1. Preface
Fitness encompasses the three central parts of our being – physical, emotional, and mental health. Understanding the benefits of physical fitness can help in staying active, maintaining health, and improving the overall quality of life. People who are fit are also healthy. They are able to maintain their optimum weight and manage to evade several lifestyle diseases. Staying active delays or prevents chronic diseases and illnesses that creep in with age. Active adults can easily maintain their independence and quality of life for a longer period
as they age. A physically fit individual is also mentally strong. Incorporating a healthy diet along with physical activities enhances results achieved.
2. Introduction
Physical fitness is important for our health and wellbeing. When good nutrition is combined with physical activities it helps in promoting overall health. The choices of food that we make each day, affect our health not just today but in the future too. Food provides energy for physical activities. Eating a well-balanced diet helps you get the nutrients and calories required to fuel your daily physical activities.
Foods required to fuel an exercise routine may be different. Right types of food consumed at the right time of the day boost your health and helps in achieving your health goals.
One special diet that has taken the world by storm is the Ketogenic diet. This high-fat and low-carb diet is followed by millions across the globe especially by those who are looking to lose weight. Exercises, along with a ketogenic diet, have helped people lose a significant amount of weight. Social media platforms are flooded with weight loss transformation videos and pictures. The diet actually works!
Keto diet increases the body’s ability to burn fat during workouts. It is vital that you understand everything about the diet and the exercises that best go with it so you can achieve your weight loss goals.
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3. Accomplishing Weight Loss Goals
Well-planned and realistic goals keep you motivated and focused. An executional plan helps in the transition from an unhealthy lifestyle to a healthy one. Excessively aggressive weight loss goals will only demoralize the efforts put in. Taking one step at a time and bringing about small but substantial changes in life will help in accomplishing the weight loss goals.
Both diet and exercise are crucial for healthy weight loss. You must consume well-balanced meals and add physical activities, not just to lose weight but also to achieve overall well-being. When it comes to weight loss, calorie deficit is the key factor that determines the pounds lost from the body and the time taken to lose them.
3.1. What is Calorie Deficit?
A calorie is a unit of measurement, and they are units of energy derived from foods and beverages consumed. This energy is important for humans to live and stay healthy. The energy for the actions that we perform is received from calories.
The calories burned each day by the body in performing various internal and external activities is termed as calorie expenditure. This comprises of three components:
· Resting Energy Expenditure or REE refers to the calories that the body uses when at rest to perform functions significant for us to live such as circulation of blood, breathing etc.
· Thermic effect of food involves the calories spent by the body to perform the functions of digestion, absorption, and metabolism of food.
· Activity energy expenditure is when calories are used for physical activities such as gym exercises and other generic activities like performing household chores, moving around, etc.
When lesser calories are provided to the body than what it actually needs to support the above three components, then the body is put into a calorie deficit. If this calorie deficit is maintained for a consistent period, then it results in weight loss.
Contrariwise, providing more calories than what is required to support the three components mentioned above is known as calorie surplus. Consuming excessive calories causes weight gain.
3.2. How to Achieve Calorie Deficit?
Understanding how to safely create a calorie deficit will help in achieving weight loss goals.
1. Calculating Calories to Create a Deficit
Each body is different and to achieve weight loss one must calculate the number of calories required to maintain the functions of the body. The BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate helps in calculating the number of calories the body burns in a day, when at rest.
· BMR for Men - BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - 6.8 x age in years)
· BMR for Women = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
BMR calculators are easily available on the internet for accurate calculation. On an average an active male should consume about 2,600 calories in a day while an active female should consume 2,000 calories in a day.
2. Calorie Deficit Diet
In order to create a calorie deficit, the caloric intake must be reduced. The more calories cut from the current BMR, the bigger the caloric deficit and thus more weight loss. However, a weight loss should be achieved in a healthy way and thus a reduction of 500 calories in a single day is considered to be perfect for weight loss. Reducing 500 calories per day from your diet may help you lose one pound in a week. You must plan your day’s diet in a way that you consume 500 calories less than what is required by your body.
3. Increase the Calorie Deficit through Activities
Adding exercises and more physical activities also create a calorie deficit and help in weight loss. The number of calories lost depends on the type of exercises or physical activities performed. There are many apps and smart watches that help in tracking calories burnt while exercising.
Exercises or physical activities combined with a healthy diet help in achieving weight loss goals in a healthy way.
4. Ketogenic Food for Fitness
Ketogenic diet has been in use for over a century. Dr. Russell Wilder has been credited with the designing of the ketogenic diet in 1924 bat Mayo Clinic. The diet was earlier used on children as an effective treatment for epilepsy, and the first patient was a little boy named Charlie Abrahams. The diet has also been tested and used in closely monitored settings for diabetes, cancer, PCOS, and Alzheimer’s. Lately, it has extensively gained attention as a potential weight-loss strategy.
Weight watchers combine a ketogenic diet with exercises to effectively lose weight.
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4.1. What is Keto?
The ketogenic diet is a low-carb and high-fat diet, where the individual is required to bring down the carbohydrate consumption and replace it with fat. Consuming fewer carbohydrates puts the body in a metabolic state known as ketosis. When the body is in a state of ketosis, it efficiently burns stored fat for energy. It turns fat into ketones, which then provide energy to the brain.
Consuming keto-friendly foods lowers blood sugar and levels of insulin. The increased ketones offer several health benefits besides weight loss, such as improves PCOS, reduces the risk of several cancers, protects brain function, reduction in seizures, improves heart health, helps with acne, etc.
With time, nutritionists and weight loss influencers modified the diet and adjusted it according to their requirements. However, the diet still seems to work and show wonderful results. Here are some versions of the diet that are followed:
· Standard Ketogenic Diet – This version of the keto diet is a very low-carb, moderate-protein, and high-fat diet. The meal comprises of 20% protein, 75% fat, and 5% carbs.
· Cyclical Ketogenic Diet – This version of keto diet involves phases of higher-carb refeeds (a temporary break from the diet), for instance, following 5 day of ketogenic diet followed by 2 days of high-carb consumption.
· Targeted Ketogenic Diet – This version of keto diet allows you to add carbs somewhat liberally during workouts.
· High-Protein Ketogenic Diet – This version of keto diet is similar to a standard ketogenic diet, but includes more protein in the diet. The ratio is usually 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbs.
Studies have only been conducted on standard and high-protein ketogenic diets. The targeted and cynical keto diets are more advanced methods and mainly used by bodybuilders or other health enthusiasts.
4.2. Foods to Eat in Ketogenic Diet
People usually get confused in what foods to eat and what to avoid while following a ketogenic diet. The low-carb and high-fat design of the diet encourages certain types of foods and restricts the others. Foods that are healthy and good to be consumed while following a keto diet include:
1. Vegetables Growing Above the Ground
Fresh green and leafy vegetables such as spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. are very healthy and great for the keto diet. They are high in fiber and provide you with the required minerals and vitamins. Some exceptions are peas, corn, and squash, all of which are very high in carbs and must be avoided.
2. Natural Fat, High-Fat Sauces
The maximum calories consumed in a ketogenic diet should come from fat. Butter, coconut oil, and olive oil are great choices to be added to salads or to cook keto-based meals. Mayonnaise, béarnaise, and other similar high-fat sauces can be used.
3. Fish and Seafood
Fatty fish such as salmon is rich in Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, iron, and several more nutrients that are good for our body. However, all types of fish and seafood are keto-friendly and can be consumed while following this diet.
4. High-Fat Dairy
Heavy cream, butter, high-fat cheese, and yogurt can be consumed while following a ketogenic diet. Milk, however, is high in carbs and should not be consumed. You should stick to plant-based milk like almond or soy milk.
5. Berries
Even though fruits are not a part of the keto diet because they are high in carbs, berries are very low in carbs and high in fiber. You can consume them moderately. Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries etc. can be a part of your keto diet.
6. Meat
You can consume all types of meat. Organic and grass-fed meat is healthy and also supplies your body with the required protein. You can also go for processed meats like cold cuts or sausages but make sure you run through their sourcing and ingredients.
7. Eggs
Again pastured or organic eggs would be a healthy option, but then eggs in any form are great.
8. Nuts and Seeds
You can snack on nuts or add them to your meals, but they should be used in moderation. Cashews are high in carbs, they must be avoided instead reach out for a bag of pecan nuts, almonds, or walnuts. From pumpkin seeds to flax seeds, all of them can be a part of keto diet. They add flavor to your salads and are also rich in minerals and vitamins.
9. Water and Other Drinks
Water, green tea, herbal teas, black coffee, and bone broth are what you must include in the keto diet.
10. Keto-Friendly Sweeteners
You can use stevia, xylitol, Erythritol, Monk fruit sweetener, sucralose, and similar keto-friendly sweeteners. 80% dark chocolate can be consumed occasionally if you are craving something sweet.
4.2. Foods to Avoid in Ketogenic Diet
Foods that are not permitted while following the ketogenic diet include:
1. Fruits
You cannot consume any fruit in keto because they are high in carbs. The only exceptions to it are coconut, avocado, and berries.
2. Vegetables Growing Under the Ground
All vegetables that grow under the ground are high in carbs and cannot be a part of the keto diet. Some examples of such foods are yam, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc. Onion, however, can be used in moderation, but most people following the ketogenic diet stick to eating green onions or scallions.
3. Beverages
All types of beverages such as energy drinks, beer, cold drinks, etc. should be avoided.
4. Grains/Pulses/Legumes
You cannot consume any type of grains in any form – rice, wheat, pulses, lentils, beans and all types of legumes are not keto-friendly.
5. Sugar
Sugar should be avoided at all costs. You must also avoid condiments such as tomato sauce and certain dressings that have added sugar in them. Maple syrup, honey, and agave are all exempted in the diet.
6. Other High-Carb Foods
All types of starchy foods such as bread, pasta, chips, ice-cream or any junk food that are high in carbs will kick you out of ketosis. They must be avoided.
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5. Exercising
Indulging in some form of physical activities or exercises promotes overall well-being and improves your health. Exercising increases your heart rate, which in turn improves its ability to draw oxygen from blood circulation. Burning calories with exercise also help in weight loss.
5.1. How Exercise Boosts Weight Loss
Exercise, in general, offers several health benefits but if an individual wants to lose weight then they would require burning more calories than what they consume. Calorie as we discussed is a unit of energy and every action that our body performs needs energy. From thinking to walking and from breathing to moving your hand, every action that we perform, burns energy. Exercising can help in weight loss burning off some extra calories.
There are many who claim that exercise is not effective for weight loss on its own. The reason behind this thought could be that exercise increases hunger in some; they crave for more food and end up consuming more calories than what they burned during their workout session. But pre-planning your diet and workout sessions will help you stay on track.
Everything must be monitored to review results. Calories of the meals consumed should be tracked using a calorie counting app, and calories burned through exercises should also be monitored using smart devices. This helps in setting down your weight loss goals. Every exercise has a different impact on your body and the type of exercise you choose to perform also determines how soon and how much weight you would lose in a given period of time.
5.2. Types of Exercises to Burn Fat
The American Heart Association and World Health Organization recommend 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity or 150 minutes of physical activities of moderate-intensity in a week. The suggested time interval is 10 minutes or more in each session. Exercising for the mentioned time will help in maintaining the current weight of your body. You will need more physical activities to lose weight and keep it off. Besides a good ketogenic diet plan, you must also include physical activities in your daily regime.
There are different types of exercises that can help with weight loss. Whether it is a 15-minute brisk walk or a 30-minute vigorous session of aerobics, calories are burned in both activities. However, the number of calories burned will differ according to the type of exercise you choose to do.
Health enthusiasts broadly split physical activities into three categories:
· Low Intensity
· Moderate Intensity
· High Intensity
The level of intensity is basically determined by MHR or Maximum Heart Rate of the individual who is exercising. An estimate of MHR is got by subtracting one’s age from 220 – so if a person is 30 years old, the MHR of the individual will be 180 beats per minute. This MHR will vary for every type of exercising intensity one chooses to perform for weight loss.
Low Intensity – Someone performing low-intensity activities will have 40 to 50 percent MHR. Some examples of such activities are bike riding, walking, stretching, beginner’s yoga, performing household chores, walking up the stairs, etc.
You can monitor your heart rate while exercising with the help of a wrist fitness band or smartwatch to learn about your MHR, but a chest strap offers more accurate results. Individuals without any device can get an idea about their MHR too. They can count the number of beats in their pulse for 15 seconds and then multiply the number by 4.
It not always convenient to check our devices when exercising, so the best way to check the intensity of your workout is through talk tests. If a person who is exercising is able to talk and sing normally while exercising without feeling breathless then they are exercising at a low intensity.
Low intensity exercises may probably not be the best way to lose weight, but they are definitely good for weight maintenance and overall well-being.
Moderate Intensity – Moderate exercises are ones that, when performed, raise the heart rate and breathing compared to your regular way. A person performing moderate-intensity activities will have about 50 to 70 percent MHR. Some examples of such activities are brisk walking, actively playing around with children, biking, walking uphill, lap swimming, jogging, strenuous yoga, etc.
When it comes to talk test, one would be able to talk and sing, but they would run out of breath after a speaking or singing a few words.
Moderate intensity workouts can help in weight loss, but one would require working out for longer periods to achieve their weight loss goals.
High Intensity – High-intensity exercises are ones which, when performed, raise your heart rate and breathing substantially. You will be unable to converse with someone properly. The MHR is usually between 70 to 85 percent. Some examples of such activities are weight training, circuit training, sprints, etc.
On taking a talk test, someone who is performing high-intensity exercises will be unable to speak or sing properly as they would have to pause often to catch their breath.
Health enthusiasts recommend at least 75 minutes of high-intensity training in a week.
The calories lost in performing any of the above activities or indulging in similar types of exercises will depend on the time and the intensity of the activity or exercise.
5.3. Benefits of High-Intensity Interval Training
A dedicated fitness routine along with a keto diet boosts your weight loss process. The High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT is being preferred by people because the desired calorie loss in a day is achieved is a short time period. It offers quick weight loss in less time.
The term HIIT is broadly used for workouts where intense exercises are alternated with recovery periods.
High-Intensity Interval Training or HIIT
Short bursts of exercises bursts along with low-intensity recovery periods are known as HIIT. It is not just result oriented but also time-efficient. Usually, a HIIT workout will last anywhere between 10 and 30 minutes.
Irrespective of its duration, the results of HIIT are double the moderate-intensity exercises. There can be various forms of HIIT exercises including some activities such as biking, sprinting, rope jumping, and activities similar to them.
One of the most common examples of HIIT is a cycling a stationary exercise bike at an extremely high speed for 30 seconds then alternating it with a few minutes of slow cycling. The number of repetitions performed can depend on what the individual chooses to be. The time spent on your exercise and recovery will depend on the activity performed and its intensity of execution.
HIIT exercises should comprise of vigorous exercises that put up your heart rate. There are some unique health benefits experienced by people who always perform HIIT. Here are some benefits:
1. HIIT Can Burn a Lot of Calories
People performing HIIT burn calories very quickly. In one of the studies performed the researchers found that individuals burnt 25 to 30% more calories in 30 minutes of HIIT compared to other forms of exercise, which included running, weight training, and biking. In this study, the HIIT repetition had 20 seconds of maximum effort altered by 40 seconds of rest. Thus, the participants actually exercised just of one-third of the total time (30 minutes) compared to other groups who ran, weight lifted, and biked.
HIITs are meant to be short and yet burn more calories. The results attained from HIIT are amazing.
2. Your Metabolic Rate Remains High for Several Hours After Exercise
An important benefit of HIIT is that you continue burning calories even after you have completed the exercise session.
There are many studies that show HIIT keeps your metabolic rate enhanced for years after the session. A few other studies show that HIIT increases metabolism more than weight training and jogging. HIIT is so effective that the body’s metabolism is shifted from using carbs as energy to burning fats for energy.
In another study HIIT when performed in sprints for just a couple of minutes, upped the body metabolism for the next 24 hours, which is equivalent to 30 minutes of running.
3. It Can Help You Lose Fat and Boost Your Weight Loss Process
Several experiments reveal that HIIT can help in reducing body fat and waist circumference. Individuals who dedicatedly perform HIIT for 20 minutes atleast thrice a week can lose up to 4.4 pounds/2 kilos in three months even if they stick to their regular diet. HIIT reduces visceral fat which is the cause of most diseases and surrounds the internal organs.
Despite the less time dedicated for HIIT sessions, they are quite effective in reducing body fat. For people who are obese or overweight, other forms of exercise also work for fat loss, during the initial stage of their weight loss journey.
4. You May Gain Muscle
Several individuals have also seen an increase in their muscle mass with HIIT. However, this gain was mainly in the muscles of the legs and those present in the trunk. The HIIT does support muscle growth, but the percentage or amount may not be as significant as what may be gained with weight training.
5. HIIT Can Improve Oxygen Consumption
The ability of body’s muscles to use oxygen what can termed as oxygen consumption. Endurance training can increase the consumption of oxygen by your body. Although health enthusiasts have used cycling or running, at a stable speed, for long periods to improve oxygen consumption, HIIT gives the same results in very less time.
HIIT workouts, when performed for 20 minutes per session for four days in a week, can improve oxygen consumption of the body by 9%.
6. HIIT May Reduce Heart Rate and Blood Pressure
Besides burning calories or fat HIIT also offers other health benefits such as it can lower blood pressure and heart rate in obese people or other individuals who are already suffering with high blood pressure.
HIIT of stationary bike offers similar results in terms of decreased blood pressure when compared with other endurance exercises. The only difference is that the individuals performing HIIT can exercise fewer times in a week and spend lesser time for each session compared to other traditional exercises. In fact, several researchers were able to determine that HIIT was more effective in lowering the blood pressure compared to exercises of other intensities.
HIIT doesn’t affect the pressure of normal individuals who don’t suffer from high blood pressure.
7. Helps in Lowering Blood Sugar
Based on several researches it has also been observed that individuals who perform HIIT experience improved insulin resistance. The level of benefit experienced is more than traditional exercises. Therefore, HIIT proves to be especially beneficial for people who are at risk of having type 2 diabetes or are already suffering from this disease.
Individuals suffering from type 2 diabetes have experienced improved blood sugar when they performed HIIT exercises. People that are not under the risk of this disease also tend to improve the insulin resistance in their body with HIIT.
Several health enthusiasts recommend performing HIIT exercises three to five times in a week. HIIT workouts are usually simple and can easily be done at home.
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6. Keto Diet
When you include a well-balanced diet along with a session of exercise in your daily routine can offer not just weight loss but several other health benefits. It promotes an overall healthy lifestyle with perks of improved mood and sleep.
Significance of Keto Diet for Weight Loss
Consuming a healthy diet can help us stay healthy. Making poor choices like consuming fast food, eating while watching television, drinking calorie-loaded beverages, using vehicles to travel even if a store is five minutes from the house, eating bigger portions of food, etc. are some of the reasons why we tend to gain weight. In the last two decades the entire world has witnessed a rise in obesity and diseases related to it.
With an increase in the body weight, the adipose tissue mass present in our body also tends to increase and this causes various diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and similar lifestyle diseases. Besides exercise consuming a healthy diet is also recommended by nutritionists and health practitioners. Several diets have been gaining popularity even though ketogenic diet was developed for health purposes; its results were so amazing that people began using it to lose weight. The diet is not just backed by research but it also has the support of the medical community. The diet induces quick weight loss and is considered to be a great way to combat obesity. A very limited proportion of carbohydrates in the diet helps in inducing mobilization of fatty acid from adipose tissue and provides the required energy through ketones which lead to weight loss.
6.1. What Does a Balanced Ketogenic Meal Look Like?
Ketogenic meal is a low carb and high fat meal with some protein. Strictly, in a ketogenic diet consumption of carbs is limited to 20 grams per day. The more moderate versions may go upto 50 grams while there are some that could be a little more generous.
The whole point of consuming a keto-friendly meal is to cut out carbs from the diet and include 75% foods that are high in fat. Protein intake should about 20% while carbs must be restricted to 5% only.
The lower your carb intake is, the sooner you get in a state of ketosis and continue to do so till you eat a healthy keto-friendly diet.
When carbs are restricted from your meal, your body is forced to utilize fats as their main source to derive energy instead of glucose, for the body. This process is known as ketosis. When your body is in ketosis it uses ketones for energy. Ketones are nothing but molecules that the liver produces from fats when the body does not get enough glucose to make energy. This alternate use of fuel sources to provide energy to the body triggers weight loss.
Even though fat is usually not preferred by people who are dieting because they are high in calories, the ketogenic diet encourages the use of healthy fats that are good for health. Several researches reveal that individuals following ketogenic diets lose weight quickly compared to those who are following other types of fad diets.
Always remember to have balanced meals. You must consume vegetables, dairy products, meat or eggs, nuts, permitted fruits, and other food products permitted in the ketogenic diet in a proportionate way. Balancing your dietary needs by ensuring the right calorie intake for a day will provide your body with all the necessary vitamins and minerals. Keep yourself hydrated by drinking water. If you are addicted to caffeine then coffee and green tea can be consumed. You can use plant-based milk or cream for your coffee but not regular milk.
Here are Some Important Points to Keep in Mind When Filling Your Plate With Keto Friendly Foods
Even though the ketogenic diet is highly effective, you may be unable to actually lose weight if you don’t follow it in the right way. Ketogenic diet must be implemented in the right way else your weight loss goals may be sabotaged. Here is what you must keep in mind while making your food choices for a ketogenic meal:
1. Eat Nutritious Food
Keto bars, ready to eat keto snacks, keto desserts available in supermarkets may not comprise of the right ingredients. Convenience foods such as hot dogs etc. should be consumed minimally because even though they are keto-friendly, they are not nutritious. They can slow down the weight loss process. Such foods usually lack in vitamins and minerals. Therefore, you must add unprocessed whole keto-friendly foods to your meal. Say for instance, pastured meats, full-fat dairy products, eggs, poultry, healthy oils like olive oil, fish, etc. All non-starchy vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, peppers, broccoli, mushroom, spinach, zucchini, etc. are loaded with vitamins and minerals.
2. Count the Calories of Meals You Consume
Calorie deficit is one of the most important things to remember when losing weight. People looking forward to lose weight must always pre-plan the meals they are going to eat in a day. Calorie counting app helps in meal preparation. There are many keto-friendly foods that are very high in calories like olive oil, avocados, nuts and full-fat dairy products especially cheese. It is likely that one may consume more than the required calories in a single meal by adding large portions of foods that are high in calories. Always keep your quantity in check, count the calories of the food you consume and exercise to maintain your weight loss goals.
3. Don’t Snack on High Calorie Food Most may think of snacks to be smaller in portion and not bad for your weight but when it comes to consuming keto-friendly foods, there are many foods which are high in calories even if they come in small portions. Cheese, nut butter, jerky, nuts, and fat bombs are some examples of such high-calorie foods. They can be added to your meals in moderation if you have limited your snacks to once a day. However, if you are someone who snacks often, then your plate should contain snacks like hard-boiled eggs, celery sticks, salads, guacamole with a choice of vegetables, etc. vegetables are great for the digestive system and perfect when you are trying to lose weight or stay healthy.
Weight loss is almost instant when ketogenic diet is followed with HIIT or other forms of physical activity.
7. Tips to Lose Weight
Weight loss doesn’t happen overnight. Just like the weight gained doesn’t happen in a single day similarly one cannot lose the excess weight overnight. Bringing about some changes in lifestyle will slowly help in weight loss. Slow but steady weight loss is considered to be a healthy way to lose weight.
7.1. Life Changing Tips for Quick Weight Loss
Remembering a few tips and including them in your weight loss journey can be quite effective. Here are some tips that are proven to work when implemented:
1. Avoid Processed Foods
Processed foods have a lot of chemicals, added sugars that most companies never mention in the list of ingredients, and are also high in calories. They are made in a way that you crave for more. People get addicted to eating, which slowly causes them to gain a lot of weight.
2. Drink Water Before Meals
Drinking half a litre of water 30 minutes before eating your meals helps in losing 44% more weight because people tend to eat lesser calories. Water also helps in boosting metabolism by 30% for the next one and a half hour.
3. Drink Black Coffee
When consumed in the right way, coffee can prove to be quite beneficial for the body. Good quality black coffee is loaded with antioxidants and the caffeine present in it boosts body metabolism up to 11%. It also enhances fat burning process by 10% to 29%. You must not add any sugar or sweetener to it, if you want to reap its benefits for weight loss.
4. Protein Should Always be a Part of Your Meals
Human body burns a lot of calories when it digests and metabolizes the protein you eat. Consuming a high protein diet can up the body’s metabolism by burning 80 to 100 calories each day. Protein is a very important nutrient that keeps you full and suppresses the appetite. An individual consuming a high protein diet is likely to consume up to 400 calories lesser than others who are eating a low protein diet.
5. Avoid Flavoured Beverages
Any beverage labeled sugar free, or zero sugar cannot be trusted. Even the fruit juices are not naturally flavored; sugar is present in different forms. Avoid them completely; instead, opt for a fresh bottle of water or a sugar-free iced black tea/coffee if you really craving for a drink other than water.
6. Drink Green Tea
Green tea is rich in antioxidants and has directly been linked with weight loss. It is known to enhance selective fat burning, belly fat specifically, by 17%. It also increases the energy burning process by 4%. The matcha version of green tea is known to possess much more qualities than regular green tea.
7. Consume a Lot of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are very healthy and can help you lose weight, provided you consume them in a healthy way. They are rich in nutrients, fiber, and water and have low energy density which lets you consume large portions without actually taking in more calories. Several studies reveal that people who consume more fruits and vegetables tend to weigh lesser than those who don’t.
8. Eat Slowly
Our brain takes time to figure out that our stomach is full. By the time it sends signals that you are full, you have already overeaten. Chewing your food mindfully also helps in burning some extra calories. It also increases the production of certain hormones that are connected to weight loss. There are some studies that reveal people who eat their food quickly are usually obese compared to those who take time to finish their meals.
9. Add Probiotics in Your Daily Routine
A healthy gut also keeps you fit and also helps in weight loss. Probiotics have several health benefits because they are live bacteria. They help in improving the process of digestion, give you a healthy heart and boost weight loss process. There are some studies which show that the gut bacteria of obese people are different than those of individuals that weight normally and it has an impact on their weight. The live bacteria present in the probiotics help in regulating the gut bacteria. They also absorb dietary fat, reduce inflammation and appetite. The Lactobacillus gassri are known to be the best probiotic bacteria when it comes to weight loss.
10. Fiber Rich Foods are Healthy
Consuming fiber rich foods promote fullness, so you consume lesser calories, especially if they are water-soluble. Fibre also delays stomach emptying, which releases the satiety hormones and makes you feel full. There are certain types of fiber that feed the gut bacteria which in turn helps in fighting obesity. Soluble fiber helps in retention of more water in stool making it perfect for people who often suffer from constipation issues. Most obese people are known to have constipation problems. Weight loss almost becomes impossible or slow if your stomach is not clear. Therefore you must include fiber rich foods such as spinach, broccoli, artichokes, etc.
11. Use Small Plates
This may not work on every individual but for those who are obese and trying to lose weight, must try and eat in smaller plates and bowls. Using smaller sized plates have helped many people in controlling the number of calories they consume in each meal. Several have also been able to control their calorie intake by using plates of specific colors such as blue. The color blue is known to work as an appetite suppressant.
12. Cook Your Own Food
Freshly cooked home food is clean, vitamin rich and healthy. When you make and consume your own food you will begin losing weight if they are cooked in a healthier way. Home-made food is always prepared with freshly cut ingredients and fresh vegetables /meat/poultry. From the oil you use to the spices, you sprinkle every bit of it is healthy. The same cannot be said for foods ordered from food joints or restaurants. The quality of the ingredients used cannot be trusted. Burgers, fries, donuts, pizzas, and similar types of junk food are all loaded with calories and will never let you lose weight if you order them regularly. You can make a healthier version of wheat base pizza at home to cut down on the extra calories that a white flour pizza base would give.
13. Repetition Also Helps
Repeating things can get boring but it tends to build a rhythm. Pre-setting meals and workout plans at a certain time for a specific time limit helps your body to adjust to it easily. You can change the rotation after 3 to 4 weeks, but repetition definitely helps in achieving weight loss goals.
14. Sleep
Sleeping late can lead your brain to making poor decisions. The activity in the frontal lobe of the brain, impulse control, and decision making is clouded when the body gets insufficient sleep. A tired brain likes to reward itself and will trigger it in doing something it likes such as reaching out for a brownie or lying lazily on the couch and skipping your gym session. In some studies, it was also found that it stimulated people to eat more portions of food, who deprived their bodies of sleep. Just like our body needs nutrition from food to survive, our brain needs sleep to survive and function properly.
Human body needs anywhere between 7 and 9 hours of sleep. Less sleep triggers the stress hormone cortisol which signals the body to preserve energy to fuel the body when it is awake. Sleep drops down your metabolism and insufficient hours of sleep for just 4 days can pull down the body’s ability to process insulin which we know is an important hormone that converts food to energy. If the body doesn’t process insulin then the fats present in the bloodstream are not processed which then are stored as fat cells causing weight gain. There are many other health issues that are sleep related. Therefore all individuals looking forward to lose weight and stay healthy must sleep on the tome.
15. Begin Your Day Early
Just as getting complete sleep is important, so is getting up on time. The metabolism of our body is always high in the morning before 12. Our body converts the calories into energy much faster than it does in the evening or night. People who get up late are known to have poor choices in food and often reach out for junk or ready-to-eat foods that are unhealthy and cause quick weight gain.
16. Get Some Natural Light
In one of the studies conducted for three weeks, the researchers found that people who were exposed to morning sunlight for 45 minutes between 6:00 am and 9:00 am experienced fat loss and reduced appetite. The researchers deducted that the morning sunlight helped in synchronizing the body’s metabolism, which helps in burning fat more effectively.
17. Keep Healthy Food in Stock
Individuals that aim in losing weight must not keep foods that cause weight gain. Chips, chocolates, ice-cream tubs, etc. should be replaced with healthy snacks such as celery sticks, sweet potato bakes, yogurt, fruits, nuts, baby carrots, or anything that is healthy and good for your body. It can be hard for us to control ourselves when we are extremely hungry and having unhealthy snacks around will only make things worse.
18. Try Intermittent Fasting
There are millions of people who are trying intermittent fasting and the results are overwhelming. It works for weight loss because we tend to consume fewer calories. Many researches show that keeping a gap of at least 12 hours between dinner and breakfast helps in speeding the process of weight loss. Abstaining from food for 16 hours a day (including sleep hours) and eating during the 8 hours is one of the most common ways of intermittent fasting observed by weight-loss watchers. Intermittent fasting has also been proved to offer some other health benefits such as boosting longevity, improving blood sugar levels, and in reducing cholesterol in the body. Intermittent fasting, when done with a ketogenic diet, accelerates the process of ketosis and helps in quick weight loss.
19. Go Organic
There is a reason why nutritionists stress on consuming food that is organically grown. Fruits and vegetables that are grown inorganically contain harmful pesticides that poison the mitochondria and damage its ability to burn fuel. Any fuel that does not burn is stored as fat in your body. Look for locally grown vegetables and fruits that are sold by local farmers.
20. Order Smart When Dining Out
When dining out with friends and family you must make smart choices. You can order fresh salads along or broth-based soups to cut down on your calorie intake. Orders grilled or baked food and avoid any sauces or dips that come along with them. Dessert should be evaded but if you are longing for something sweet then go for a mixed fruit bowl with fresh cream or something similar.
21. Finish Your Dinner Early
The body metabolism is the lowest at night and if you really want to achieve weight loss then you must avoid eating late at night. The last meal of your day should be complete by 7:00 pm in the evening. You can have a bedtime drink, but nothing solid. Dinner should also be light and easy to digest and you must go to bed atleast two hours after you have finished your dinner. This promotes easy digestion of the food consumed.
22. Carbs are Best when Consumed in their Natural Form
Although a low carb diet like keto helps in weight loss, our body does need carbs. However, when these carbs are consumed in their natural form, it is easier for the body to digest it. Unprocessed or minimally processed carbs can be found in brown rice, steel-cut or rolled oats, whole wheat pasta or bread, and quinoa. You will not gain weight if you consume carbs in this form provided you consume them in a healthy way.
23. Spice Up Your Food
Spices usually go unnoticed while speaking about food but they are quite helpful in weight loss. Cinnamon for example boosts your body’s metabolism, is rich in antioxidants and also possesses anti-inflammatory properties. Cayenne pepper comprises of capsaicin which lowers bad cholesterol and also has thermogenic effects which burns fat. Fenugreek seeds are rich in mucilaginous fiber that guards the digestive tract from free-radical damage and improves body metabolism. Cardamom has diuretic properties that boost metabolism and burn fat effectively. Every spice is special in its own way and contributes to our health and even weight loss.
24. Get Help for Your Stress
Stress and anxiety are one of the leading causes of most lifestyle diseases that we see in people around us. Studies show that a stressful mind makes poor choices for you, especially when it comes to food. You will crave food even when your body is not hungry at all. Obese or over-weight people are known to suffer from stress. If you find yourself battling from stress then you must get help.
25. Never Skip Your Meals
Unless you are observing a specific diet routine while following intermittent fasting, you must not skip your meals. Going without a meal will result in consumption of more calories than what you actually plan on eating. You will also be tempted to make unhealthy food choices. For instance, if you left home without having breakfast you might want to order a burrito or a dream-filled donut on your way to office.
8. Conclusion
As things have become virtual and digital, our lives too seem to have undergone immense changes. Our physical activities have almost become zero with devices and online services doing most of our work. Most sicknesses that we witness around us are all lifestyle diseases. Physical fitness is one of the prerequisites to happiness. Making the right choices of food and performing regular physical activities is the key to having a healthy body and mind. Staying healthy physically also promotes good mental and emotional health. Consuming the right foods keep your body strong and help in fighting illnesses. Bringing about small changes in our lives today can promote joyful living for us in the future.
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