The popularity of such topics as intermittent fasting, keto diet, low carb diet, and prebiotic supplements indicate a particular focus on weight loss and healthy eating. More and more people are looking for weight loss solutions, and most of these may not be useful for you.
For a long time, low-fat diets were thought to be the Holy Grail to losing weight, but that may not be correct.
A growing body of evidence indicates that low-fat diets are not sufficient, and all they do is replace the fats with easily digestible carbs.
The market has seen a spike in the number of diets promising quick weight loss results. Do you recall the grapefruit diet? The cabbage soup diet? Or even the apple cider vinegar diet?
The fact is that any diet will help you cut down on weight if it reduces the number of calories you take in.
The general rule is to take fewer calories than you use. Unfortunately, it is not always as easy as it sounds. You need to keep track of the calorie intake if your goal is to lose weight.
Using Calories Counters
Research shows that those people who keep track of their food and calories lose more weight than those who don’t. You don’t need to burden yourself with calculations on the number of calories as there are many useful websites to help you do that.
You only need to input the food you are taking into the website or app, and it calculates for you. The whole process only takes a bunch of minutes, and most of them are quite reliable.
One of the most popular calorie counters includes MyFitnessPal. It provides the recommended calorie intake by keeping track of your weight. Other features include an exercise log and a well-designed food diary. Other helpful websites and apps include Lose It! and FatSecret.
Factoring In The Activity Level
Knowing how many calories your body needs for proper functioning is not the only requirement for losing weight. You need to factor in the activities that help you burn calories. For example, the morning jogs, and weekly aerobics.
A tool like the interactive calculator from the USDA incorporates the body’s metabolic rate and activity level to give you a more specific figure of how many calories you should be consuming.
A pound of fat is approx 3500 calories. The safe amount that you need to lose in a week is about 2 pounds. However, you will need a deficit of about 500 calories every day. It is much simpler to create that deficit by blending an appropriate diet with exercise.
Please note that metabolic rate reduces the older you get. Apart from the metabolic rate, the other factors that determine how much you lose include the starting weight and age.
More Muscle Translates To A Better BMR
Gaining more muscle is one of the most efficient ways of increasing the metabolic rate and achieving your weight loss goals. As you get more muscle, the BMR increases, and you burn more fat every day. Your body needs a significant amount of calories to regenerate the tissue that forms the muscles.
Muscle is also active in terms of metabolism, and you burn calories even when resting. That means you don’t have to always be at the gym to burn calories. As long as you have a lean muscle mass, your body will continue to burn the extra calories.
Don’t freak out when you notice the spike in the scale when you start bulking up. Muscle is more substantial and denser than fat.
Daily Weight Loss Tips
Rye or barley breakfast
Rye or barley kernels have a reputation for keeping hunger at bay. That is because rye kernels and rye raise the glucose levels slower than other carbohydrates. They have a low glycemic index.
The overall result is that taking rye or barley for breakfast leaves you feeling famished for longer. Choose hulled barley instead of pearl barley.
Opt for the high fiber foods
A large body of research indicates that taking high fiber foods helps maintain a healthy weight. Fiber is an integral part of the diet that contributes to a feeling of being full. The diet keeps off hunger pangs, and you eat fewer calories.
Include some whole-grain foods into the diet if you are eager to flatten that belly. Enough fiber in the diet will contribute to belly fat loss, weight loss, and reduced risk of medical conditions.
Beef up your salad dressing
A vegetable salad with no dressing will make you hungrier within a short time. Add a little fat and protein to the mixture, and you will be fuller for most of the day. For example, a piece of chicken breast has only 140 calories and 26 grams of protein.
Together with two spoonfuls of salad dressing, the piece of chicken will be sufficiently filling to take you through the afternoon without the urge to grab a soda.
Eat more protein
Reaching your weight loss goal could be as simple as substituting the morning bread with more eggs or steak. Research shows that a protein diet leaves you feeling fuller for longer, and you can easily attain your fitness goals. Taking proteins for breakfast also helps stabilize blood glucose – another case for including that piece of chicken or eggs.
Be smart with your carbs
Carbohydrates are an essential part of the diet, and it would be impossible to do without them. Be smart when consuming carbs and avoid taking too much of the foods that are low in fiber such as rice and white bread. Focus on vegetables, legumes that are rich in fiber, and lean meat.
Check your dinnerware
According to experts, larger plates cause you to put more food on them. Your goal is to reduce the number of calories that you take every day, and you will need to ditch the large dinnerware for the small plates.