Ten Foods That Help In Losing Weight

Ready to take your mission of losing weight to the next level by overhauling your diet? Just like the common saying, losing weight is eighty percent diet and twenty percent exercise. It is safe to say that no matter how hard you exercise but you do not regulate the amount of calories you eat, your weight will always stay the same, or worst, blow up. The best weight loss programs will be derailed if you disregard your diet and consume excessive calories.

If you are finally decided to step up your weight loss game, try these ten amazing foods that aid shedding those extra pounds! Stay healthy!

Eggs

Eggs are a staple for weight loss. Not only does it provide high amounts of protein, but it also contains healthy fats, and can make you feel energised without having to worry about excess calories. Recent studies show that eggs do not actually cause increases in cholesterol levels, nor does it cause any heart disease. It is a nutrient dense food, so you get everything you need.

Broccoli

Broccoli is a great source of fibre, and it is very rich in calcium. Broccoli is a great food to eat when losing weight as it actually helps in cleansing your stomach and brushes off excess fats and other debris that were inside.

Salmon

Salmon is loaded with loads of essential fatty acids known as Omega-3. Omega-3 fatty acid is known to reduce inflammation, combatting obesity and kick-starting metabolic rates. It also contains enough nutrients to keep your endocrine system functioning properly for regulated hormone levels. It also has a good amount of proteins to keep your muscles strong and working.

Cottage Cheese

This type of cheese may look very intimidating, especially as a cup of it looks like a clump of expired, coagulated dairy. But cottage cheese is, in fact, very healthy. It is mostly made up of protein with very little carbohydrates and fats. It can instantly make you feel full and contains fewer calories than most dairy products.

Nuts

If you get hungry in between meals, ditch the junk food and go for a handful of nuts instead. Nuts are an excellent snack because even though they are high in fat, they are not necessarily fattening. Nuts can also make you fuller in an instant, and they are very rich in fibre too!

Chia Seeds

Chia seeds have been gaining so much popularity among people who want to lose weight. Basically, they are also one of the most nutrient-packed foods on earth. Would you believe that even though they contain carbohydrates, almost ninety percent of them is actually fibre? They can easily make you feel full and satisfied because they expand when in contact with water. This is what makes chia seeds perfect when you are on a diet.

Yoghurt

Skip on the flavoured ones and choose a full-fat yoghurt instead. Yoghurt is a great alternative to sweets as they contain good bacteria that improve your metabolism and health of your gut. Yoghurt is also known to combat obesity and the development of type II diabetes.

Grapefruit

Grapefruit is delicious and very nutritious. This fruit is rich in vitamin C, folic acid, and potassium. Since the fruit itself is fibrous, it definitely does help in making you feel full and satiated. Grapefruit is also known to combat certain heart diseases.

Avocado

Ever heard of using fat for energy instead of sugar? Almost all fitness enthusiasts eat avocado to help them lose or maintain their weight. It is high in mono-saturated oleic acid, which is basically fats, but a good and desirable kind of it.

Water

Though not technically food, water is essential when you want to lose weight. Drinking water thirty minutes before your meal can make you consume lesser food by making you feel full faster. Not only that, but water helps in flushing out toxins out of your body, so your cells remain healthy and functional.

The Best Times to Eat For Slimming Down

You are probably aware that eating healthy foods and snacks through the day, on a daily basis is a positive step towards weight loss. However, if your mealtimes keep changing all the time, for example, today you have breakfast at 6 am and the next day you have it at 11 am, then shedding pounds may still prove to be a challenge. Furthermore, eating meals on an arbitrary schedule can deplete your body of much-needed energy.

Recent research reveals that, regardless of how nutritious your meals are, a change in mealtimes can effect changes in the cycle of one’s blood sugar levels. When your blood sugar levels rise higher than usual, it can increase the amount of the fat-storing insulin hormone. So, this begs the question: when is the right time to eat each meal if you want to lose weight fast? This article gives you a meal-by-meal timeline suitable for those who have day schedules. Read on.

Breakfast

Breakfast is, without doubt, the most vital meal of a day. It allows you to replenish your blood sugar levels following a long stretch of sleep at night. Moreover, you get to stock up the body with the right nutrients before heading out to work or daily activities. That way, you will be more energised and active in the first half of the day. The ideal time to eat breakfast is between 6:00 a.m and 9:45 a.m.

Eat your breakfast either thirty minutes or one hour after waking up. After all, delays in eating your morning meal will make your stay without the hunger-reducing benefits of proteins, fibre, and fat. Intake of a high-protein breakfast between the stated timeframe is associated with the reduced threat of body fat gain and reduced hunger during the day, in comparison to those who take their breakfast after 10 a.m.

Mid-morning snack

Although a mid-morning snack isn’t compulsory, especially if you do eat a heavy breakfast or eat at 9: 45 a.m., take note that your body requires between 2-4 hours for food digestion and absorption. Therefore, stick within that window between your breakfast and mid-morning snack. The snack helps to keep your energy levels topped up and avoid a reduction in your blood sugar. Almonds are an excellent example of a mid-morning snack.

Lunch

Lunch meals should be served within 3 to 4 hours of breakfast. This means that you should not eat lunch past 3 p.m. Studies have found that dieters who eat early lunches achieved more success in dropping pounds. On the other hand, dieters are likely to lose less weight if they consume the bulk of their calories past 3 p.m. Eat a balanced lunch consisting of proteins, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats.

Afternoon snacks

Similar to your mid-morning snack, allow a window period between 2 to 4 hours after lunch to eat your afternoon snack. The snack helps to keep your blood sugar levels steady and avoid overindulging during dinnertime. Smoothies, nuts, fruits, vegetable soup and fruit yoghurt, are excellent examples of afternoon snacks.

Dinner

The perfect time to eat dinner is between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. The food consumed for dinner is similar to that eaten for lunch. When you stop eating between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m, you are likely to lose pounds and sleep better which augurs well for your slimming efforts. Moreover, the body has enough time to digest the food before you go to sleep. Dinner food should consist of protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats as well as fibre. This includes brown rice, chicken, meat, and salmon.

Following the timeline described is crucial to your weight loss program. Consumption of five meals each day is recommended rather than consuming three big meals, as smaller meals require less time for digestion. Moreover, your blood sugar levels remain steady all through the day, which is good news for weight management. Make sure you also drink eight glasses of water every day to avoid dehydration.

How Much Exercise Should You Do To Lose Weight?

Frequent exercising and eating well is a relative term used by many people on weight loss programs in singapore. However, most people do not have an idea of how much exercise they need to do to lose their target weight or how much they need to eat to keep their waistlines in check. Everyone is different, and people respond differently to exercise and diet. Therefore, you may consider following an exercise routine that works for your body type rather than following what someone else is doing.

Exercise takes more of a U-shaped association where too much workout or too little of it would be harmful to your body. Too much exercise leads to a release of two stress-related hormones: cortisol and CRH. It also leaves you with a high risk of injury. High levels of CRH increases the permeability of lungs, skin, and intestinal walls while cortisol hormone reduces gut mobility, accelerates ageing, reduces production of mucus, and lowers the immune function. Too little exercise, on the other hand, increases chances of getting heart disease, obesity, or diabetes. Therefore, it is essential to maintain healthy exercise levels without going to the extremes.

There is no standard answer to how much exercise that one should do to lose weight since the body responds differently to workouts. However, most trainers recommend 150-300 minutes of exercise a week depending on some factors, which include:

The Type of Exercise

Cardio exercises are essential if you intend to lose weight faster, but you should combine that with strength training if you want to reap maximum benefits from your workouts. Strength training builds muscles and reduces fat in the body. A higher muscle mass increases the metabolism rate, burning more calories even when you are resting. Cardio exercises vary from moderate to high activity workouts with the latter burning more calories in the body. Therefore, you will take longer to lose 10 pounds if you only engage in moderate exercise than you would with the intense workouts. Moderate workouts include brisk walking, yoga, or cycling while the vigorous exercise includes activities such as running, rapid rowing, or fast teams sports such as soccer

Lifestyle

You will need to work out more if you live a sedentary lifestyle to reduce the risk of catching lifestyle-related diseases. For example, a teacher who spends most of her time standing in a classroom tends to burn more calories than an office manager seated in the office throughout the day. Remember that working out should not take more than one hour, so you may consider squeezing a few minutes of your day to keep fit and burn a few calories.

Current Weight

Overweight people burn calories faster than people with a standard weight since their bodies require more energy to function. Therefore, you can start your weight loss program by doing cardio exercise for a few minutes followed by toning workouts to burn fat and build muscles. You can then increase the amount of time that you spend as you continue to lose more weight

Diet

A healthy calorie moderated diet paired with a good exercise routine is the common recipe for a successful weight loss. You should always calculate your daily calorie intake and aim at burning all of that in your workouts. Remember that the body requires energy to perform optimally so you should create a balance between the calories consumed and the ones burnt during exercise.

Summary

Weight loss is a journey that begins the moment you develop the right attitude and the will to burn more calories. It is not a one-month activity, but it takes time and patience. Therefore, if you intend to start a weight loss program, then you must be willing to take time, learn what works for your body and be ready to use it to your advantage. Remember over exercising will do more harm than good to your body, so you should do it in moderation.

How Does Lemon Water Help Your Metabolism

Water has always been a staple of regulating metabolic rates and to lose weight. In fact, many weight loss treatments would often include drinking at least eight to ten glasses of water per day in their tips or teachings. Eight to ten glasses of water per day can be equal to at least two liters of fluid. Drinking sufficient amounts of water in a day ensures proper a regulation of your metabolism and aids in better blood circulation.

Most people, not only those who are aiming to lose weight, would include a slice of lemon to their drinking water. Some even put a slice in a glass of warm water to help toxins get flushed out of the body. In recent studies, lemon water is seen to have various health benefits, including proper digestion, speeding up metabolism, cleansing the colon, and alkalising the stomach to prevent over acidity.

The real question is: how does lemon water speed up our metabolism?

The answer for that is through proper digestion of food into the body.

It is no longer new information that water boosts metabolism. Normal water already improves metabolism and the addition of lemon significantly increases our metabolic rate about thirty percent as per a study published in 2003 through the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. In that particular study, the metabolic rate remained increased for about ten to forty minutes. Aside from that, water is also said to help in burning an additional 96 calories per day.

Better metabolism leads to weight loss.

The added taste of lemon to the water helps in improving satiety and hydration. Because of these reasons, it can eventually lead to potential weight loss. Just like regular water, lemon infused water helps in making you feel fuller. You can try drinking a warm cup of lemon water in the morning in an empty stomach to further boost your metabolism and cleanse your digestive system of the toxins accumulated from the night before.

Your body feels more nourished and energised.

Lemons are rich in antioxidants and vitamin C. It is a fruit packed with many nutritious components, enough for your daily vitamin C requirement. It helps in balancing your electrolyte levels making you feel more energized and hydrated for longer periods of the day.

In conclusion, water alone can indeed boost metabolism but an additional slice of lemon to this important drink would not hurt you. So, start adding a slice of lemon to your drinking water for those added benefits that you can enjoy. Lemon water helps in making you feel satiated thus it leads to weight loss by tricking your body that it is more satisfied. It is also a great way to keep you hydrated if you are opting for a drink that is tasty and refreshing at the same time. Rather than choosing a beverage that is high in calories and sugar content, opt for lemon water—it is tasty and also contains way fewer calories than soda or commercial juices!