While scrolling instagram, I have found that "February is for Fat Burning" or "FEB for FAB" as a shorter title. So, let us post more often around fat burning & help me (and whomever interested) to lose weight this month specifically as a kick start. Whoever follows me on Instagram knows that I have started my vegan lifestyle mid January to lose weight & live a healthier life (with one cheat meal every 15 days).
Fat burning is one of the toughest things for me, you can lose weight through eating less however most of the weight lost is anything but fat. So, we can experience the below tactics together & see which ones will lead to a better fat burning & losing more weight that translated to clothes sizes as well.
Exercise:
Strength training: most common training is lifting weights or depending on body-weight while exercising.
Increase your Cardio: it is any exercise that trains both your heart and your lungs. Cardio exercise increase the muscle mass & decreases the body fat. 120-40 minutes daily would do the trick, you can spend this time in walking or running or cycling or swimming.
Try High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): it is an exercise that keeps your heart rate elevated with quick bursts of activity & short recovery periods. You can start with burpees, push-ups, or squats to name a few.
Mind:
Squeeze in more sleep: you need to sleep 7 to 9 hours daily with a high quality sleep to limit your caffeine intake.
Eat mindfully: focus on being present in the moment while eating, be aware of your physical & psychological hunger signals. Most common techniques is to: eat slowly, chew throughly, and avoid distractions.
Smelling Mint: smelling mint helps in losing weight especially if you smell it when you have a strong desire to eat something sweet.
Diet:
Track your calories intake: personally I use "Fitness Pal" application to track my calories intake on daily basis plus tracking the calories burnt during exercising. And keep a food journal to track when you eat & what you eat.
Follow a high-protein diet: food high in proteins should reduce your appetite and help you burn more fat. Protein is found in meat, seafood, eggs, dairy products, and legumes if you are following a Vegan diet.
Add Vinegar to your diet: consuming 1-2 tablespoons daily reduces your belly fats & enhance your felling of fullness. You can dilute apple cider vinegar with water & drink it as an easy option.
Eat more healthy fats: olive oil or nuts helps you lose weight & reduce hunger. Bear in mind that all fats are high in calories, so consume in moderation.
Drink healthier beverages: drink more water or green tea instead of sugary drinks or alcoholic drinks. As antioxidants in green tea helps in enhancing metabolism & burning your fats.
Fill up on Fiber: it absorbs water & moves through the digestive tract slowly so you feel full for longer time. You can take your fibers from fruits, legumes, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, or seeds.
Cut down on refined carbs: increase while grains instead of refined carbs to have a lower BMI, weight, and waist circumference. Refined carbs to be lowered are found in pastries, processed foods, pastas, white bread, and cereals. Whole grains to be increased are found in whole wheat, quinoa, and oats.
Drink water: it can boost metabolism helping you burn more calories, drink half a liter about half an hour before meals to eat fewer calories compared to those who didn't drink the water.
Drink Coffee: Caffeine is available in all fat-burning supplements as it increases metabolism & breaks the fatty acids. You need to skip cream & sugar, drink it black to prevent the extra calories.
Increase your Iron intake: through eating meat, poultry, seafood or grains, leafy greens, dried fruits, and beans for Vegans you can help yourself in weight-loss through maintaining your Thyroid gland which regulates your metabolism.
Try intermittent fasting: eat for 8 hours & fast for 16 hours daily will reduce your body weight and burn more fats. And combined with resistance training can maintain muscle mass.
Fill up on veggies: in addition to being healthy, vegetables have other qualities that can help you lose weight. It is a good source of Fiber that increases your feeling of fullness. It is high in water content, which gives them a low energy density.
Add lemon: add lemon to the water your drink, instead of soda with minimal calories.