Simple strategies are the secret to a healthy lifestyle and keeping your weight loss. Make these five tips a habit and you’ll burn more calories, boost energy and look and perform your best.
1. Don’t skip breakfast.
When you wake up in the morning, rested or not, your metabolism is running at the lowest gear of the day. The second you eat something, your body cranks into gear and metabolically starts working at a higher rate. The higher in protein your breakfast is, the less hunger you will have and the more energy you will have.
Ex: 4-6oz steak with 1/2 of an avocado
2. Eat every three hours.
Eat 6 meals small meals instead of 3 huge ones. When the body has to digest food, it has to work to break it down into a usable form. You can actually burn more calories by eating more of the right type of calories. The fancy term for this is “the thermic effect.” It simply means that every time you eat, your body has to rev up the furnace to break that food down. You don’t need to eat a huge meals every three hours. Simply eat a combo of good healthy fats and lean proteins.
Ex: 10 – 12 Almonds, Cashews, Brazil nuts or peanuts.
3. Include a lean protein source with every meal.
Eating protein is like throwing lighter fluid onto the fire in that wood burning stove. When choosing your protein, remember that fewer legs equals better protein. In other words, fish have no legs and are a lean and healthy source of protein. Turkey and chicken—also healthy choices—have two legs. With anything that is or comes from an animal with four legs, be selective. Lean cuts of red meat and low-fat or non-fat dairy are the only way to go.
4. Perform interval training.
Do bouts of hard work followed by periods of rest or low activity. Research has shown that this type of training increases your metabolic rate for up to 38 hour post exercise. Why? Because of what is called Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC).
Ex: 1 minute easy, followed by 1 minute hard, 2 minute easy followed by 2 minute hard, 3 minute easy followed by 3 minute hard and then back down.
5. Drink green tea.
Green tea has a natural component that helps to speed up the metabolism. Not the box tea, but brew-it-yourself with boiling water and a tea-bag-type tea. Green tea contains substances called catechins that stimulate the body to burn calories (rev up the metabolic furnace). A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that drinking four cups of green tea per day reduces body fat. Added bonus? Catechins have been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects, anti-cancer properties, and may help control cholesterol levels.