Limit Your Fruit to One Cup of Berries, or Some Other Type of Fruit Per Day
Fruit is a great addition to your diet but too much fruit can slow down or even stall fat loss. Some studies show that excess fructose (the main sweetener in many fruits) can create leptin resistance and weight gain. (Leptin tells your brain to stop eating, but if it’s become resistant to leptin’s “call,” you are more likely to have a second helping.
Switch Your Starchy Carbs for Another Green Vegetable
Cruciferous and leafy vegetables give you so much more fiber, nutrients, and antioxidants with much fewer calories compared to potatoes, rice and other starchy carbohydrates, so try adding that extra green to your plate instead of the starch.
Gradually Increase Your Fiber
Studies have shown that high fiber intake is associated with lower body weight. High fiber, fat-burning foods include quinoa, lentils and other types of legumes, raspberries and avocado. The added fiber in your diet has more benefits than lowering body weight. It also can lower cholesterol, control blood sugar levels, and of course, help your “bathroom hygiene.”
Exercise in Bursts to Blast Fat
Exercise in ways that take only minutes but turn you into a fat-burning machine! Check out http://www.ncbi.nim.nih.gov/pubmed/23210120 for more information on burst training (repeated exercise at high intensity for 30 seconds up to several minutes, separated by 1-5 minutes of recovery). Studies have shown that burst-training provides significantly greater fat loss than is shown by endurance training.
Get at Least 7 Hours of Sleep
I’ve mentioned this in many of my Facebook posts and blogs, but too little sleep makes your fat-burning hormones go out of whack. It is also more likely that if you are sleep-deprived, you will end up eating the wrong type of breakfast (like a high fat banana-nut muffin as opposed to something healthy and more prone to help with weight loss). Too little sleep affects us in many ways, but when trying to lose weight, one of your priorities should be to focus on your sleep. 7-9 hours is definitely the best to shoot for.
Try Eliminating Gluten
A gluten-free diet can help reduce inflammation, insulin resistance, and as a bonus, will help with reducing your waistline!!
Switch Out One to Two Meals for a Protein Shake
Some studies have shown that a meal replacement shake can help people lose fat and keep it off more easily. For example, blend non-soy, non-dairy plant-based protein powder with some type of leafy greens (such as kale, spinach, avocado). Add some fresh-ground flaxseed together with coconut or almond milk to your shake.However, I would caution you to be very careful if you purchase pre-mixed protein shake powders or liquids. Always check labels. If there is something on the label you can’t read or can’t pronounce, or the produce contains more than 5 ingredients total, you probably do not want to purchase it.
Quick Tip:
30-60 minutes before your meal, drink a glass of lemon water – or even just a plain glass of water. You can even try mixing some fresh flaxseed or fiber supplement powder to a glass of water. This will help curb your appetite and you will feel more full before you begin to eat – cutting down on your portion size.