Fat Burning Checklist - 20 Must Know Secrets
- Don't Count Calories - Eating less calories than what your body needs (1,800-2,000 calories), you will suppress your metabolic rate, and even if you lose weight at first, you will gain it back very quickly. Bear in mind, the problem is not quantity but quality - its the type of calories you eat that matter. Foods like trans-fat and refined flour cause weight gain because they suppress metabolic rate. Forget calories - you need to eliminate foods that reduce your metabolism.
- What is normal? - The western diet of sugar, flour and processed food is the cause of the modern 'fat' problem. It's time to rethink what we put in our mouths. Avoiding processed and refined food needs to be a permanent feature of the way you eat.
- Rewire the brain - Our food preferences are hard-wired into a primitive part of our brain which means for the first 3 weeks, your willpower has to actively override your habit of reaching for bread and sweets. After 3 weeks, your primitive brain would have learned the new way, and healthy eating will start to feel 'normal'.
- Unhapiness is not hunger - The craving that comes with boredom, distress or sadness is an emotional craving. It is not true hunger and it needs something, comfort or relaxation - but it doesn't need food.
- Find out why you crave sugar - If you crave sugar between meals, then your body is not getting the nutrition it needs from the food you eat. It's that simple. The source of the cravings may be emotional, or because you don't get enough protein or healthy fat. Explore the problem and then correct it. The cravings will disappear.
- Eat consciously - Focus on your food as you eat it. This will increase your enjoyment from your food. It will also take the focus away from your concerns about body weight, and your guilt. You will eat less, and you will digest your meal more easily which is important for metabolism.
- Avoid sugar - This is the most important thing for weight loss. Keep sweets for special occasions, preferably homemade.
- Don't avoid fat - This is the number 1 weight loss myth. Fats are high in calories but they are satisfying, and will make you stop eating sooner. They are also important for maintaining a healthy metabolic rate. Choose fats wisely but do not avoid them.
- Eat saturated fat - Saturated fat is the good fat you have to have. Necessary for proper cell membrane function. Omega 3 fat is also important. Increases that feeling of fullness, and is necessary for hormone production. One type of fat, called medium-chain fat found in coconut milk and butter, increases metabolic rate.
- Avoid trans-fat - Processed vegetable oil suppresses thyroid hormone, and interferes with the insulin receptors. Trans-fat is found in deep fried foods and anything cooked in cheap vegetable oil, such as chips and supermarket biscuits. If the ingredients say 'vegetable oil', it's probably trans-fat. In the US trans-fat free products are starting to become available. Such product labelling is not yet available in Australia.
- Beware of fructose sweeteners - Modern sweeteners such as high-fructose corn syrup and sucrose (table sugar) are found in fizzy drinks and baked goods and even yoghurt and muesli bars.
- Avoid flour - Most people lose weight faster if they avoid wheat flour. For some, the problem is that flour is a concentrated starch. For others it's the Gluten in wheat. Gluten sensitivity is a growing issue and causes thyroid problems, fluid retention and cellulite. Other non-wheat, healthy starch alternatives include: pumpkin, sweet potato, potato, rice, rice noodles and spelt bread.
- Eat spicy - Chilli has been used in many cultures to increase metabolic rate and improve weight loss. Modern research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has backed up this popular belief, with the scientific explanation that spicy meals prevent the release of insulin.
- Eat vegetables - This is the central theme of lasting weight loss. All vegetables even starchy ones are beneficial, because they are satisfying and provide the body with fibre, vitamins and phyto-nutrients. The superstar amongst the vegetables is broccoli, which assists weigth loss by removing oestrogen and environmental toxins from the body.
- Eat warm, lightly cooked food - Warm food is easier to digest. It is also more satisfying, so you will eat less. Avoid over-cooking vegetables so they maintain their flavour and nutrition/
- Try an evening fast - The timing of meals is an effective way to lose weight. Scientists recommend fasting that is, skipping an evening meal once or twice per week. Blood tests show that this way of eating improves insulin sensitivity, reduces inflammatory markers, and promotes detoxification. The benefits of fasting this way were found to be similar to exercise and calorie restriction. Skipping breakfast or lunch does not produce the the benefit.
- Drink water between meals not with meals - Too much fluid with meals will dilute digestive enzymes and prevent the proper assimilation of food. For better metabolism, drink water between meals.
- Use dark chocolate as an appetite suppressant - Chocolate contains amino acids that improve mood and suppress appetite. It is also a source of healthy type of saturated fat that satisfies hunger, but doesn't raise cholesterol. Also, the phyto-nutrients in chocolate slow the ageing process. The chocolate needs to be at least 70% cocoa, and make sure it doesn't contain sugar or trans-fat. Try our range of organic chocolates and cocoa powder.
- Have a coffee - Coffee improves insulin sensitivity, which is a positive for weight loss. It is also a metabolic stimulant and improves fat burning if used in moderation and taken without sugar, and without any sweet snacks.
- Avoid artificial sweeteners - They upset the body's natural fullness barometer and increase hunger thereby causing weight gain. The most common sources are diet drinks, chewing gums, and diet yoghurts. Avoid anything that contains additive 921, Splenda, aspartame and sucralose.
- Drink full-fat milk - If you like your milk go for the full fat variety. A study from Harvard University has found that low fat milk is more fattening than ordinary milk. Low fat milk is higher in sugar and a protein called casein, both of which can suppress metabolic rate.
- Have wine but no hard liquor - Alcohol is high in calories, is a refined carbohydrate and is worse when mixed with soft drink. Alcohol slows liver metabolism and prevents the clearance of toxins, leading to weight gain. Wine is better because the high antioxidant content offsets the toxicity of the alcohol.
- Encourage healthy gut bacteria - Intestinal bacteria slows down the absorption of calories from carbohydrates, and so promotes weight loss. Healthy strains of bacteria can be naturally promoted by avoiding the pill and antibiotics. Eat plenty of fibre and take probiotics (good bacteria) either as a supplement or as fermented food. Check our Healthy Digestion Menu.
- Get off the pill - All contraceptive pills, even the mini-pill, cause weight gain. The pill does this by causing insulin resistance, suppressing thyroid function, increasing the deposit of cellulite; and by depleting testosterone.
- Supplement with iodine - Iodine deficiency causes weight gain because it causes reduced thyroid function and makes the body more sensitive to the fat-depositing effect of oestrogen.
- Get enough sunshine - Vitamin D from sunshine directly encourages fat burning. Vitamin D also increases our base metabolic rate because it stimulates progesterone and thyroid receptors. To get enough Vitamin D, you need to be in the sun. Light exposure when the sun is weak, that is early morning, or late afternoon, with less in summer and more in winter without sunscreen for about 30 minutes.
- Exercise in the early afternoon - Between 2-4pm when your body temperature is highest your metabolism also peaks. This means exercising during this time will burn more calories, and build more muscle.
- Exercise for an intense 4 minutes - A UK study found that gym sessions can be 66% shorter and still produce the same results, as long as they are high intensity. Muscle fatigue occurs after 4 minutes, so that is the optimal duration to burn fat and stimulate metabolism.
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