Many people are still under the misguided assumption that reducing calorie intake is the solution to weight loss. Although calorie intake is a factor, it is far from being the ideal solution most believe.
This is because when you slash your calorie intake, the body simply readjusts its metabolic rate and burns fewer calories. Thus, there is little long term benefit.
The best approach, based on the latest research is a combination of steps which, when combined, have a fast and permanent impact on your weight loss efforts.
The first step is to eat more meals, but much smaller potions throughout the day. Whenever you eat, your metabolism increases which helps your body burn fat. Another benefit is that when you go for long periods without eating, your body can burn off muscle tissue. Muscle tissue increases fat burning, so it's a good ides to keep as much muscle as you can. Small meals eaten throughout the day helps to sove this problem.
Detoxifing the colon by cleaning it out is the second step. Many people have 5-10 pounds of waste in their intestines. The elimination of excess waste can result in a dramatic drop in weight of five pounds or more.
Your body will be more able to absorb the nutrients from the food you eat when you get rid of this waste.
Step three is to consume more high quality protein, fewer carbohydrates and less dietary fat. You can get high quality protein from chicken breast, salmon and other lean meats like sirloin. High protein food help build muscle tissue which increases metabolism.
Cutting all carbohydrates is detrimental. Carbohydrates are fuel for our bodies energy needs. Due to a spike in insulin levels, overeating carbohydrates results in extra fat storage.
Because body fat and dietary fat are similar, the body is very efficient at storing dietary fat as body fat. You don't need a lot of dietary fat if you are trying to lose weight.
Protein revs up the motabolism. The fact that it supports normal thyroid hormone levels indicates it plays a big role in fat burning.
Step four is to eat foods that burn fat. The release of insulin is tempered by vegetables. Since elevated insulin can make the body more efficient at storing fat, eating vegetables will decrease the chance that the body will enter a fat-storing state.
To be more specific, some vegetables, like cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli contain indoles that fight fat. These indoles interfere with the uptake of estrogen which is body fat friendly and is produced by both men and women.
Step five is a quick and easy way to boost metabolism. Unique compounds in certain foods now available in supplements help the body burn fat. included in this group are acai berry, green tea, whey protein and certain fish oils.
Other supplements, for example hoodia, will decrease appetite and food cravings.
Step six involves weight training which increases metabolism and burns more fat than slow cardio. Recent studies have proven that weight training boosts metabolism and keeps fat burning active longer than cardio alone. This works on two different levels.
First, weight lifting forms lean muscle. More muscle tissue means a higher metabolic rate.
Second, weight training stimulates the release of anabolic hormones. Anabolic hormones rev up the metabolism resulting in increased fat burning. Due to the fact that the body requires calories to rebuild, you will keep a higher metabolic rate for a longer period of time.
Doing high impact cardio is step 7. With high impact cardio you do quick but short bursts of energy and then a slow down or rest period. Not only will this burn more calories than slow cardio, but will have an effect similar to weight training by keeping the metabolism revved longer.
The best approach to cardio is to do it first thing in the morning before eating. This is when blood glucose levels are lowest and the body will be forced to burn fat rather than relying on glucose reserves.
Doing high impact cardio for longer than ten to fifteen minutes can result in muscle breakdown and shoul be avoided. But these ten to fifteen minutes should work you more than 30 -40 minutes of slow-low impact cardio and will burn more calories. After ten to fifteen minutes of your cardio work out you should have a good sweat going.
The implementation of these cutting edge strategies will aid you in shedding the unwanted weight and keeping it off.