10 Easy Ways to Burn More Calories

Photo by i yunmai on Unsplash

It happens every summer.

Suddenly, it’s swimsuit season and we try on our favorites from last year… only to notice that they don’t fit, or there’s bulges that weren’t there before, or whatever we’re feeling, it all boiled down to we’re heavier than we were last summer.

Swimsuit season seemed to incur the sudden rush to lose weight so we can look ‘thin’ and ‘sexy’ in our outfits! Often times, we reach a nesting stage during the winter, eating comfort food and happily building up a little extra padding. But summer meant starvation, more work outs, watching our caloric intake, because heavens forfend we be fat!

Putting aside the fact that fat did not equal unhealthy or unattractive… some of us do want to shed some pounds, and often go about the unhealthy route. Starvation won’t work, whether it’s barely eating anything or so low in calories you enter starvation mode. Work outs might work, but you could injure yourself or harm your body.

So what are the easier, healthier, and safer ways to burn more calories?

1. Eat at the same time every day.
   Skipping meals aren’t the key to a slimmer body. It’s a popular myth, and a bad one. Research in the 2012 Journal of the American Dietetic Association revealed that eating more frequently — mainly eating three meals and two small snacks in a 24-hour period — is associated with positive weight loss and weight maintenance.
2. Shorten your eating windows.
   If you want to lose weight fast, then like above, a meal schedule is best — and it only works if you stick to it. Stick to a meal pattern; that’ll reduce the urge to overeat. Sticking to three meals a day and two snacks will help you shed unwanted weight. Don’t skip meals and don’t graze all day. This advice came from Julie Upton, MS, RD, co-founder of Appetite for Health.
3. Change out cereal for eggs!
   Eggs are the best in improving your health. Despite the fact they’re demonized, studies are revealing they help with heart-health and are more satisfying for you! A study in 2008 published by the International Journal of Obesity (London) found that replacing carb-heavy breakfast with eggs increases weight loss! The selenium found in eggs can even help reduce the risk of thyroid disease.
4. Go full-fat on dairy!
   One of the more shocking relevations, isn’t it? But more and more studies are revealing that low-fat, non-fat dairy actually make it worse for individuals who are trying to lose weight. More additives are placed in the low-fat/non-fat products to make up for the loss of flavor, and may be contributing to an increase in belly fat! In a 2013 research published in the Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care backs up this claim.
5. Invest in smaller dishes.
   That saying, I’m sure we’ve all heard it, is “Your eyes are bigger than your stomach!” I’ve heard it a dozen times and it never made sense. Our stomachs were definitely bigger than our eyes! Ignorance in this was bliss. Now, however, it makes sense.
   In looking at food, we are tempted to consume a great deal and/or want to fill up our large plates to the brim. To help reduce the urge to overeat, get smaller plates and fill those up instead! This was discovered in a 2016 review published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that larger plates food were associated with them serving themselves 41 percent more food.
6. Wearing the right clothes to motivate!
   Don’t feel like working out? Change into your workout clothes anyway! That just may be the motivation you’re looking for! In a 2012 study published in the Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology, what we wear is significantly tied to what we do in those clothes. A great workout outfit may help motivate you to do exercise!
7. Walk for 20 minutes a day.
   No matter how tired you are, a twenty-minute walk may be the energizer you need. Find a route that you like, with scenery that appeals to you, with the proper motivating music, and you’ll see how that walk changes your day! It can even help burn more fat. Walking is great, and if you’re physically able to do so, don’t skimp out!
8. Cut the soda, increase the water!
   Even if diet soda is claiming to be non-caloric and lower in sugar, it can still have a serious affect on your weight and overall health. In a study published in 2015 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, discovered that diet consumption is heavily associated with increased belly fat and wider waists. It’s all empty calories, so why not drink the true zero-calorie beverage: WATER!
9. Heap on the non-starchy vegetables!
   Vegetables are the best way to increase healthy food without upping the caloric intake of their overall meals. In fact, cutting back on carbohydrates and processed foods while increasing vegetables demonstrated in a 2018 JAMA study that the participants lost weight without counting calories.
10. Cut out the alcohol.
    One professional trainer once joked, “a six-pack could be killing your six pack.” In a 2014 study published by the American Journal of Public Health found that those who favor beer were likely to gain weight. Beer is mainly empty calories with high amounts of carbs and cholesterol.