One of the many ways to maintain health is by managing your weight through an active lifestyle and being mindful with your eating habits. Especially in this new year, a lot of people would want to achieve a healthier lifestyle during the ongoing pandemic. If you are thinking about shedding some weight or keeping your healthy weight, then this week's journal may be of help for you, as we will be sharing a few tips to lose your body fat through a methodical approach. Read on!
Incorporate strength training in your exercise routine
A lot of people are doing cardio exercises to burn off calories and help prevent weight gain. However, strength training is equally, if not more important when you are trying to shed some weight. Training your muscles help strengthen them and increase muscle mass, both of which can help burn more calories when you are resting. Studies have shown that doing resistance or strength training may help boost metabolic rate compared to only doing cardio or aerobic exercises.
Don't forget to still do cardio exercises
Keeping yourself physically active is one of the main factors to maintain your weight, especially when you want to lose fat. You don't need to immediately do a high-intensity exercises, as low-intensity exercises can also serve you well. Some of the exercises you can do includes jogging, running, cycling, and swimming, among other things. As exercise should be a part of your lifestyle, consistency matters more when you are trying to drop the numbers off your scale. Therefore doing a burst of exercise and not doing it for the next couple of days will not likely help you lose weight and maintain a healthy body.
Get enough sleep
The effect of sleeping is definitely apparent for your well-being. Aside from being a time for the body to repair cells and replenish energy, sleep time is also crucial to regulate hormone productions, which can influence eating habits and your metabolism rate. Studies have shown that sleep duration is tightly related to waist circumference and belly fat accumulation, in which people who get less than 7 hours of sleep per night are in higher risk of. One of the main reasons for this has to do with the increase of ghrelin, a hormone which signals hunger, as well as a decrease in leptin, a hormone which signals fullness.
Evaluate your food intake
When it comes to weight management and fat loss, both exercise and clean eating goes hand in hand. This doesn't mean you can't enjoy treats once in a while, but it is important to pay attention to the things you consume everyday, in order to achieve results when you are trying to lose fat and overall weight. The usual drill in order to achieve this is reducing consumption of processed foods, including fried foods and sweet treats. On the other hand, increasing fiber and probiotic intake as well as consuming healthy fat may help in maintaining optimal digestive functions. This means, aside from avoiding common digestive problems such as constipation and bloating, your immunity will also be strengthened. Fiber may help you in feeling full longer and reduce cravings for sweet treats or processed food, whereas healthy fat source as avocado and olive oil may hamper weight gain when consumed moderately.
Do intermittent fasting
While not everyone's physical state may be suitable to fast, intermittent fasting is one of the most popular method to help reduce fat in your body. Aside from keeping track of what types of food you consume, intermittent fasting also encourages you to keep track of when you consume your food. Usually, it is the easiest to start an intermittent fast after you consume your dinner, and not eating up until certain hours the next day. For example, if you ate dinner at 7 pm, you are allowed to eat your breakfast at 7 am the earliest the next day. Research have shown that intermittent fasting may help the body burn more fat storage in the body while maintaining muscle mass at the same time, when done together alongside a routine resistance training.