Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.
-- Benjamin Disraeli
Have you been trying to lose body fat, but find it comes off at a snail's pace? Tired of losing a pound a month as you exercise and diet your brains out? If you're working out with efficiency and maintaining a slight caloric deficit, you can actually lose up to 1.5 pounds per week. That's a lot of fat loss in the course of one year.
However, even if you haven't been consistent, I have some metabolism-boosting tips that should help ignite some good, steady fat loss.
1. Increase your meal frequency: That's right, I want you to eat more often, but don't increase your total calories. For example, if you eat three times per day, break those three meals into five to six smaller meals and eat every three hours. Food can actually help burn body fat when it's used strategically. When you eat a large meal such as a big bowl of pasta, you raise your blood-sugar levels and the body increases its level of insulin. This only serves to make you fat! If you break your meals into smaller feedings it helps to control blood sugar -- this puts you in a better position to lose fat. If you're an eDiets member, you're already experiencing this great method through one of our many meal plans.
2. Break up your workout: Many people are pressed for time and the thought of exercise becomes another stress in their lives. With family responsibilities, work, financial pressures, etc., the thought of exercise is like a weight on their shoulders. However, research has proven that two short bouts of exercise per day will actually stimulate the metabolism more than one longer bout. Go for a brisk 15-minute walk first thing in the morning before work and then another one at lunch time. Do this five days per week and I know you'll see progress at the end of 30 days.
3. Eat breakfast: Although this is an obvious one to me, I'm always amazed at the amount of people who think they're doing the right thing by skipping breakfast. I always stress to my clients to think of the body from the inside-out. The human body's main goal is survival. If it senses any type of emergency, it will do everything in its power to keep you alive. If you sleep through the night and then deprive the body of food in the morning, what do you think the body is sensing at this point? That's right, it senses a potential famine and then holds onto stored body fat to keep you alive. I'm not exaggerating this point -- this is exactly what happens. Remember, calories from food represent heat. Use the heat to rev your metabolism.
