15 ways to lose body fat
15 top ways to lose body fat while staying healthy
As we saw in our last blog, we all need some body fat to be healthy. Still, many of us hit a point when we feel we’re carrying a bit too much body fat to be good for us.
Losing body fat isn’t just about getting back into that favourite pair of jeans (although that might be an incentive). It might be something you want to do because you want to feel stronger and protect yourself from diseases associated with obesity, such as diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer.
Losing body fat in a healthy, sustainable way usually takes time, consistency and some research. We’d always recommend that you speak to a GP before embarking on any kind of weight loss programme. There aren’t overnight fixes but small changes can make a surprising difference.
So, without further delay, here are our 15 top ways to lose body fat while staying healthy:
1. Get more sleep (but not too much!)
Did you know that not getting enough sleep (under six hours) or getting too much (more than nine hours a night) could be increasing your body fat?
Research suggests that how much we sleep directly affects our hormones, appetite, overall health and stores of body fat. One study even found that getting one hour less of sleep per night than a control group of “normal sleepers” resulted in dieters losing less fat while eating a calorie-controlled diet.
If you’re able to sleep an average of seven hours a night, you should notice that your hunger decreases and that it’s easier to manage your weight.
2. Start strength training
Women’s Health Mag explains that “strength training (AKA resistance training) involves using your own bodyweight or tools, like dumbbells or resistance bands, to build muscle mass, strength and endurance”.
The more muscle mass you have, the more your resting metabolic rate increases. This means that your body will burn more calories, even at rest, reducing the amount of body fat in storage.
Check out the Women’s Health guide on how to get started.
3. Eat a high protein diet
Protein is important for good health as it helps your body with repair and maintenance, hormone control, and the transportation and storage of important molecules to wherever they’re needed.
Evidence shows that increasing the amount of protein you eat can help you to feel fuller for longer, thereby reducing your food intake. It can also increase your metabolic rate by 15-30%, meaning you’ll burn more calories, even when you’re resting.
High-protein diets can also help to protect against muscle loss (a common problem with many diets) and strengthen your bones, while also reducing your body fat.
4. Ditch the diet drinks
Research suggests that fizzy drinks flavoured with artificial sweeteners spell bad news for our health. They’re associated symptoms of metabolic syndrome, such as belly fat and high blood sugar.
Non-nutritive artificial sweeteners have also been linked to depression and diabetes.
Evidence shows that artificial sweeteners in diet drinks can actually increase your feelings of hunger and intensify cravings for high calories foods. They may also interfere with your body’s weight regulation mechanisms, disturb gut bacteria balance and alter blood sugar regulation.
If fizzy drinks are your guilty pleasure, you could try to reduce the amount you drink rather than going cold turkey. How about replacing one or two glasses a day with carbonated water flavoured with a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime?
Drinking more water will help your body to metabolise stored fat more efficiently, helping you burn off those unwanted extra pounds.
5. Eat fewer refined carbs
Refined carbs are sugars, such as sucrose (table sugar), fructose or agave, or grains that have had their fibrous and nutritious parts removed. Because they’ve been stripped of almost all fibre, vitamins and minerals, they can be seen as “empty” calories.
When we eat refined carbs, our body processes them quickly, causing our blood sugar and insulin levels to spike. It’s common to feel hungry about an hour after eating refined carbs, which can lead to overeating and weight gain.
Due to the lack of fibre in refined carbs, they increase the risks of developing coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and certain gastrointestinal diseases.
Refined carbs are also linked to an increase in belly fat.
Not all carbs are bad for us. Healthy carb-rich foods include vegetables, fruit, legumes, root vegetables and whole grains, such as oats and barley. Eating these foods can help you to feel fuller for longer, increase your fibre intake and reduce your body fat.
6. Increase your cardio
Cardiovascular exercise (cardio) such as running, cycling, brisk walking and swimming helps your body to burn calories and, therefore, fat.
To achieve this, a general recommendation that you should get at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise per week in order to see changes.
7. Try HIIT training
One particularly effective form of cardio is HIIT – High-intensity interval training. As the name suggests, with HIIT you work out at high intensity in a short burst (e.g. 30-60 seconds) then rest (e.g. for 20-30 seconds) before repeating. A typical workout might include five to eight exercises performed at intervals for 20 minutes.
Research has found that HIIT burns about 25-30% more calories than other forms of exercise. You keep on burning calories for longer after a HIIT workout and this form of exercise is great for rebuilding muscle and lowering insulin resistance.
8. Add probiotics to your diet
Probiotics are live microorganisms that have health benefits when eaten. Several studies show that they can help you to lose weight and body fat.
One of the reasons for this is that our digestive systems contain important bacteria that produce key nutrients and help our bodies to process fibre, for example. Various studies have found that people with less diverse gut bacteria are more prone to obesity than people with more diverse gut bacteria.
Although this is still being investigated, the theory is that gut bacteria can influence our appetite, energy usage and how we absorb dietary fat.
Adding probiotics to your diet may well help to release appetite-regulating hormones and increase your body’s levels of fat-regulating proteins. It may also help to reduce systemic inflammation, which has been closely linked to obesity.
A study published in 2017 found that a short-term course of probiotics (less than 12 weeks) reduced body weight, BMI and fat percentage in participants.
9. Try intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that involves regular, short-term fasts during which you eat little to nothing.
A 2014 review found that intermittent fasting reduced body weight by 3-8% over a period of 3-24 weeks. People also experienced a 4-7% reduction in the circumference of their waist, suggesting that they had lost body fat, especially around the abdomen where it is most harmful.
There are various methods of intermittent fasting (you can find explanations of the various approaches in this article by Healthline).
As well as being good for your metabolic health and weight loss, intermittent fasting has also been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
10. Try a spoonful of vinegar
Vinegar has been used for its medicinal properties throughout the centuries. Most recently, scientists have been studying its weight loss properties.
In a 2009 study in Japan, 155 obese people were given a daily 500ml drink containing 30ml, 15ml or 0ml of apple cider vinegar, depending on which of the three test groups they were in.
By week four, the participants who were drinking either 15ml or 30ml of apple cider vinegar per day demonstrated decreased weight, a lower body fat percentage and lower BMI compared to the placebo group. Their waist circumference and waist-hip ratio also fell from week eight onwards.
The people consuming the highest dose of vinegar showed the greatest improvement throughout the study, indicating that consuming higher amounts of acetic acid (found in vinegar) burns fat more successfully and suppresses fat stores.
Vinegar seems to break down the dangerous visceral fat found in the abdomen, which can affect your metabolism and hormone function as well as your weight.
11. Eat more good fat
It might sound counterintuitive after years of the diet industry marketing low fat products as the key to weight loss but you may actually need to eat more fat in order to lose body fat.
Our bodies need certain “good” fats to function properly. Good fats are more commonly known as unsaturated fat, which comes in two forms: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.
Monounsaturated fats are found in olive oil, almonds, cashews, peanuts, peanut butter, sesame seeds and avocado. They can help to raise good HDL cholesterol and lower bad LDL cholesterol, and can even reduce the amount of body fat you carry around your belly.
Polyunsaturated fats lower LDL cholesterol and contain essential omega-3 fatty acids, which promote brain and heart health. They also contain omega-6 fatty acids, which are great for healthy skin and eyes. You’ll find omega-3 in salmon, herring, mackerel, walnuts, flaxseed and canola oil.
12. Fill up on fibre
We mentioned the importance of fibre in point 5 above. Eating foods rich in soluble fibre will reduce your appetite and help keep your gut bacteria healthy (see point 8). It is also associated with losing body fat.
Great sources of soluble fibre include flaxseeds, sweet potatoes, fruits like apricots and oranges, Brussel sprouts, legumes and grains like oatmeal. It’s a good idea to increase your fibre intake gradually as it can contribute to irritable bowel-type symptoms such as stomach cramps, diarrhoea and bloating. A slow increase should help to improve your tolerance.
13. Have a cup of coffee
Good news if you can’t imagine starting your day without a cup of coffee – a 2020 study by researchers at Harvard found that drinking four cups of coffee a day could reduce body fat by about 4%! It’s believed that coffee can aid fat loss because it speeds up your metabolism, helping you to burn calories faster.
14. De-stress
Stress can significantly impact your body’s ability to maintain a healthy weight.
Although the modern world has evolved, our bodies still have a primal response to stress. When we’re flooded with adrenaline and cortisol, glucose is released into our bloodstream. This is to give us to energy to survive a “fight or flight” situation. Unfortunately, this means our bodies view a tough day at work, for example, as being as dangerous as a confrontation with a wild bear!
Once the adrenaline wears off, cortisol kicks into a higher gear, telling us to replenish our energy quickly in case of a further threat. This can lead to sugar cravings, emotional eating, sleep problems (see point 1), and a slower metabolism because your body wants you to hang on to your reserves.
This is why lowering your stress levels is a vital part of reducing your body fat. Look at how you can eat more mindfully and find healthier foods to fight those cravings. Prioritise exercise, drink more water and prioritise your self-care.
15. Treat yourself to Aqualyx
Most people find they have stubborn pockets of body fat that just won’t shift, even with a great diet, plenty of exercise and a healthy lifestyle.
If this is the case, you might consider Aqualyx – a minimally invasive body contouring treatment that uses injections to target and dissolve fat in stubborn ‘problem areas’, such as your stomach, thighs, upper arms, hips, back, or chest area for men.
Aqualyx injections contain a compound solution made with polymers and a synthetic form of deoxycholic acid, which is naturally present in the human body and plays a role in how we break down fats.
When injected into target fat cells, the solution alters the cells’ surface tension, triggering liquid inside and around the cells to move and the fat to break down. This will then drain away to be metabolised through your body’s lymphatic system and eliminated as waste.
Want advice about shifting those stubborn pockets of fat that are adding lumps and bumps to your silhouette?