Healthy ways to lose weight are always popular. Dozens of diets claim to help you lose five pounds in record time, but these diets often come with some pretty nasty side effects on your body. The Master Cleanse, which was so popular among celebrities, caused untold damage to women who thought they could survive on maple syrup, lemon juice and cayenne pepper for a month. Such starvation diets bring nothing but harm.
Despite their bad reputation, fad diets continue to be wildly popular. However, recent attention has been focused on more than just lowering the number displayed on the scale. The emphasis was on burning fat. The goal of many women is to burn belly and thigh fat while maintaining the fat reserves in the breasts and buttocks that give them feminine curves. Unfortunately, targeted fat burning is not possible. The human body consumes fat at a constant rate throughout the body. You can’t tell your metabolism to burn the fat on your inner thighs, but leave the fat tissue that gives you those firm buttocks. However, magazines are full of advice on how to “burn belly fat” and “tighten your thighs!” The Internet, naturally, is littered with such “helpful” advice. It is impossible to successfully target fat without surgery, but there are healthy ways to reduce fat stores. Here are four foods that will help you burn fat while staying healthy and energetic.
Lean protein
Organs and muscles burn fat. If you want to reduce fat, you want to increase muscle mass. To build muscle, you need protein. Meat is high in protein, but can also be high in fat. To burn fat, you need to avoid eating fat. Continue to eat meat in your diet, but choose lean protein. White skinless chicken contains very little fat, just like turkey. Swap red meat for poultry, even in sausage. Use turkey or chicken sausage instead of pork sausage, and replace ground beef with ground turkey.
Fish is another great source of lean protein. It tends to be more expensive than chicken, but the fish is extremely high in protein while low in fat. Try to eat fatty fish such as salmon or meaty fish such as tuna. They will give you the most protein in exchange for the least amount of fat.
Fruits and nuts
Sweet and salty cravings can be difficult to control when you’re on a diet. Most people are unaware of the many foods that are naturally sweet with sugar or have the same crunchy, salty, and addictive qualities as potato chips. However, fruits and nuts can go a long way toward satisfying these cravings. The nuts are naturally very crunchy and rich in flavor. If you buy lightly salted nuts, you can get both the crunch and saltiness you crave without all the added fats and preservatives in potato chips. Nuts are high in calories, but they are very filling. A handful of cashews can make you feel as full as eating half a bag of potato chips.
Fruit is a good substitute for processed sugar. Fresh berries can be very sweet in high season and sometimes even out of season. Stock your refrigerator with raspberries, strawberries or blackberries and eat them whenever you crave something sweet. Wait a little and you will find that sweet treats taste too sweet for your stomach.
Citrus and spices
Changing your diet will only go so far if you don’t exercise. It’s the combination of these two things that really makes those extra pounds melt away. However, when you’re on a diet, it can be difficult to muster the willpower to go to exercise. Cutting back on foods and fats can leave you feeling tired and lazy until your body gets used to its new normal. Until then, getting to the gym will be a struggle. Keep some citrus fruits on hand in case you’re low on energy. Citrus fruits such as lemons, oranges and grapefruits are known to increase energy and mental focus.
Spice your foods liberally when you’re on a diet. Spices can make a small portion more filling and help you avoid high-fat foods when you finish dinner. Spices also help you feel more alert with almost no calories.
Tea
Most people don’t realize how many calories and how much fat is in their drinks. Soda is very sweet, which means it is very high in calories and fat. Drinking carbonated drinks while dieting is a sure way to make the pounds stubbornly cling to your stomach. Drink tea instead of soda. Black and green tea will give you the same caffeine boost as soda, but green tea is loaded with beneficial antioxidants rather than sugar. Herbal teas can also be drunk at night, preventing a person from falling asleep.
Tea can also gradually replace coffee. Tea contains caffeine so it will keep you cool, but tea is lower in calories and fat. If you drink your coffee black, the difference in calories will be much smaller than if you add sugar, syrup or cream. These things will add mountains of calories to your morning coffee and ensure that the fat stays on you.
Even though many diets claim that eating this fruit or this nut will burn belly fat, you cannot burn fat in a targeted manner. When it comes to losing weight and keeping it off, there is no shortcut. You must exercise and eat right. Make a few simple changes in your diet to eliminate fat intake. Then, once you stop adding fat to your body, you can focus on getting rid of what you already have.
