Your body needs energy all the time – whether you’re sitting at your computer or running a marathon. To get this energy, you burn up calories. The sources of the calories, and the energy, comes from three types of fuel stored in your body: usually a combination of carbohydrates and fat, and in extreme cases from protein.
The intensity of your exertion is a major factor in determining which fuel your body will use. Carbohydrates provide a more immediate energy source, so when you’re moving quickly or producing force, carbohydrates are the fuel your body will use. Fats are burned during longer, lower intensity workouts. Studies show that that you will burn both carbohydrates and fats during most exercise, but there are simple steps you can take in your diet and exercise to increase the proportion of calories generated by burning fat. And as you burn those calories, you will lose weight.
Exercise tips to increase your fat burn:
Lift weights. Strength training will build your muscles and increase the rate at which your body burns fat. Free weights are as effective as machines; and if you don’t have weights at home you can start with filled water bottles.
Alternate which muscle groups you exercise. Your muscles need time to recuperate after a lifting session, so work a different muscle group each day. If you work arms one day, work your legs the next. Your muscles need 48 hours of rest to repair themselves before your next lifting workout.
Start a cardiovascular workout. As a part of your fat-burning routine, be sure to add an aerobic workout at least three times a week. During an aerobic session, your heart rate will increase, flooding your body and muscles with oxygen and raising your metabolism.
Feed your fat burn.
It’s not intuitive, but you CAN lose weight by eating! Foods that are high in fiber and protein take more energy to digest than fat. If you eat more fiber-rich and high protein foods, you will burn more calories.
There’s more. According to a recent study completed at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, dairy products are also fat-burning foods. “If you compare a dairy-rich versus a dairy-poor diet you can nearly double the rate of weight and fat loss with the same level of calorie restriction, ” states Professor Michael Zemel, an expert in Nutrition and Medicine. The study states that the calcium in dairy products can boost weight loss by increasing fat breakdown in fat cells.
A list of widely accepted fat-burning foods includes: