While you may think you’re doing yourself and your waistline a favor by stocking up on sugar-free goodies, the well-meaning habit is likely doing more harm than good. In a 2012 study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers found that those who drank diet beverages had higher fasting glucose, thicker waists, lower HDL (good) cholesterol, higher triglycerides, and higher blood pressure. In other words, sugar-free cookies, soda, and the like may seem like the healthier option, but they contribute to a bulging belly and negatively impact your health in multiple ways.
While all fruits are healthy, a handful of them reigns supreme when it comes to frying fat and de-bloating your belly. University of Kentucky researchers found that eating watermelon can lower fat accumulation, while another group of great minds discovered that honeydew can banish water retention and bloating. Spend ten minutes chopping up these slimming fruits for the week ahead. Enjoy them solo as a snack, throw them into yogurt or add them to salads.
The 25-Minute Sprint Fartlek Workout: “Fartlek” means “speed play” in Swedish. This type of HIIT program combines continuous training with speed intervals. You control the intensity and speed of each interval, so the training can feel spontaneous and engaging. This program focuses on cardio training, where you walk, jog, or sprint for set amounts of time.
Health experts across the world vouch for green tea for a reason – it is amazingly healthy. Green tea is known to boost the calorie-burning mechanism in our body. According to a study, green tea can indeed help you lose weight (15) (you might have to drink about seven decaff cups a day). Green tea contains loads of antioxidants, the most potent of them being the catechins that have been found to boost metabolism and reduce body fat (16).
A squeeze of lemon adds instant freshness to everything from drinks to salads to fish without additional calories, making it an ideal way to flavor food if you're watching your weight. Plus, the pectin fiber in lemons can help fill you up and fight off hunger cravings. And while it hasn't been scientifically proven, some experts believe that the citrus fruit can aid in weight loss, as well.
There’s a reason Eat This, Not That! hired celebrity trainer Mark Langowski to develop Eat This, Not That! for Abs, our e-book system for getting a six-pack in six weeks: He said it wouldn’t include a single sit-up. “I have been a personal trainer for over 13 years—during this time, I have learned a lot about a lot, but the most important topic that I discovered was 10 years ago when I found out how damaging sit-ups are to the discs in my spine,” he told us. “It was after listening to genius professor Stuart McGill, who is head of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo, that I realized I had been doing more harm to myself and my clients by having them do traditional sit-ups.” Instead, “throughout the workout section of the Eat This, Not That! For Abs, I explain how to train the entire body in a way that is activating the core muscles in every exercise you do. A squat may look like a leg exercise,
If you work at a job that requires you to be chained to your desk all day, try switching things up and giving a trendy standing desk a shot. Simply standing while you toil away as opposed to sitting has been shown to contribute to weight loss. Bloomberg reports that researchers at the Mayo Clinic found that standing burns about 54 calories over a six-hour day, and although that might not sound like much, those calories accumulate quickly. At that rate, you can burn over 1,000 calories a month just by staying on your feet.
Driving to work may be easy, but it’s also part of what’s inhibiting you from losing weight. According to a study in the British Medical Journal, those who drive to work gain more weight than those who take public transportation. Per the research, commuting by car slaps an extra 5.5 pounds on your body, whether you exercise or not. And a Japanese study found that people who take public transportation to work were 44 percent less likely to be overweight, 27 percent less likely to have high blood pressure, and 34 percent less likely to have diabetes. If possible, consider leaving the car in the driveway and walking, biking, or commuting to work via public transportation a few times per week.
Ultimately, long-term weight loss requires some short-term behavior change and healthier habit formation. That's why we created our Good Housekeeping Nutritionist Approved Emblem, which exists to help turn smart food choices into healthier eating habits. All GHNA foods and drinks make it easier to find — and eat — good-for-you foods without additional time, effort, and cost. We target the lifestyle-related factors that make healthier eating hard, and find simple but creative solutions that actually work! Look for the emblem on labels wherever you shop for food.
A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that dealing with work-, finance-, or relationship-related stress can pack on the pounds. When you’re stuck in a hair-pulling situation, your body releases the stress hormone cortisol, which stores abdominal fat. Next time you find yourself overwhelmed, try these awesome ways to strip away stress.
If you follow these two steps together, you should be able to lose weight in a week. But keep in mind that experts only consider one to two pounds per week to be healthy and realistic weight loss. So unless you make permanent changes to your lifestyle, any quick weight loss is not likely to last. If you're ready to lose weight and keep it off for good, take just one hour to set up a solid plan for long-term weight loss to get a better body that lasts.
High-calorie drinks. Sweetened beverages are full of calories. Drink water this week and avoid all alcohol (wine, beer, and cocktails), juice, sports drinks, sweetened teas, flavored coffee drinks, soda, and commercially flavored water (such as vitamin waters). You can also make flavored water with fresh lemon juice or other fruit if you don't like plain water. Stay hydrated, but avoid drinks that cause weight gain via empty (non-nutritive) calories.
Commit to a seven-day exercise plan. Most exercise plans recommend working out for five days of the week and taking two days to rest. Depending on your current fitness level, you may want to commit to doing light exercise every day or more intense exercise every other day. Rather than overdo your workouts, focus on being consistent and sticking to an exercise plan that is realistic and specific to the needs of your body.[12]
Dining out can kill your hard-earned weight loss wins—and so can boozing too hard. To stay on track with your better-body goals, order your glass of wine or cocktail near the end of your meal. That way, the sweetness can act as a low-cal dessert. Plus, it won’t lower your inhibitions before your meal, which may prompt you to order something unhealthy off the menu.
Calcium and vitamin C team up well to boost metabolism, and broccoli is just one of several healthy foods that contain both nutrients. What sets broccoli apart from the others, however, is that the green veggie also contains kind of fiber that’s been shown to increase the digestion, absorption and storage of food, also known as the thermic effect of food or TEF. Combine a revved up metabolism with an increased TEF and you get a match made in weight loss heaven!
Coconut oil is having a moment right now: it can be used as a butter or olive oil substitute in everything from baked goods to salad dressing, and can even be used as an alternative to milk in lattes (yes, really). Sass is a fan of the heart-healthy oil whipped into smoothies, and you can also use it to sauté veggies, sear fish, or as an olive oil replacement in soups and stews. (It's also a must-add to your beauty routine, and makes a wonderful natural moisturizer for skin and hair.)
Is your obsession with Reese’s and Pringles derailing your weight loss efforts? It might be if you’re not using the self-checkout kiosks at the grocery store. Let us explain: According to a study by IHL Consulting Group, impulse purchases dipped 32.1 percent for women and 16.7 percent for men when they scanned their items and swiped their credit card on their own. Although not all impulse buys are bad for your belly, a whopping 80 percent of candy and 61 percent of salty-snack purchases are unplanned.
Spirulina is a high-protein seaweed supplement that’s typically dried and sold in powdered form. The dried stuff is about 60 percent protein, and, like quinoa, it’s a complete protein—deeming it a great weight loss tool. A tablespoon of the blue-green algae delivers 8 grams of metabolism-boosting protein for just 43 calories, plus half a day’s allotment of vitamin B12, which can encourage weight loss by giving you more energy and boosting your metabolism. Try tossing some spirulina into a smoothie and watch the pounds melt off.
Compared to other nut varieties, pine nuts tend to be on the pricier side, but adding them to your shopping cart could be a good investment for your health. Research suggests that the fatty acids in these little nuts could increase satiety hormones, helping you feel full. They're also packed with vitamin B1 and manganese, a mineral that helps your body metabolize carbohydrates and protein.
When you’re done cooking, portion out just enough for your meal and pack the rest away. Putting your food away asap will not only keep it fresh for future meals but it will also deter you from mindlessly nibbling and eating more than the desired portion size. Same goes for when you’re dining out: Ask for a to-go box along with your meal, that way you can pack away the leftovers and aren’t tempted to overeat. When noshing on the leftovers at your next meal, you can also experiment with adding some additional fiber or protein to give the dish a nutritional boost.
You can add more veggies to your diet, enjoy your "cheat" foods, and cut back on the calories you’re eating, all at the same time. When Penn State researchers added pureed cauliflower and zucchini to mac and cheese, people seemed to like the dish just as much. But they ate 200 to 350 fewer calories. Those healthy vegetables added low-cal bulk to the tasty dish.
It’s every chocoholic’s dream: Research now shows that eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate can reduce overall body fat and shrink your waist. A study among women with normal weight obesity (or skinny fat syndrome) who ate a Mediterranean diet that included two servings of dark chocolate each day showed a significant reduction in waist size than when on a cocoa-free meal plan. Researchers say it has to do with the flavonoids, heart-healthy compounds in chocolate that have important antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Just be sure you’re reaching for a bar with at least 70 percent cacao, and stay away from the “alkalized” stuff, which has a significantly reduced flavonoid content.
Think of each almond as a natural weight-loss pill. A study of overweight and obese adults found that, combined with a calorie-restricted diet, consuming a little more than a quarter cup of the nuts can decrease weight more effectively than a snack comprised of complex carbohydrates and safflower oil—after just two weeks! (And after 24 weeks, those who ate the nuts experienced a 62% greater reduction in weight and BMI!) For optimal results, eat your daily serving before you hit the gym. A study printed in The Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that almonds, rich in the amino acid L-arginine, can actually help you burn more fat and carbs during workouts. Fill up, but don’t fill out: Use these Eat This, Not That!-recommended 10 Daily Habits That Blast Belly Fat.
