As a personal trainer in Brighton and Hove, I have found that one of the most challenging elements of ensuring clients stay on track with their health and fitness goals is their nutrition. This will account for up to 80% of results, so careful planning is key. Try and spend a few hours on a Sunday evening batch cooking which will help save vital time in the week! These meals can also be frozen for convenience.
Here are 5 tips to boost weightloss:
1. Keep your stomach busy
One of the most efficient ways to boost your metabolism is to keep the process that burns calories active. You can do this by providing your body with small but frequent meals spread throughout the day. Instead of eating 3 large meals, go for smaller meals every 2-3 hours. Always having something to hand, such as a protein shake or a handful of nuts, will ensure that you never go hungry. This will prevent the body going into hunter-gatherer mode, when your body looks to hold onto excess fat because its not sure when the next meal is coming.
2. Eat foods that increase the metabolic rate
Some foods have special characteristics and can increase metabolism. Such foods and drinks include: Green tea, spicy food, grapefruits, apples and broccoli. Spicy foods can increase body temperature, which in turn increases the amount of calories your body can burn. Turmeric and cinnamon are two favourites here. Cinnamon can easily be added to your morning porridge.
3. Resistance training exercises
With resistance training exercises you can replace your fat tissues with muscle. Having more muscle in the body will enable you to burn calories, even while at rest! Resistance training can prove particularly beneficial because the calorie ‘afterburn’ effect can last up to 72 hours, rather than 12 hours with traditional cardiovascular exercises, such as running. Training with weights is therefore very time efficient, and will also lead to improvements in your body shape.
4. Never skip breakfast
While sleeping your body is at rest and the metabolism slows down. If you skip breakfast your metabolism will stay slow until lunch, but will then not be able to cope with the large amount of calories consumed and as a result a lot of calories will not be burned. Alternatively, by eating breakfast you wake up your metabolism and accelerate the calorie burning process.
5. Last but not least, iced water
Water is vital for the normal functioning of the body. Water, and especially iced water, can also serve as a metabolism booster. When drinking iced cold water the body needs more energy to warm up the body and thus more calories are burned. Additionally water can keep your stomach happy for longer periods.
Best wishes,
Anthony
