Christmas is just around the corner, here are 25 tips to burn fat to lose some weight before Christmas, courtesy of fitness expert James Foley.
1. Do Circuits with compound exercises
Compound exercises performed in a circuit with low rest times will accelerate your body’s fat burning ability by increasing your metabolism for up to 48 hours later!
2. Chew on sugar-free mint gum after a meal
Mint flavours signal your brain that it’s time to stop eating.
3. Train with your other half.
Couples who train together are 34% more likely to stick to their workouts and have better sex!
4. Drink Green Tea
Green tea helps speed up fat burning, especially during exercise. Several studies show that when drinking green tea people will burn about 3-4% more calories each day.
5. Weight Lifting
Are you just doing Cardio to lose weight? Lifting weights gives you a metabolic spike for an hour after a workout because your body is trying hard to help your muscles recover. As your body is requiring more oxygen you will be burning off another 25% even after you finish the workout.
6. Don’t Skip Meals
A big mistake people make when trying to lose weight is not eating and skipping meals, which actually slows our metabolism down.
7. Cardio acceleration
A fast way to elevate your fat burning while performing a standard weight training routine is to insert short, intense spells of cardio throughout your workout. These "bursts," placed every 15 minutes during an hour long routine, help accelerate your metabolism both during and after your workout. For example complete a 90-second sprint on a treadmill after every exercise in your normal 8-10 exercise routine.
8. Make sure to mix it up
By constantly doing the same exercises you are in danger of making your exercises ineffective. When you engage in the same physical exercise day in day out your body gets accustomed to it. It is no longer challenged because it knows exactly what to expect.
9. Be an early-bird
Go to the gym in the morning, rather than after work. You will be less likely to skip the gym in morning than in the afternoon as work may get in the way or friends.
Once you get used to moving first thing in the morning, studies suggest that the body adjusts and might even surpass its afternoon performance peak.
10. Eat more avocados
In a study published in Nutrition Journal, participants who ate half a fresh avocado with lunch reported a 40 percent decreased desire to eat for hours afterwards.
11. Use shorter rest periods
Aim for a rest period of 10-30s between exercises. If you are new to training start off with 60 seconds. Each workout reduce the rest period of each set by 10s by keeping the weight and reps constant.
12. Do more sets
If you are used to doing the standard the 3 sets of 10, pick the first two compound exercises in your routine and try the infamous 10 sets of 10 with 60 seconds rest.
13. Opt for dark chocolate over milk chocolate
Dark chocolate contains less sugar and more energy-boosting antioxidants.
14. Eat Watermelons
When you become dehydrated you might experience fluid retention. Watermelon is more than 90 percent water and can help you stay hydrated to combat fluid retention. Plus, Watermelons only have 86 calories per wedge.
15. Skip the elevator
Using the stairs burns twice as many calories as walking.
16. Sprinting
Sprinting in short bursts is the ultimate way to loose fat in a short. Try 8 rounds of 20 second sprints with a 10 second rest at the end of your workout.
17. Take a power walk during lunch.
As little as 20 minutes of low-intensity activity such as walking can give you a 20% surge in energy.
18. Try the ultimate indoor cycling workout
8 seconds max effort followed by 12 seconds rest done for 20 minutes.
19. For every hour you sit at a desk try 1 min of foam rolling
Sitting at a desk shortens your hip flexors and creates unwanted posture which can hamper your workouts if you get injured through training. Burn fat by staying injury free.
20. Get at least 7 hours of sleep
Dan Smullen Bsc. Personal Trainer of Dartry Gyms, “Easiest way to burn fat is to sleep more!”
Not getting enough sleep increases your stress hormone cortisol which can decrease your productivity in work, but more importantly drastically decrease your fat burning ability irrelevant of diet and exercise!
21. Add heat to your dinner
Spices and hot peppers speed up your metabolism.
22. Drink more water
Being dehydrated will hamper your fat burning ability and make you hungry! Curb your hunger, burn more fat and get leaner by drinking enough water.
Aim to drink at least 2 litres of water throughout the day. Try using small cups when drinking the water, to encourage you to get up more frequently.
German researchers found that drinking 6 cups of cold water a day (that's 48 ounces) can raise resting metabolism by about 50 calories daily. All of your body's chemical reactions, including your metabolism, depend on water. If you are dehydrated, you may be burning up to 2 percent fewer calories.
23. Eat more protein and vegetables
Feel fuller for longer, increase your metabolism and burn more fat by eating more protein. Double your portions of organic meats, eggs, and fish with green vegetables and you will find you will have no room for anything else!
24. Increase your vitamin D
As it is darker and there is less exposure, make sure to take vitamin D to increase your fat burning ability and improve your mood.
25. Remove sugar from your diet
This is by far the best fat burning tip of them all, remove this from your diet and not only will your waistline thank you but also your health. Sorry this includes alcohol also. Try doing these tips in the weeks before Christmas! You will have a major head start in the New Year!
