Your birthday. Your best friend’s wedding. Your much-awaited beach vacation.
Missed all the milestones that you had set, to reach the ideal weight you have been working so hard towards?
You have been packing your diet with healthy foods that aid weight loss; you have not missed your workouts (and have been tracking your activity with some cool fitness apps) – and yet, your fitness goal evades you or seems far off the radar.
While you may be religiously following these two things that form the ultimate gospel for healthy and sustained weight loss, there are some additional factors that are at play for these two to actually start showing results.
Here are some weight loss tips- small but significant changes in your diet and lifestyle, that can effectively pump up your fitness journey. So, whenever you feel the needle isn’t moving enough, sit back, re-assess and get right back at the top of your game.
1. Meal Frequency Matters, NOT
Smaller, more frequent meals through the day ruled the roost for the longest time when it came to weight loss tips. It is now time to turn the advice on its head. No, we aren’t kidding! Studies have shown that altering meal frequency makes NO difference to your body weight. No matter when you eat, your body will store the excess, than what it needs, as fat. Remember, more important than time, is what you eat.
So, get back to gorging on a filling brekkie, healthy lunch and a light dinner to get rid of those love handles.
2. Calories – Quality over Quantity
For anyone counting their calories to get into shape, you might want to look at things a little differently. A study published in the journal JAMA points out that diet quality and not quantity helps people lose weight in the long run.
Eating foods like low carb chips or low-fat dessert isn’t going to help, even if it is within your ideal calorie intake. Cutting down on sugar, refined grains, highly processed foods and concentrating on eating lots of veggies, whole foods or ‘real foods’ as these researchers call them, is key to sustained weight loss and long-term health benefits.
3. Lower the AC, Lesser the Weight
Bizzare! Ermm… Not quite. There is scientific research to show that sleeping in a room with a temperature between 16 and 19 degree Celsius can boost your metabolism almost instantly.
Published in the journal Diabetes, the study found that people sleeping in colder rooms (around 18 degree Celsius or lesser) as compared to people sleeping in warmer rooms, burned seven percent more calories, over a specific period of time. Researchers believe that in a cool surrounding, our bodies have to work harder to raise our core temperature to normal. This automatically means more calories quashed. And that seven percent can add up fast, burning an extra 100 calories over 24 hours of sleep.
So, chill your way to weight loss, honey! Literally!
4. Ditch the Juice
Yes Please! It is time to ditch your favourite glass of fruit juice. Why? Research led by Dr. Brandon Auerbach, Internal Medicine physician at Virginia Medical Center, revealed that drinking 100 percent fruit juice leads to weight gain, while consumption of fresh whole fruits results in weight loss. Juicing also results in loss of most dietary fibre.
Dig into whole fruits (avoid the ones with high natural sugar like mangoes). At least two servings of fruits a day is ideal, docs say.
5. Listen to your Body’s Natural Cycle
Letting your workout eat into your sleep time, if you missed it during the day, is a cardinal sin. Research shows that when people don’t get enough high quality sleep, their craving for sugar, fat and starchy carbohydrates increase. It has been detailed by Dr. Micheal J Breus, a renowned clinical psychologist based in Los Angeles, specializing in sleep disorders, in his book Beauty Sleep.
Compensate on missed schedules, the next day or by putting in an extra day that week. Knowing many who delay their routine and thus compromise on their sleep hours to fit in the missed leg day – this ain’t getting you nowhere folks.
6. We are in this TOGETHER
It’s easier when it is done together! It isn’t a state secret that remaining motivated is primary to weight loss. Staying connected to a community looking at similar fitness goals as yours, sharing updates and progress will take you further down the road to the sexy back you have been aiming at. The Journal of Interactive Marketing backs our point. A study published in the same found that participating in virtual support communities, posting about successes and setbacks, makes people more likely to reach their weight loss goals.
Just be wary of any negative comments or trolls.