Fat-burning

Fat-burning foods..?

The idea of fat-burning foods is based on the thermogenic effect of food. The argument being that some foods require more calories to digest than they contain, for example, celery or grapefruit. Unfortunately, studies have indicated that this argument is flawed and that these foods do not actually burn fat.

There are certain foods that can naturally help boost your metabolism, such as hot peppers and green tea, but the increase in metabolism these foods provide is minimal and does not contribute to significant weight loss. As the effect is small, consider incorporating these mini-metabolism-boosters into a healthy, flab-unfriendly diet.

My top 5 tips for a flab-unfriendly diet:

1.Fill your plate with salads and vegetables twice a day

Vegetables and salads are low in calories, yet high in stomach filling fibre and nutrients – a great boost for your weight loss efforts.

2.Drink plenty of water

Use this simple calculation to estimate your water requirements:

Your weight divided by 10, plus 2 = how many 250ml glasses per day you should aim for

e.g. 60 kg women = 8 x 250ml glasses of water per day

3.Eat every 3 – 4 hours

Each time you eat, you stimulate your metabolism for a short period of time, which means that the more often you eat, the more you’ll increase your metabolism. Frequent eating does not mean mindless snacking though – plan in advance and ensure you have healthy options on-hand e.g. finger salads, boiled egg, fresh fruit, or raw nuts could all work well. Research from Georgia State University shows that people who eat every 2 to 3 hours have less body fat and faster metabolisms than those who eat only 2 or 3 meals each day.

4.Spice up your meals

Capsaicin, the chemical in hot peppers that gives them their heat, can boost metabolism, too. The effect is small and likely temporary, but if you eat spicy foods often, the benefits may add up. Adding spices to your food is also a great way to add flavour without increasing the fat, salt or sugar content of a dish. Try spice up pasta dishes, casseroles and stews with hot peppers.

5.Drink Green Tea.

A compound in green tea called ECGC has been shown to elevate metabolism by a small amount.

The bottom line:

Avoid placing too much importance on so-called ‘fat-burning’ foods and neglecting the food choices you make the rest of the day. And remember that if a food or supplement is advertised as being “fat-burning,” it is being misleading.

Tips to help break a weight loss plateau

So: you are making healthy food choices, you’re exercising, feeling fabulous and losing weight and then suddenly the weight loss slows or stagnates….what now….!?

It is normal when losing weight to hit plateaus – it is not always a steady drop, so some weeks you’ll lose more than others – don’t let this discourage you!

My top 3 tips to break that plateau:

• Keep a food and exercise diary for a week or two: write down everything you eat and drink (and why you are eating it), as well as what exercise you do and for how long. Awareness is the key to change and success – this helps to make sure you haven’t loosened the rules, letting yourself get by with larger portions or less exercise.
• Increase the amount of time you exercise by an additional 15 to 30 minutes: You might also try increasing the intensity of your exercise, if you feel that’s possible. Additional exercise will cause you to burn more calories.
• Try to be as active as possible during the day e.g. taking the stairs instead of the lift; doing housework; gardening; parking further away from the office of shops and briskly walking in; etc.

Remember is it very important to set realistic goals. Unfortunately there are no quick fixes – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You gained weight over time, so, set yourself realistic and attainable weight loss goals. A healthy weight loss is about ½ – 1 kg a week. It can be helpful to break an ambitious long-term goal e.g. lose 20kg in 6 months, down into smaller short-term goals to keep you motivated e.g. short-term goal to lose 4 kg over the next month.