Lack Of Sleep Can Equal Stress
Laurence Fountain, PT and founder of Salus London, previously told The Sun that “cortisol is going to interfere with different hormonal effects”.
“Firstly, itâs going to interfere with your thyroid – meaning itâs going to be very hard to burn fat when your cortisol is high. In fact, youâre going to be more likely to burn muscle.”
And secondly, “too much cortisol can also lead to an overstimulation of the brain during sleep causing an increase of ghrelin – the hunger hormone, which is going to make it impossible for you to control your appetite and stay away from simple sugars and high-fat foods.”
Snack On Tart Cherries
That sour cherry is pretty sweet when it comes to your health. The results of a study conducted at the University of Michigan found that rats given high-fat foods along with tart cherries ditched nine percent more body fat than those in a control group over just 12 weeks. Cherries are also a good source of antioxidant pigment resveratrol, which has been linked to reductions in belly fat, dementia risk, and lower rates of macular degeneration among the elderly.
Think About Your Gut If You Want To Lose Belly Fat
Followed everything above to the letter, but not losing belly fat as quickly as you might like? It could be that the levels of good to bad bacteria in your gut arent at their optimum.
Researchers from Washington University found that people with excess weight, including abdominal fat, tend to have greater numbers of Firmicutes bacteria, suggesting this one could encourage the body to absorb more calories from food. Dont believe us? Heres what your poop can tell you about your belly fat.
*Women’s Health Naked Survey 2018
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Cooling Down The Room Temperature
Apart from the sleeping position, other things could also help belly fat loss. One such this is ensuring that the room you sleep in has a cooler temperature at night. Cooler temperatures promote the loss of fat because it burns trying to keep you acclimatized to the temperature in the room.
This can help you lose a lot of stomach fat in the long run, and even improve the quality of your sleep. Cooler temperature makes it easier for you to enter deep sleep, during which the body performs all the metabolic functions, which help you burn fat and calories in your sleep.
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How Much Body Fat Should You Have
The way in which women could and should lose belly fat is different to that of men. Women need somebelly fat to function fat cells store oestrogen, so having too little can cause your whole hormonal function to go out of whack, causing serious health issues such as irregular periods and even infertility.
To that end, striving to lose fat from your stomach with the aim of getting a six-pack, for most females, wouldn’t be healthy. Instead, aim to sit within the 21-30% body fat category. This is what’s considered a healthy body fat percentage range for women.
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Be Careful With Alcohol
Alcohol is only useful for having a good time – it does no favours at all for our health or figures.
All alcohol has calories, so when drunk in large quantities, these add up. Especially when you add the mixers – lemonade, cola, or fruit juices.
Alcohol, especially sweet fizzy based drinks and beer make it nearly impossible to lose stomach fat and puts extra stress on your liver to clear out the toxins, The Healthy Mummy wrote.
This extra pressure on your liver can make it very hard to build muscle which is key to losing belly fat.
Alcohol can also lead you to reach for fatty hangover foods or drain you of energy to exercise.
Avoid Foods That Contain Trans Fats
Trans fats are created by pumping hydrogen into unsaturated fats, such as soybean oil.
Theyre found in some and spreads and also often added to packaged foods, but many food producers have stopped using them.
These fats have been linked to inflammation, heart disease, insulin resistance, and abdominal fat gain in observational and animal studies .
A 6-year study found that monkeys who ate a high trans fat diet gained 33% more abdominal fat than those eating a diet high in monounsaturated fat .
To help reduce belly fat and protect your health, read ingredient labels carefully and stay away from products that contain trans fats. These are often listed as partially hydrogenated fats.
SUMMARY
Some studies have linked a high intake of trans fat to increased belly fat gain. Regardless of whether youre trying to lose weight, limiting your intake of trans fat is a good idea.
Alcohol can have health benefits in small amounts, but its seriously harmful if you drink too much.
Research suggests that too much alcohol can also make you gain belly fat.
Observational studies link heavy alcohol consumption to a significantly increased risk of developing central obesity that is, excess fat storage around the waist .
Cutting back on alcohol may help reduce your waist size. You dont need to give it up altogether, but limiting the amount you drink in a single day can help.
One study on alcohol use involved more than 2,000 people.
- meat
- beans
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Cucumber Lemon And Parsley Water
What distinguishes this drink from the rest of the detoxifying waters is the fat-burning properties of the ingredients. Firstly, parsley is a natural diuretic which helps to combat water weight and retention.
Vitamins A, B, C, and K present in parsley adds an extra layer of goodness to an ordinary drink.
Cucumber, on the other hand, has few calories and carries zero fat whatsoever. By adding a squeeze of a citrusy lemon to your drink, you will not only speed up your metabolism to shed rapid pounds, but it will elevate the overall taste of the drink as well making this an ideal choice to drink right after dinner and before sleeping. If its good for fat burning then its perfect in your weight loss repertoire.
/6have Green Tea Before Bed
Green tea might actually be more sleep-friendly that you think, even though it contains caffeine. Green tea contains a number of compounds that can help you burn fat. Antioxidants like ECGC can help you improve your metabolism. Caffeine, too, helps in stimulating the brown fat in your body. Green tea only contains one-third of the caffeine present in a cup of coffee.
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Is There An Alternative Exercise That You Can Do For It
If youre not comfortable with this sleeping position to lose weight, then you can work for it in other ways. Sleeping upside down isnt for everyone. If youre someone who has a difficult time lying down on your stomach for too long, then worry not. You can go for an exercise alternative for this as well. What does this entail?
Well, you will have to lie down on your stomach, with your hands by your side. Keep your feet close together, and while you do, you should inhale. As you inhale, raise your head along with your body as high as possible.
Stay like this for a few seconds. Slowly move back into the original position and exhale. Keep doing this frequently so you can reap the same benefits of sleeping in a prone position.
Staying Hydrated Throughout The Day With Water
Next, I want to talk about staying hydrated throughout the day with water and its effect on your metabolism. One study showed that drinking 500 milliliters of water or a little more than two cups increase the metabolic rate by 30 % for about 30 to 40 minutes. To save you the time from having to do the math that represents about an extra 24 calories burnt.
Just by drinking two cups of water. Now again, this may not sound like a lot, but if you do this multiple times a day, and on top of that you drink cold water instead of regular water, you would burn a hundred or more extra calories per day. This is because two separate studies both showed an increase by up to 25 % in resting metabolic rate for an hour after drinking cold water, cold water species is believed to be beneficial because it forces your body to burn more calories to produce heat.
Now, with that said, its important for me to mention, as I mentioned before, in the previous blog post, that youre not going to magically burn fat and lose weight by just drinking more water. You will have to maintain a good diet as well, but by only drinking water. Not only will it reduce the number of calories that you take in per day, but it could also help you burn an extra 100 calories or more per day.
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Avoid Trans Fat & Hydrogenated Oils
Those trans fats on your menu are hiding out in plain sight and sabotaging your lean belly plans every time you eat them. If a food product says it contains partially hydrogenated oils, you’re eating trans fat, which can increase your risk of heart disease, high cholesterol, and obesity with every bite. In fact, research conducted at Wake Forest University reveals that monkeys whose diets contained eight percent trans fat upped their body fat by 7.2 percent over a six-year study, while those who ate monounsaturated fat gained just a fraction of that amount. Instead of letting harmful trans fat take up space on your menu, fill up with these healthy fats.
Dab A Spot Of Vanilla On Your Wrists To Limit Sugar
In a study done by St George’s Hospital, volunteers who wore a vanilla-scented patch on the inside of their wrists reported reduced cravings for chocolate and other sweet foods compared to a control group. You can replicate the study with a little vanilla extract.
Taylor & Colledge vanilla bean extract, £7.05,
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Switch To Sprouted Bread
While it’s often assumed that bread is off-limits when you’re trying to lose belly fat, the right bread may actually expedite the process. Switching to sprouted bread can help out carb-lovers eager to get their fix without going up a belt size, thanks to the inulin content of sprouted grains. The results of a study published in Nutrition & Metabolism reveal that found that pre-diabetic study subjects whose diets were supplemented with inulin shaved off more belly fat and total weight than those whose meal plans didn’t pack this healthy prebiotic fiber.
Do You Know That Getting Enough Sleep Each Night Can Help Boost Your Weight Loss Maintaining These Bedtime Habits Can Help You Burn Belly Fat Fast
New Delhi: The health effects of sleep deprivation on your body such as feeling grumpy and difficulty concentrating are well known. But did you know that a lack of sleep can cause weight gain and lead to the storage of body fat, especially around your stomach? Getting enough sleep is a very crucial part of weight loss and overall health. Many studies have shown that regular poor sleep can increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and even premature death. Meanwhile, World Sleep Day on Friday, March 15, aims to raise awareness about the importance of healthy sleep.
While insufficient sleep has been linked to all kinds of problems, from weight gain to a weakened immune system, catching a bit of shuteye can help you shed the pounds and shape up. Studies have proven that people who sleep less than 7 hours a day tend to gain more weight and make unhealthy food choices. Read – Bedtime weight loss tips: 3 unbelievable ways sleep can help you burn belly fat effectively
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Flavor Your Food With Garlic
A little garlic in your meals could mean a lot less weight around your middle. The results of a Korean study found that mice given a high-fat diet supplemented with garlic lost significantly more weight and abdominal fat than those who just ate fatty foods. Even better, they also improved their liver health, making it easier to stay healthy and burn off that excess fat in the long term. For more flavorful ways to make your food more enjoyable, turn to the metabolism-boosting spicy recipes and watch those pounds melt away.
The Wonders Of Parsley
Parsley isnt exactly a well-appreciated health food. While most people know it simply as a garnish for pasta dishes, its just as medicinal as mint and basil.
The herb is traditionally used for its ability to detoxify the liver and kidneys through its diuretic properties. It also boosts digestion to speed up the disposal of toxic waste .
Since toxins are often stored in fat cells, where they interfere with hormones and cell signaling, eating parsley can facilitate weight loss by helping fat cells function properly.
Parsley contains antioxidants like luteolin and apigenin, vitamins A and C to boost your immune system, apigenin and myristicin to support liver enzyme production.
Its also chock-full of vitamin K for proper blood coagulation, vitamin E to prevent heart disease, potassium to maintain blood pressure, and B vitamins that strengthen and protect blood cells. The herb even has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.
- Helps cure urinary tract infections
- Prevents kidney stones
- Reduces mineral leaching in bones
- Prevents cancer
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Sleeping On The Back Supine Position
Sleeping on the back, or supine sleeping position is one of the healthiest ways to sleep. This implies lying horizontally on the back, with the legs straight or slightly elevated.
The supine sleeping position is excellent for people who experience back pain issues, knee and leg pain, and who generally want to have a proper spinal alignment during sleep.
But, how is the supine sleeping position good for belly fat loss? Well, while lying on the back, the body has a tougher time transforming the food and the drinks you consume into fat instead, it converts everything you consume into energy or promotes it to leave the body.
Heres what we recommend for an improved and even more effective supine position for belly fat loss
- When lying on the back, make sure to place a pillow under your knees, so theyre a little bent. This will remove the pressure from the lower back, as well as the pressure from the stomach.
- If you have a hard time lying on the back, try spending a few minutes on the back before you go to sleep. This way youll become more comfortable with this position, and eventually start sleeping on the back.
- If you experience respiratory issues while in a supine position, we recommend proper head and torso elevation. This wont affect the belly loss process but will ensure you sleep comfortably and breathe without obstructions while sleeping.
Sleep Hacks That Can Help Lose That Belly Fat
People may have told you that losing weight isnt only about cutting down your calorie intake, but also exercising regularly. But rarely are we reminded that sleeping on time and getting ample rest can prevent you from obesity.
Weight gain from sleep deprivation happens because with not enough sleep, your mental clarity is decreased, which then affects your ability to judge.
This means it is more likely for you to succumb to fatty and sugary foods or bingeing especially if you are on a diet.
In other words suddenly, the pint of ice-cream would seem very doable in one sitting.
But shedding excess weight doesnt have to only occur during your waking hours.
Here are five sneaky bedtime hacks to help you burn away that belly fat while you snooze:
1. SLEEP COLD
Not all fat is bad. In fact, you may even want certain fats to aid you in your weight loss.
Brown fat, also known as brown adipose tissue , is a fat in your body that uses energy to acclimatise to your surroundings.
This fat can be activated by cold temperatures as an internal heating jacket to produce more brown fat cells and burn calories, so sleeping cold may actually help you drop some kilos and make you healthier!
Having more brown fat also translates into having less white adipose tissue , called white fat.
White fat stores energy from the food you eat.
Belly fat, for example, is white fat and the fat you most want to reduce.
2. SLEEP IN THE DARK
5. SIMPLY SLEEP EARLY
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Work On An : 20 Approach
Don’t think that drinking tea is going undo eating badly and doing no exercise.
Think of tea as the cherry on top of a cake that you’ve been building with good lifestyle habits. No one is saying that you have to ditch the evening wine altogether.
But if you want to lose weight, you’re probably best off trying to minimise the amount you drink and saving it for those weekend nights.
Try to drink tea five nights a week and then treat yourself on Fridays and Saturdays when you can catch up on sleep the next morning.
This article was republished with permission from The Sun.