Contributed by: Healthians Team
Introduction
Cold weather makes you extremely sluggish. You don’t feel like getting out of bed since you’re all snuggled up in your blanket, you drink less water, and your body gets less vitamin D due to decreased sunlight.
While you do have to get to work, it’s all too easy to skip the workout you had planned. Because your body might become stiff and sore as the temperature drops, it’s critical to keep it warm and active.
We’ve put together some simple recommendations so you can stay in shape without having to leave the comfort of your home!
Best foods for weight loss
- Green tea
When it comes to boosting metabolism, speeding up the release of fat from cells, inhibiting the formation of new fat cells, and so on, green tea has a leg up on the competition.
Furthermore, this magical potion is high in antioxidant ECGC, a substance that effectively burns fats and prevents their creation.
All of these advantages make green tea, not just a healthy beverage option, but also one of the most effective fat-burning foods. Pair a cup of green tea with a workout to increase your chances of losing weight faster.
According to research, persons who exercised for 25 minutes and drank four to five cups of green tea each day burnt more belly fat than those who did not.
- Water & lemon water
Water is the most under-appreciated natural fat-burning tool. Drinking more water makes you feel fuller and makes you cut back on calorie intake and unnecessary snacking.
Adding a little lemon to a glass of water can also help because lemon water is low in calories and can help promote satiety.
- Apple cider vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is useful for more than simply salad dressing. ACV generates proteins in the body that help you lose weight by burning fat.
A study observed that people who consumed ACV shed more weight, body fat, and inches around the belly button.
- Coffee
Coffee is more than just a refreshing drink; it’s also a good source of caffeine, which can also assist with weight loss.
Research has shown that people who drank coffee an hour before their training regimen shed two times as much fat and were able to exercise for 17 per cent longer than those who didn’t.
Coffee’s caffeine boosts metabolism by 3 to 13 per cent! Consume only 1 to 4 cups of coffee per day, depending on its strength, to ensure that it aids weight loss and does not cause anxiety or insomnia.
Dietary habits to promote weight reduction
- Meal skipping should be avoided
Skipping meals may appear to be a simple approach to lose weight and decrease calories, but it actually has the opposite impact.
Smaller, more often meals are necessary for any weight loss meal plan to function since they lower the chance of food cravings, which can lead to poor eating choices.
- Smaller portion sizes
If necessary, use smaller plates and bowls, but keep portion sizes in mind. Because most of us gain weight as a result of overeating.
This simple method can considerably help to control food intake and improve weight loss.
- Reduce intake of processed foods
Choose lush green vegetables and lean proteins over trans fats that are mainly found in junk food and chips.
- Consume winter foods
Winter brings a bounty of fruits and vegetables that are believed to aid weight loss naturally. Carrots, beetroot, guavas, bananas, nuts, seeds, are packed with all essentials required for sustainable weight loss, so sneak them into your daily diet.
Get active
Strong scientific evidence shows that excess fat is linked to a lack of physical exercise. This means that both short and long-term weight loss takes more than just a diet.
Physical activity is integral to weight management as it can increase metabolism and burn excess calories that would otherwise be stored as fat.
Some physical exercises that you can include are:
- Planks, sit-ups, and push-ups are a good place to start. If it becomes too simple, consider varying the basic workouts to keep you motivated. Remember to stretch both before and after!
- A combination of cardio and weights allows you to shed fat, increase muscle, and tone your body! Start with a minute of cardio followed by a minute of squats (muscle strengthening).
- If you don’t have any weights at home, you can execute muscle-building exercises while holding a water bottle or a book. Some of them include, deadlifts, bench press, dumbbell curls, calf raises, to name a few. The ideal method would be to do 1 minute of cardio, 1 minute of muscle growth, 30 seconds of recovery, and then repeat.
- Rather than taking the elevator, take the stairs. It’s something you can do every day and is a terrific way to stay in shape. Stair climbing is beneficial for the heart, hips, thighs, and hamstrings.
- To avoid leg and hip injuries, extend your legs and conduct a few hip exercises like rotating your hips 5 times clockwise and counter-clockwise when you reach the floor!
Remember, while any sort of physical activity will help, resistance and weight training at a moderate-to-high-intensity is the most recommended.
Practise relaxation
- Specific practices and techniques — meditation, mindful eating, and intuitive eating — can have lasting effects not only on your mental health but also on your weight loss and help against binge eating.
- Another important part of a healthy weight loss plan is getting adequate, quality sleep. There is robust evidence linking the role of inadequate sleep to an increase in visceral fat formation, among other health issues.
Final thoughts
It’s natural to desire to lose weight and get healthy as quickly as possible, yet rapid weight loss might be potentially dangerous to your health.
Instead of succumbing to weight loss myths and misinformation, you need to first determine what kind of weight loss is realistic and healthful.
Rapid weight reduction can backfire and cause nutritional deficits that may lead to a variety of health problems like headaches, exhaustion, constipation, hair loss, muscle atrophy, gallstones, mood fluctuations, and irregular periods.
This is why when trying to figure out how to shed body fat, it’s critical to avoid weight-loss strategies and crash diets that are restrictive and promise immediate results.
Also, by opting for regular health screenings, you can stay on top of your health condition and take preventive measures in the event that you are likely to get hit by a disease.
