8 Top Ways to Burn Calories and Lose Fat

Calories have become less of an issue to many experts around the world and they are becoming more concerned with the make up of those calories, however the mainstream public still think of things in calories so that's what we will use.

Key point: your body gets more nutrients from less calories if you eat healthier.

As a personal trainer I am asked very often ‘What is the best way to burn calories?’ The answer is, there is loads and loads of ways to burn calories, some are better than others. So for this post I will give you eight top ways to burn calories, by adopting these methods you should be burning the calories like there’s no tomorrow and striding forward towards reaching your goals.

Don’t Skip Breakfast – As I mentioned last week many people skip breakfast in order to reduce their calorie intake for the day, bad idea as far as I am concerned! By eating breakfast you send your body a signal that you’re not actually starving so you start to burn fat again. Try a piece of low glycemic fruit and some nuts – Plums and a few walnuts.

Sleep Properly – If you sleep for about 4-5 hours per night for a while then your metabolism will slow down so you won’t burn as many calories per night. Also sleep deprivation can be linked to bad diets, being tired often leads to people being more likely to make easy unhealthy food choices instead of spending time to prepare their food for the day. Get between 8-10 hours sleep a night and you’ll be fine!

Don’t Eat Too Late – This can lead to a bad night’s sleep as well as increasing your chances of skipping that all important breakfast. Try to eat three hours or so before you go to sleep.

Drink Plenty of Water – If you become dehydrated your metabolism will drop. So in order to boost your metabolism it is vital that you consistently drink water. A cold glass of water first thing in the morning will force your body to heat it up to body temperature in order to process it, so the more you drink the more your burn. Cheers! (1 litre of water for every 3.5 stone)

Add Weights to Your Workout – Weight training is a great way of boosting our metabolic rate. One pound of muscle burns up to nine times the calories of a pound of fat! One of the good things about weight training as opposed to cardio is that your body will continue to burn calories hours after you finish your weights training.

Eat More Often – Try to eat 3-5 smaller meals a day rather than 1 or 2 big ones. Your body will utilise more from a smaller meal every few hours than one or two big meals. Eating small meals often will also help you to avoid snacking.

Chill Out – When you become stressed your body combats this by releasing a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is linked to weight gain especially around your stomach as more calories are stored as fat.

HIIT – My last tip is to start doing high intensity interval training with your workout. I must say if you are new to exercise then hang fire with this until you become more comfortable with exercise. HIIT has many benefits that long and boring cardio doesn’t have. (But then cardio is a great stress buster and mood lifter, so horses for courses). The biggest benefit of exercising this way is post exercise your body will continue to burn calories (similarly to weight training) at a rapid pace for hours! With normal cardio you will stop burning calories pretty much as soon as you step off the treadmill.

Hopefully you will all be able to incorporate these new tips into your daily routines. If you are struggling to burn those vital few pounds of fat then just follow these steps and let me know how you get on.

Thanks for reading,

Richard Clarke