Weight loss can be challenging, but it is not impossible and every dieter should know that. What plays a decisive role is the method you choose to help you reach your weight loss goals. Whether you have gained a couple of pounds in the last months and want to shed them or because your New Year resolution is to have a slimmer body, remember that you can achieve this only if you focus on speeding up your metabolism and enabling the body to burn fat faster and better.
Avoid fad diets or products that promise a loss of weight ‘without any effort’ because they rarely give results or are only a short-term solution.
- Do you struggle with surplus body fat?
- Do you want to learn how to burn fat naturally?
- Are you looking for useful weight loss tips?
If the answer to the above-mentioned questions is a yes, you should definitely stick around. We will present 15 amazing and effective methods to burn fat naturally, without harming your overall health. Come on, let’s go!
15 Most Natural Strategies to Burn Fat
1. Eat more whole foods
A healthy diet means that you eat in a healthy way, i.e. you eat smart and enjoy your food. Weight loss does not necessarily have to be associated with starvation and food deprivation. By transforming the way you eat and what you eat, weight loss is imminent. This being said, make sure you base your diet on whole and single-ingredient foods, rather than processed ones.
In this way, you will significantly lower the consumption of added fat and sugar- the two major causes for weight gain. What’s more, whole foods are naturally filling and they will help you minimize your calorie intake. They will also boost your nutrient levels and significantly better your overall health. Below, check out several examples of whole foods:
- Fruits
- Veggies
- Whole grains
- Legumes
- Tubers
- Unsalted nuts and seeds
2. Exclude processed foods
In addition to being filled with artificial sweeteners, sugar, and added calories and fats, processed foods are also made to make you eat as much as you can. Unfortunately, this can lead to addictive-like consumption that may easily result in weight gain. Though they may be convenient-especially nowadays when we lead busy lives- processed foods contain a long list of chemicals, additives, and preservatives. On the other hand, their nutritive value is very low.
If you want a weight loss, begin in the right way by saying no to junk and processed foods. If you are not sure whether your diet contains too many processed foods or not, check out the list shown below to find out the 10 unhealthiest processed foods:
- Processed meats like sausages and hot dogs
- Deep-fried frozen foods like chicken nuggets or fries
- Commercial pizza
- White bread
- Refined vegetable oils like corn, soybean, and canola oil
- Margarine
- Processed cheese (different from regular cheese!)
- Fruit juices
- Calorie-rich coffee drinks
- Foods with refined grain such as white flour
3. Remember to drink water
Drinking sufficient amounts of water throughout the day is not just pivotal for the overall health, but a major tool for burning fat and losing weight. Water is important for every chemical reaction going on in the body, including the burning of fat. When you do not drink enough water, the body will need to slow down the metabolism in order to compensate for the needed water. Hence, a slow metabolism cannot burn fat efficiently.
To enable weight loss, you need to reach the recommended daily amount of 64 ounces per day if you need to get rid of only several pounds. If you are overweight or obese, you need more. To find out how much, drink half of your weight in water ounces. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, go with 75 ounces of water on a daily basis.
4. Lower your refined carb consumption
Choosing the right carbs is essential for your health and waist circumference. Simple or refined carbs are well-known comfort foods that we often crave, including white bread, pasta, fries, ice cream, etc. The bad thing about these foods is that they lead to blood sugar spikes, changes in mood and energy, and last but not least, cause buildup of surplus fat in the waist and other body parts. If your goal is to shed pounds, opt for complex carbohydrates instead.
This includes whole grains, veggies, and fruits. They will balance your blood sugar levels and decrease the accumulation of fat. What’s more, they ease the burning of fat and you will also have more energy and feel healthier. Complex carbs are good for us because they are digested slowly and the rise in blood sugar is gradual. They will also boost your nutrient and fiber levels and help you combat surplus weight and diseases.
Amazing, right? If you have doubts about which foods contain good carbs, check out the full list below:
- Starch-free veggies like beans, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, spinach
- Legumes such as beans, lentils, and peas
- Fruits like bananas, pears, apples, citrus fruits, and berries
- Unrefined whole grains such as whole wheat bread or multigrain bread, quinoa, barley, brown rice, oatmeal
- Nuts like walnuts, peanuts, and cashews
5. Up your intake of veggies and fruits
The most weight loss-friendly foods are vegetables and fruits. They are rich in water, fiber, minerals, vitamins, and other essential nutrients. Most of them have low energy density and thus, you can eat them in larger amounts without fearing excessive calories.
Moreover, there are a lot of scientific studies proving that those who tend to eat more fruits and veggies also weigh less. The beneficial nutrients present in fruits and vegetables, including fiber, enhance the metabolic rate and thus, your body is able to burn fat better and faster. Here are the best fruits and veggies to burn fat naturally:
- Green leafy veggies like spinach, lettuce, and kale
- Mushrooms
- Broccoli and cauliflower
- Carrots
- Pumpkin
- Bananas
- Apples
- Blueberries
- Oranges
- Blueberries
6. Get sufficient hours of sleep
Sleep matters for weight loss and if you want to burn fat naturally, you need to reach those 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night. Sleep is also essential for preventing the weight from coming back. Unfortunately, if you chronically deprive yourself from sleep, you have (believe it or not!) 55 percent higher risk of obesity in comparison to those who sleep enough. How does sleep help you burn fat?
When we are in the deep sleeping phase, our body burns more calories than when we are just lying or reading in bed. In the REM phase, our brain works actively and glucose is being produced so that the body has enough ‘fuel’. Below, check out a couple of useful tips on how to optimize the burning of fat with the help of sleep:
- Go the bed at the same time every night
- Do not snooze the alarm clock in the morning
- Opt for power naps at midday if you are feeling tired
- Do not consume alcoholic drinks three hours before bedtime
- Exercise four hours before bed
- If you want to exercise right before sleep, go with yoga or deep breathing
7. Natural supplements
If you feel that you need an additional boost to burn fat naturally (in addition to a healthy diet and exercise), choosing natural supplements can be highly beneficial. Supplements can be found in pill, powder, extract, etc. form and they work through three major mechanisms, i.e. elevate the burning of fat, lower the fat absorption, and decrease the appetite.
When you decide to take a supplement, it is highly recommendable that you consult a professional such as a dietitian or a doctor for the best supplement for you as every individual is different and has different weight loss needs. In the meantime, let us learn about the best natural supplements that can help you burn fat naturally and efficiently:
- Glucomannan
- Garcinia cambgia
- Bitter orange
- Forskolin
- CLA
- Green tea extract
- Raspberry ketones
- Caffeine
- Hydroxycut
- Orlistat
8. Elevate your protein intake
Consuming a specific nutrient will not directly impact the body’s capacity to burn fat. This can be achieved when you consume a smaller amount of calories than the amount needed for production of energy. This is when your body will begin to burn the fat deposits for the needed bodily activities.
What’s more, consuming too much protein may result in weight loss due to the larger amount of calories consumed. The key is to elevate the level of calories you get from protein and to lower the calories you intake from other nutrients. This will help the metabolism burn fat more efficiently. Below, learn about the benefits of protein for the burning of fat:
- Maintains the fullness longer and you eat fewer calories
- Makes it easier to follow a diet low in calories
- Requires higher amount of energy to be digested and thus, it betters the thermogenesis (calorie number used during digestion)
9. Strength training
Exercise, as we previously mentioned, is as important as a healthy diet to encourage weight loss. Though it can be challenging to introduce an exercising routine to your daily life, believe us, it is definitely worth it; especially if you focus on the most advantageous workouts for a healthy and efficient burning of fat. One of the most beneficial exercises for this purpose is strength training.
The best way to introduce strength training is through weight lifting, body-weight exercise, and by using gym equipment. During these exercises, one needs to contract the muscles against resistance- as a result, your strength and muscle mass elevates. Studies suggest that this type of training can encourage weight loss in the following ways:
- decreases the percentage of visceral fat
- lowers body and belly fat when combined with aerobics
- maintains the fat-free mass
- elevates the amount of burned calories
- lowers fat weight
10. Eat more healthy fats
Although fat is a significant contributor to weight gain, healthy fats are a type of fat that you must not exclude. Fat is pivotal for a long list of processes going on in the body and we need it to survive. The building blocks of our hormones, nervous tissues, and brain are these healthy fats. Believe it or not, you actually need to eat fat so that you can burn fat! For maximum effect, lower the carbs if you elevate your fat intake, not the opposite.
More fat enhances the loss of fat whereas too many carbs requires a high insulin production so that the amount can be distributed. On the other hand, low insulin gives your body a chance to use the storages of fat for energy. Confused about which fats are healthy and which ones are not? No worries-check out the list shown below with the healthiest fats:
- Cheese (not the processed types!)
- Avocados
- Whole eggs
- Nuts
- Fatty fish like mackerel, trout, and salmon
- Chia seeds
- Dark chocolate
- Virgin olive oil
- Coconut
- Coconut oil
- Yogurt, full-fat
11. Drink black coffee
As many of you already know, coffee contains caffeine, a psychoactive substance which has the power to deploy fats from tissues and stimulate the metabolism. The caffeine in coffee impedes the adenosine and elevates the release of the feel-good hormones like dopamine.
This is why you feel more awake and full of energy after a good cup of coffee. It also helps you stay active when you would be tired otherwise and is able to boost your workout performance by 12 percent. Below, check out several coffee-related tips that will help you burn fat naturally:
- Drink one to two cups of simple, black, sugarless coffee per day
- Opt for plain coffee only, avoid adding refined sugar, creamers, and other artificial sweeteners
- Avoid specialty coffees and coffee products as they are often filled with additional fat and sugar
- Read labels when purchasing store-bought coffees
- Sprinkle some cacao, honey, or cinnamon for a healthy and flavor boost
- Do not add butter to your coffee; opt for skin or unsweetened coconut milk if you want a richer coffee taste
- Stay away from specialty coffee drinks in cafes and coffee shops (they may contain a lot of calories and fat)
12. Do not forget about green tea
In addition to coffee, you should also drink green tea on a regular basis if you want to burn fat and lose weight. One cup of it has almost no calories and therefore, it has the power to enhance your metabolic rate. The flavonoids in it will elevate the fat oxidation levels and better the insulin activity going on in the body.
According to some findings, replacing tea for calorie-rich beverages can trigger a pound of lost weight on a weekly basis! Check out the list below to learn why green tea is essential in every weight loss plan:
- Being a natural diuretic, it fights off fluid retention and inflammation and thus, lowers fat by almost 20 percent
- It contains caffeine, a well-known weight loss stimulant that will boost your workout performance and better the burning of fat
- It helps with stubborn fat such as the one in the abdominal area
13. Try intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting is a type of eating based on regular short-term fasts. Consequently, one intakes fewer calories and betters the functioning of the weight-regulating hormones. Short-term fasting, according to proponents, may boost the burning of fat. On the other hand, longer periods of fasting may impede the proper functioning of the metabolism.
Thanks to the fewer calories you consume when you fast intermittently, you will burn higher amounts of fat and lose surplus weight easier. However, this will not happen if you compensate by overeating excessively or unhealthy during the periods for eating. Studies indicate that this type of diet can be highly beneficial for losing fat from the belly area. Below, you can read about the three most common types of intermittent fasting you can opt for:
- 5/2 diet- you eat 500 to 600 calories on two days in a week; for the other 5 days, you eat normally
- Eat/stop/eat- one or two 24-hour fasts per week, i.e. not eating from one dinner to the dinner on the following day
- 16-8 method- do not eat breakfast every day and eat in an 8-hour period, for example, from 12 pm to 8 pm
14. Take probiotics
Probiotics are microorganisms which are present in fermented foods and supplements. They have numerous health benefits to offer such as better heart health, stronger immunity, and optimal digestion. What’s more, there are studies indicating that they can be helpful in burning fat and losing weight. They do this by impeding the absorption of fat and elevating the fat which is being expelled through feces.
Moreover, they also encourage the release of GLP-1, a hormone for appetite reduction, which further boosts the burning of calories and fat. And, it also causes an increase of a protein which may lead to lower storing of fat. Wondering about the best food sources of probiotics for a healthy weight loss? Find out in the list below:
- Yogurt
- Kefir
- Sauerkraut
- Kimchi
- Fermented cheese
- Apple cider vinegar
15. Use the right spices
Besides making foods more flavorful and pleasant, there are numerous spices and herbs that can better your metabolism and speed up the burning of fat. So, the next time you are preparing your healthy lunch or dinner, do not forget to add some of the following spices- they have been scientifically proven to assist with weight loss:
- Cayenne
- Cinnamon
- Turmeric
- Ginger
- Cumin
- Black pepper
- Cardamom
- Garlic
Final Thoughts
Burning fat naturally has never been easier if you know the proper methods, which we tackled in this article. Of course, exercise and healthy diet are pivotal so that you can start shedding surplus pounds. However, as they are rather general, we need to know which types of exercises and what foods and drinks can enhance the functioning of the metabolism and thus, have the right allies in our weight loss journey.
Some of the most beneficial methods include strength training, whole foods, probiotics, coffee and green tea, protein, and healthy fats. But, to achieve visible and long-term results, it is important to exclude processed foods and refined carbs, as well as to minimize the sugar and unhealthy fat consumption. Otherwise, your of risk health-related complications, poor results, and yo-yo effect is much higher.
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