TOP 3 TIPS FOR LOSING WEIGHT
When I ask my semi private training clients, they tell me they want to lose weight, losing body fat and getting leaner is probably the most popular fitness goal. Everyone wants to look good when beach season comes around, and nothing beats having some abs sticking out to impress the ladies, or a flat stomach to get the guys’ attention. The benefits of losing weight in maintaining and prolonging your life and enriching your quality of life has been studied and proven scientifically, you can find a lot of material on websites like WEBMD to help you lose weight.
Here are my top 3 tips on how to get lean and lose weight.
- Do weight training. This will help you keep your muscles and strength. It will also elevate your metabolism, making you burn more calories and more fat at rest!
Too many people make the mistake of just reducing caloric intake and then doing endurance exercise. This will stress your body and put it in a catabolic state, which means your metabolic rate will slow down and you will burn muscle instead of fat. The more muscle you have, the easier it is to get lean.
- Sleep enough. This is the most underrated factor when trying to burn fat and get lean. Getting a proper night of sleep regulates almost all of your hormones, including the ones that control hunger and how active you’ll be. Not sleeping enough will lead to less testosterone, growth hormone and thyroid hormone, but will increase your stress hormone cortisol. This will make fat burning and getting lean almost impossible.
Make sure you get at least 2 hours to digest your last meal before you go to bed. When you go to sleep, turn off everything in your room so that it is pitch black, and avoid the use of light-emitting screens before bedtime. Being on your phone or laptop before falling asleep will alter sleepiness and alertness, and suppress melatonin levels (the hormone that helps control your sleep and wake cycles).
- Eat natural, whole foods. Eliminate all processed, refined foods. There are so many reasons why refined foods are bad for you. They are full of sugars and fats and have less nutrients than whole foods. Processed foods are also filled with chemicals and preservatives to extend shelf life, which can cause our bodies to feel sluggish and even toxic. Eating these foods starves our bodies of nutrients, which is why eating them leaves you hungry for more.
Eat wholefoods that are closest to their natural state to get more nutrients and give your body what it needs.
