You may want to lose weight for different reasons. Sometimes we’ve enjoyed a few too many sweets over the winter holidays. It could be that you want to get healthy, and you realize carrying around extra weight affects everything you do. In this article, we’ll show you how to target those fat cells while not feeling like you’re starving for nutrients at the same time. Let’s get started with some simple strategies that you can implement today!
Forget the Fads
We’ve seen all kinds of weight loss fads, from juice cleanses to cabbage soup diets. The problem with these fads is that they can leave you feeling hungry, fatigued, and nutrient-deprived. (1)
When you want to lose weight, taking a healthy approach is best. It is far more sustainable and won’t leave you searching the pantry late at night from hunger. Also, it’s much simpler to do things the right way and reap all the benefits, which will leave you looking and feeling your best. We’ll show you some of the proper strategies below to start starving those fat cells.
1. Intermittent Fasting
Some people decide to fast and aren’t successful because they go too fast. Intermittent fasting has tons of benefits for your health, and one of them can be weight loss. The easy way to use intermittent fasting is to stop eating earlier in the evening and extend your eating window the next day. As you progress, you can get to a 24-hour fast. A 24-hour fast will help you target fat cells, but maintain lean muscle. (2)
Fasting can be an incredible weight loss tool because it lowers your blood sugar. Since you’re not consuming foods as a direct fuel source, your body will burn fat for energy because glucose isn’t available. (3)
2. Eat More
If this seems counterintuitive, it may be because you eat the wrong things. Many people look at others and think they eat so much more but continue to lose weight or at least maintain their weight. When you look closer, these individuals may be eating more nutritious foods. If you want to lose fat, you should eat whole foods, emphasizing healthy proteins, fats, vegetables, and fruit. Feeding your body the nutrients it needs will not only make you feel better, but it can help you shed unwanted fat.
If you have a lifestyle of eating fried foods, drinking lots of sodas, and consuming processed carbohydrates, you will not look your best, and you will likely feel terrible most of the time. (4) These foods feed your fat, not your body. If you’re short on time but want healthy options for you and your family, the Heal Yourself Cookbook has meals you can make in 30 minutes that are delicious.
Keep in mind that you want to understand how much your body needs to stay healthy. Cutting too many calories could have the opposite effect and cause your body to store fat, not lose it. On the flip side, if you are overeating, you’ll also be storing fat. So you’ll want to find a calorie deficit according to your body’s needs. You can use a calorie calculator like this one and aim for a 500 calorie deficit in order to lose weight safely.
3. Burn Sugar
Our bodies like to store sugar. That sugar can block your weight loss attempts. So, we want to burn through that stored sugar to use fat for energy and starve those fat cells. One of the best ways to do this is to exercise.
There are numerous ways to get more exercise into your daily life. If gym memberships aren’t for you, try to incorporate more walking each day. Park farther away from work or the grocery store. Take a walk at lunch and get some fresh air. Work up to a 30-minute brisk walk daily and see how your body changes and how you feel. (5)
If you need a little extra help lowering blood sugar, a natural supplement like Berberine, can be very effective. You don’t need to fall for the pharmaceutical marketing schemes that don’t work and only create other health issues.
4. Don’t Overeat
If you feel like you’re doomed to overeating because you’re always hungry, it could be what you’re consuming. As we mentioned, if your diet is filled with all the wrong foods, you won’t feel your best. Additionally, you won’t get satiated as quickly, so you’ll need to eat more and more, causing you to overeat.
When you give your body the whole foods it needs, you can eat more of them than fast foods and processed carbs. These healthy foods can eliminate cravings. Unhealthy options are filled with empty calories that keep you coming back for more.
If you need to count calories for a while, that can help you know how much food you should be eating. We don’t recommend counting calories for the long haul because it can be a bit overwhelming. A short period of tracking can help you understand your body better and know how much food you need for proper energy.
Also, make sure that you are well hydrated. Many people confuse hunger with thirst. If you are always hungry, make sure your blood sugar levels are stable and that you are getting adequate hydration.
You Can Do It
If weight loss seems like something that is out of reach, we want you to know that you can do this. We work with many patients who have various health issues, and the main takeaway we want everyone to have is that real health comes naturally. You won’t obtain wellness with prescriptions and shortcuts. We also know many health gurus online and on social media make fat loss seem complicated when it’s not.
These tips are sustainable, and they will work today and in the future. You won’t only starve those fat cells, but you will also feel better and have more energy to do the things you enjoy.
If you’d like to discuss more about how we help patients like you with weight loss and other health issues, contact us today. With the right strategies, your chiropractor in Macomb, MI believes that you can become a wellness warrior and feel better than ever.