By Sue Heintze
Do you feel like you have reached a point where you just can’t seem to lose those last few kilos? Feel like you’d tried everything and are sitting there in frustration wondering what to do next?
We have some simple tricks for you to follow to quickly boost your metabolism and incinerate stubborn fat faster that you ever thought possible!
Don’t Starve Yourself
Simply put, don’t crash diet! While crash diets may cause short-term rapid weight loss, realize that much of this weight is water and it will come back. Not only that but since your body thinks it’s starving, it will slow the metabolic rate so when you return back to your normal diet (which you will since no one can maintain a starvation diet for long), you’ll start gaining extra fat rapidly because of it.
You’ll never win with starvation diets.
Pump Up Your Protein Power
It’s absolutely critical that you take in enough protein with your diet plan. Think of protein as a ‘power food’. It’s going to fuel your muscles and speed recovery, help reduce your hunger, and boost your metabolism.
The body has to work hard to break down protein in the body – much harder than it does for carbohydrates or dietary fats, so because of this, each time you eat protein, it causes a spike to your metabolic rate.
Forgo Your Fat Fear
Terrified of adding dietary fat to your diet? Don’t be.
Dietary fat can actually help you lose fat when used properly. It’s going to reduce hunger and ensure your metabolism is working properly. Healthy fats, such as those found in fish oil, coconut oil, avocado, walnuts, almonds, and flaxseeds will help enhance insulin sensitivity, increase your energy, and ensure that you’re using body fat as a fuel source properly.
Watch your portion sizes as fats are higher in calories than other foods, but definitely do not cut them out of your plan.
Get Smart With Spices
Tired of a bland diet? Pump up the flavour with spices. Spices are completely calorie free and offer numerous health benefits. Certain spices can actually boost your metabolic rate, so that you burn more calories in the hours following consumption.
Spices with metabolism boosting benefits include cayenne pepper and chilli powder. You might also like to consider adding cinnamon to your meals whenever possible as it helps to moderate your blood glucose levels so you use carbs for fuel rather than converting them to body fat.
Bring Back Those Carbs
On a low carb diet? If so, you probably think you’re on your way to rapid fat loss. While low carb diets can promote quick weight loss, there’s one caveat… Go low carb for too long and your body will fight you. Low carb diets will dramatically slow the metabolic rate as a hormone called leptin starts to decrease. As it decreases, your urge to eat will become stronger until it’s eventually uncontrollable.
To prevent this from taking place, periodically add higher carbohydrate days into your diet plan where you consume more calories and give your metabolism a break. Try and focus on healthy carbs if possible such as oats, pasta, brown rice, and sweet potatoes, but if you really want your favourite ‘cheat’ food – have it. This is the one time when that cheat meal will actually help not hinder you.
Harness the Power of Compound Movements and Metabolic Training
To rapidly incinerate fat during your workout session, focus on compound movements that work as many muscles at once as possible. Then, stack these exercises back to back with as little rest in between as you can handle.
This will create a massive calorie burn during the workout session and help you continue burning calories at an elevated rate for hours after it’s completed.
Perfect exercises to choose include squats, lunges, deadlifts, the bench press, and push-ups.