Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Blast Belly Fat With These 8 Weight Loss Secrets and Keep it Off!

There are many weight loss tips and tricks that people use to blast belly fat, like blotting your pizza with a paper towel (not a bad ideas since it can save you 40-50 calories a slice). However, there are 8 weight loss secrets that those that have loss weight and kept it off swear by...

1. Eat Breakfast

  • Research show that 80 percent of those that lost 30lbs or more and kept it off ate breakfast every single morning.
  • Breakfast wakes up that metabolism for maximum calorie burn throughout the day.
  • Research also shows that dieters that skip breakfast tend to intake more calories throughout the day than those that eat breakfast. Most of those calories come toward the end of the day...double wammy!
  • Don't dismiss this secret...I made it number one for a reason!
2. Eat Every 3 Hours

  • Keeps your metabolism revved up for maximum calorie burn
  • Too many hours between meals can throw you body into conservation mode and slow down your fat burning.
  • Never lets you feel deprived or hungry, which is when we make bad food choices
  • 3 meals and 2 snacks should all include some source of protein
3.Know Your Number

  • This is the hardest for my clients to wrap their brain around. Everyone has an optimal caloric intake number for weight loss.
  • St. Mifflin Jeor formula is the gold standard in the dietitian world (you can Google it, input your info and get your magic number).
  • Many people try to cut as many calories when they are on a diet in hopes of faster result. Wrong! You run the risk of slowing down your metabolism.
  • However, eat too much and you run the risk of not creating a big enough caloric deficit for weight loss.
4.Have a Plan

  • Once you know that number, decide how you are going to divide up the calories throughout the day.
  • Example for a 1500 calorie day
  • Breakfast-300 cal
  • snack-150 cal
  • Lunch-400 cal
  • Snack-150 cal
  • Dinner-500 cal
  • This takes all the guess work out of it and keeps you from going over your caloric intake for the day.
5. Write It Down...at least for a week

  • Yes, keep a food journal of everything that goes in your mouth.
  • This makes you aware and keeps you accountable.
  • You would be surprise how fast a handful here and a handful there adds up.
6. Hit the Weights

  • After 25, we start to lose muscle as we age. The less muscle we have the slower our metabolism.
  • 1 lb of muscle burns about 30 calories at rest while 1 lb of fat burns 2
  • So, the more muscle you have the more calories you burn throughout the day...even when you are sleeping.
  • Do it circuit style- move from one exercise to the next without rest in between. This elevates you heart rate for a combined cardio and strength training session. Not only do you burn more calories this way, but you save time too!
  • This style of strength training also causes what we call "the after burn" affect. In short, you metabolism stays elevated for hours after your workout trying to restore itself to pre-workout state
7. H.I.T.T. Cardio!

  • H.I.T.T stands for high intensity interval training.
  • Sounds complicated but all you have to do is increase your intensity to the point where you can't carry on a conversation very minute or so for about 30-60 seconds on the your machine of choice (alternate btwn high intensity and recovery for about 25-30 minutes).
  • Why this is better...again, it creates "the after burn" affect. It leaves your metabolism at an elevated state for much longer that steady pace cardio .
8. Tell Someone

  • Last, but not least, confide in someone about your weight loss goals and journey.
  • You need a support system...someone to keep you accountable.
  • You need someone to push you out of bed for your AM workout when you don't want to and cheer you on when you reach goals!
I wish I could say #8...the magic weight loss pill, but I can't. I wish it were that easy. I takes a lifestyle change, determination and effort. Follow these 7 weight loss secrets and you will be well on your way to success.