How To Burn Fat Naturally

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 04:59 AM PDT

You would be surprised to know that the body burns fat naturally. It just does the job very slowly. An easy and convenient source of food has made this process invisible to most of us. Many think they need to spend ridiculous hours at the gym or pay hundreds of dollars for pills and supplements. However, that is not necessary if you take advantage of the way the human body operates. Here are a few tips to use in your daily life.

Eat harder to digest foods

Your body expends energy digesting foods. Some of that energy comes from fat stores in the body. Foods that are easy to digest use less energy. Foods that are harder to digest use more energy. So when you make your next decision to eat, pick foods that make the body work harder.
Foods that are harder to digest include:

• Fiber rich foods (ex. whole grain bread)
• Cellulose (ex. celery)
• Protein (ex. chicken breast)

Walk more

Walking is nearly as effective as running as far as fat loss is concerned. While running is good for your overall health because it works your heart and lungs, walking can help you lose weight by forcing your body to use energy. Walking requires muscle use and balance. Muscles need energy to keep up to the task. A part of that energy comes from fat stores.

Sleep more

Most people do not get enough sleep in a day. When you feel tired during the day, your body thinks it is hungry and will crave calories and energy to perk up. A night of good rest will mean you will be recovered and less likely to resort to food for energy.
Also, a lack of sleep will increase the amount of cortisol in the blood stream. This stress hormone causes the body to limit the amount of fat it will burn. This is an evolutionary mechanism. The body assumes that food will be scarce and goes into shutdown.
By sleeping more, you allow your body to relax and repair itself. By repairing cells and muscles, your body expends energy in the form of fat.

Fast a few days a week

Your body does not need to eat food constantly. In fact, research shows that intermittent fasting can be beneficial to metabolism. The way it works is restricting calories in a given day. Eat breakfast, skip lunch, and have a light dinner. You mentally become used to eating fewer calories and meanwhile the body continues to expend fat calories in a futile attempt to maintain weight. The key to fasting is to workout on days you are not fasting. The exercise will increase the metabolism and the fasting will force the body to use fat stores. This is a proven fat loss method approved by physicians.
The only downside to fasting is overdoing the evening meal. Many people are socialized into thinking it is not appropriate to go to bed hungry. However, the body actually responds best to having less food at the end of the day. Instead of focusing on digesting, the body can use energy to repair. This energy, instead of coming from dinner, comes from fat cells.
Related posts:

1. 4 Steps on How to Detox Your Body Naturally
2. What Is A Low Glycemic Diet?
3. Where to Shop for Organic Foods
4. 5 Healthy Foods To Eat When You Are On A Diet
5. What Are The Health Benefits of Taking Acai?