quick ways to accelerate your metabolism. 1. Eat breakfast within a one-hour time frame of waking up This will help your metabolic rate stay high. But missing the first meal of the day will prompt your body to conserve energy, slowing down its ability to burn fat. 2. Feeling stressed? Take a chill pill High levels of the stress hormone cortisol can make it harder to keep your metabolism in check. Allowing yourself a few minutes to breathe deeply throughout the day can be a big help, so try to take time out. 3. Get enough sleep This is also a good way to de-stress, and the benefits of a good night’s slumber also extend to weight management. Being sleepdeprived alters levels of the hormones ghrelin and leptin, which are connected to appetite. Is it starting to make sense why, when you don’t sleep enough, you feel hungrier the following day? 4. Exercise regularly It goes without saying that regular exercise sessions, such as interval training, are a powerful way to pep up your fat burn. These increase the amount of energy you’re expending and, according to research published in the US journal Cell Metabolism, alter your DNA to include extra metabolism benefits. 5. Eat right This is probably the most important of them all. Cakes, sweets and fizzy drinks are the ultimate belly-bulging foods, so try to save them for treats. If you have a sweet tooth, try fruits, as they have a better nutritious profile. Most of us know that a healthy diet boils down to three macronutrients – lean protein, complex carbs and good fats – along with a generous helping of fresh fruit and vegetables, but what many of us don’t know, is the quantity of each food group we should be eating. Think getting your five-a-day is enough to tip the health scales in the right direction? Think again! Five portions doesn’t quite cut it in the health stakes; you should be aiming for eight to nine portions of fruit and veggies daily to get the right balance of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants into your body. You should be aiming for 18g of fibre every day, but research shows that most of us only get about 14g every day. Fibrous foods such as brown bread, apples and oats take a while to digest, which means we feel fuller for longer. 6. Get your portion sizes right When it comes to portion sizes, we should be aiming to fill half of our plate with fresh veggies, and the other half with one quarter lean protein (such as chicken, lentils or beans) and one quarter made up of good fats (salmon and olive oil) and complex carbs (brown rice or wholewheat pasta). The easiest way to control your portions is to serve meals on a smaller plate. 7. Never skip meals When you’re trying to lose weight, skipping meals is one of the worst things you can do. Passing on lunch actually makes your body hold on to extra calories when you do eventually eat, as you’re tricking the body into thinking it isn’t getting enough food. Eat five small meals throughout the day in order to curb hunger pangs, and give your body the nutritional boost it needs. 8. Sip on green tea A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that green tea helped to prevent the body’s fat absorption. Also, it boosted metabolism by up to 4%. Many studies show that sipping at least two cups of green tea will help to burn more calories.