Tips And Remedies To Lose Weight
Nowadays, losing weight has become a necessity, not only to remedy the Christmas binges or to pass the costume test, but also for a health issue linked to the lifestyle we lead. For this, the right advice and remedies can be the key.
But be careful! Losing weight is not the same as losing weight healthily. Losing weight in a healthy way means reducing excess body fat, which we don’t always do when we follow the first diet that comes our way.
Let’s see in this article some tips and natural remedies to put into practice to lose weight.
Practical tips and remedies for losing weight
The most important thing to improve our health and, consequently, to keep the figure, is to reduce the accumulations of fat present in our body, which over time could prove dangerous.
It is not just socioeconomic factors that influence weight gain; to these, in fact, are added habits and behaviors that are not very indicated which cause a disproportionate increase in our body mass.
We are talking about a sedentary lifestyle, improper eating habits and an excessive tendency not to want to make sacrifices, to make as little effort as possible or to give in to temptations at any time.
These habits mean that, as our metabolism starts to slow down due to age or other reasons, all those substances that our body does not use and that it cannot excrete fast enough to accumulate.
In this way, our body fat index inevitably increases and, consequently, our weight also increases.
Tips and remedies: the key to losing weight
To lose weight and achieve long-term results, ie making a worthwhile sacrifice, it is not enough to follow “miracle diets” from time to time.
In fact, we usually forget that during the diet we are more exposed to diseases due to the lack of vitamins and other essential substances for our health; we must also radically change our lifestyle. If we don’t, we will soon regain the lost pounds.
All the magic formulas for weight loss lack one important element: sacrifice. Hardly anyone is willing to do something as simple as finding a balance between food intake and energy consumption.
Intermittent fasting: tips and remedies to burn excess fat
A diet has recently been discovered that represents an excellent compromise solution: intermittent fasting. This “diet” is very simple to follow, without too many sacrifices, and consists in helping our body to better manage energy consumption.
The glycogen reserves
Let’s imagine using a different fuel than usual for our car; in the same way, we can make our body use fat as its main fuel, passing from the “sugar / carbohydrate burning mode” to the “fat burning mode”. Let’s try to understand better what it is.
This simple diet consists in carefully planning the meals of the day in such a way as to extend the time intervals between one meal and another.
In this way, we force our body to use excess fat instead of immediately consuming the sugars we ingest.
To “force” our body to make this change we must let a minimum interval of 16 hours pass without eating anything. Don’t be scared, it’s easier than it looks!
Our body needs 6 to 8 hours to metabolize our glycogen stores (energy stored in the form of sugar in the liver and, in greater quantities, in the muscles).
After this time interval, our body has used up its “sugar reserves” and will therefore try to produce energy by burning the accumulated fats.
For this reason, if we reintroduce glycogen by eating before eight hours, the body will never use the fat stores as fuel. If, on the other hand, we switch to the “fat burning mode”, this will lead to a gradual weight loss and, proportionally, to an increase in physical well-being.
Intermittent fasting: tips and remedies to implement it
There are several ways to do this. One of the options is to skip breakfast so that the first meal of the day is lunch (in the morning we can have a coffee, without milk and sweetened with natural sweeteners, such as stevia, to avoid introducing sugar into our body). Of course, we don’t have to eat more for lunch to make up for not having breakfast.
Let’s not forget that fasting does not mean that we can then eat anything: we must radically eliminate junk food, minimize the intake of sugars and replace them with “good” fats, such as coconut or olive oil, butter, eggs, avocado, moringa oil and walnuts.
For example, we can take a tablespoon of coconut oil in the evening, after eight hours have passed without having eaten.
This stimulates the “fat burning” metabolic process, as well as having a direct effect on the thyroid; in this way we also increase the metabolism, increasing the consumption of fats.
The result is not immediate, it takes a couple of weeks to begin to see the effects of this diet.
When our body makes the transition from “sugar-burning mode” to “fat-burning” mode, we will realize that the craving for sweet and unhealthy foods will gradually decrease, as the body will use fat as fuel and will no longer require sugars.
Tips and natural remedies
As we anticipated at the beginning of the article, changing our habits is vital to be able to lose weight and take care of our physical and psychological health. It is therefore necessary to follow some recommendations.
- Drinking lots of water makes you lose weight, helps our body eliminate fats and reduce the sense of hunger. Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water (2 liters) per day.
- Eliminate sugars and alcoholic beverages. Instead of chocolate and sweets, eat fruit, especially oranges and grapefruits. Alcohol should be avoided because it is metabolized as sugar.
- Avoid taking diuretic drugs whose purpose is to lose weight. Eliminating too much fluids from our body causes a lowering of blood pressure (hypotension), causing a feeling of tiredness and nausea that hinders weight loss.
- Take care of the diet and the way of cooking. We must eliminate “junk food” and saturated fats, as well as minimize the consumption of flour, potatoes, rice (all white foods) and red meats.
Instead, consume chicken, fish and any type of vegetable. If you can’t avoid eating between meals, prepare an infusion of 100 grams of pickled gherkins, a tomato or tomato juice and some cereals (corn flakes or oats).
Not only the food you eat is important, but also how you cook it: cooking in the oven or on the grill is preferable to frying ; the lightest methods of preparation are steamed, boiled, baked and grilled.
Other tips and natural remedies
- Avoid spending too much time sitting in front of the television or computer. Leading a sedentary lifestyle or sitting for more than four hours in a row negatively affects the body’s glucose and fat levels.
According to many studies, every hour we sit increases the risk of heart disease by 18%. If we have to sit for a long time, it is necessary to break this dynamic by alternating it every half hour with five minutes of activity or moderate exercise.
- Use smaller plates. According to some studies conducted by researchers at the University of Utah, a person does not feel full at the exact moment they finish eating.
In smaller plates, a smaller portion of food is served. Consequently, as soon as the plate is emptied, our brain receives the signal that we have finished eating and we feel full. In this way we will avoid eating “more”.
Finally ..
- Season meals with pepper, ginger, curry or ají sauce (chilli-based sauce). These thermogenic foods activate the metabolism and, as a result, our body burns calories faster. These spices also fight stomach acid and bloating, while also improving digestion.
- Exercise. Walking for half an hour a day can be very productive. Whenever possible, prefer the stairs to the elevator.
- Don’t go grocery shopping when hungry. It is not stupid, going to the supermarket when we are hungry whets our appetite and we are tempted to buy more food than we need, as well as buy more greedy and less suitable foods.
Among the various tips and natural remedies we remember that we must stimulate the liver and the digestive system, which facilitates weight loss.
- Dilute a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar with a pinch of baking soda in a glass of water and drink half an hour before each meal.
- Eating parsley, apple cider vinegar and hard-boiled eggs helps the weight loss process because, in order to metabolize them, we consume more energy than they provide.
- Infusions of horehound : 1 teaspoon in a cup of hot water. Drink two cups of hot tea a day for 15 days. Avoid this remedy in case of pregnancy, gastritis or peptic ulcer.
- Infusion of red tea and cardamom. Add two tablespoons of tea and 5 teaspoons of cardamom to a liter of hot water. Drink one cup a day. Avoid in case of pregnancy, gastritis or peptic ulcer.
Other natural remedies
- Carrot juice. Blend three carrots without peeling them. Drink three times a day between meals.
- Artichoke water. Cook three artichokes in half a liter of water for 15 minutes. Drink water throughout the day.
- Preparation of celery, turnip and parsley. Wash and chop 3 celery stalks, a handful of parsley and two turnips. Boil in half a liter of water for 15 minutes. Consume during the day.
- Green apple smoothie and pineapple juice. Wash and cut a green apple into cubes and blend with a glass of pineapple juice. Drink every morning.
- Fucus, dandelion and turmeric. The seaweed Fucus vesiculosis is rich in minerals such as iodine, potassium, magnesium, calcium and iron, which stimulates the thyroid to enhance energy consumption; dandelion stimulates the liver and digestive system in a natural way; turmeric is a powerful antioxidant. Finally, the combination of these three foods effectively helps the weight loss process.
