Tips To Help You Lose Those Last Few Pounds!
- HRegan
- Mar 26, 2018
- 4 min read
Tips To Help You Lose Those Last Few Pounds!
1. Workout Diversity. Exercise is basically stress. When we train we create small injuries to our muscles and bones. The recovery to those injuries is where the muscles and cardio vascular system become better conditioned, the bones become denser, and so on. This is called a stress adaptation response. In response to stress our body adapts by becoming (in the case of fitness) fitter. Literally. When you do the same workout regularly your body adapts to the stress and your progress slows. So be sure to continually change up your routine. Train the muscles from varying angles of push and pull. Lat pull downs vs lat pull overs. Change the weights, sets, reps etc. Ultimately, there isn’t one right way to train except to keep the body guessing and train as diversely as possible.
2. Calories. If you don’t overeat, you won’t gain weight. It’s a simple as THAT! If you have 15lbs or under to lose keep your calories to around 1600 a day. If you are training aggressively you can go up to 1800 on those days. This way you don’t trigger a starvation mode, but you still have a calorie deficit of around 500-1000 calories a day, which is critical for shedding those vanity pounds.
3. Water. Here’s another obvious one! Water boosts energy, boosts metabolism and increases feelings of satiety, thereby helping us manage our calorie intake.
4. Sleep. Eight hours is recommended, but everyone is different. Prioritise your sleep. Lack of sleep is linked to everything from obesity to heart disease. In part because of the dramatic impact it has on your hormone balance. And when it comes to metabolism in particular, lack of sleep increases our hunger hormone, Ghrelin. It increases our stress hormone, cortisol, which has been linked to fat storage. Conversely, when you do sleep your body releases more of the satiety hormone, leptin, helping you feel full. It also releases more HGH, which is our anti ageing, immunity boosting, fat metabolising hormone powerhouse.
5. Fibre Rich Foods. This one is also very straightforward. High fibre foods literally fill you up and help to curb appetite. It also helps to promote a healthy gut bio-me for the pre and probiotics, which have been linked in many studies to health body weight and strong metabolic function. So try and get lots of leafy greens, moderate whole grains, and legumes into your diet.
6. Workout Intensity. Shorter workouts at higher intensities have been shown to amp fat metabolism. They help burn more calories during and after the workout than lower longer intensity sessions because they require more energy to perform and more energy to recover from.
7. Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. This is a super fancy way of saying move more – as often as possible. No, it isn’t enough to just take the stairs, or park a few more parking spaces away. So over the course of your day stand instead of sitting when waiting for an appointment. Pace while on the phone. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Every little bit counts. This is why activity rings, fit-bits & counting ten thousand steps a day has been such a huge success. It reminds and encourages people to move more, which over time can make a real difference in your waistline and your overall health.
8. Cut the Alcohol. There are several reasons for this one. First, you don’t need the calories. Second, it inhibits will power and gives way to overeating and poor food choices. Third, it dampens fat metabolism significantly up to 48 hours after you drink and promotes fat storage due to the hormonal influence it has in our bodies. And, for the exact same reason, it’s known to contribute to breast cancer risk. Yes, I know that’s not weight loss, but it’s pretty important, so I thought I’d mention it. At the very most, try to limit yourself to two glasses of wine weekly.
9. Don’t drink calories. I know. You’ve heard this before, but that’s because it’s tried and true. Drink water, organic tea and organic coffee. I already addressed the alcohol intake, but no soft drinks of any kind – diet or otherwise. The chemicals in diet drinks mess up your metabolism and the chemicals and sugar calories in regular soft drinks/pop also have no place in your diet. As for juice, if you absolutely must, here’s the golden rule; juice your veggies but eat your fruit. This is because you need the fibre to slow down the insulin response to fruit and you don’t need all the sugar calories in juice. A glass of juice has the calories and sugar of 5 oranges and is the same amount of sugar and calories as a sugar soda. Plus, vegetables have a ton of phytonutrients and the sugar content is low so you are free to juice the heck out of veggies if you want. As for milks, only use them if you are making a meal with them (overnight oats, chia pudding, smoothie etc.).
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