By incorporating a variety of fat loss foods into your daily meals, you will unlock your potential for lowering your body fat percentage. If you are sweating bucket loads in the gym and pounding the treadmill then why sabotage your hard-earned efforts with poor choices in the kitchen? Often, it is paying attention to your nutritional requirements which make the difference between firm or flab.
I always advocate starting your training days with some good oatmeal and a little fruit. It provides the right balance of slow release carbs and simple sugars required for a hard training session later in the day. However on non-training days you really want to cut down on your carbs as they are the first nutrient your body will turn to. A good weight loss strategy on non-training days is to replace the high carb oatmeal with a fat burning substitute. Try citrus fruit, especially grapefruit, for a real fat burning boost. The most recent medical research has found that a flavonoid in these types of citrus fruits was able to influence the liver into burning up excess fat, rather than storing it. Citrus fruits are also a great source of vitamin C and pectin (which lowers cholesterol).
Another great fat burning breakfast and alternative to heavy carbs is cherry and yogurt. Combined together, cherry and yogurt are great fat burners. Antioxidants in cherries aid your metabolism to function better, while calcium in the yogurt boosts your metabolism and binds to the fat in the gastrointestinal tract (reducing fat absorption). As a sweet tasting and delicious food, you do not have to restrict this fat burning double act to the breakfast table; it is equally potent in satisfying the craving for sweets.
You may consider olive oil and vinegar as cooking accompaniments or garnish rather than food, but their effectiveness as fat burners has ensured their inclusion in this list. Using olive oil to cook your food is a great source of healthy mono-unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidative substances. Rather than using fattening hydrogenated cooking oils, which are processed, stick to cold pressed olive oil to cook or to garnish salads. Despite its health benefits (raising good cholesterol levels and lowering the bad cholesterol), use olive oil in moderation as all oils carry the same amount of calories.
Vinegar is a great dressing for salads, but its weight loss properties are less appreciated. Vinegar lowers the glycemic Index of the food you’re eating by managing your insulin levels. By slowing down and stabilizing your food absorption, you will feel replenished for longer periods and experience less food cravings.
By adding fresh chili peppers to your meals, you may feel the heat from the extra hot spice is contributing to fat loss. Well, chili peppers certainly is at the summit of any fat loss food pyramid, but not because you find yourself sweating every time you put a spoonful in your mouth. Chili peppers contains the active ingredient capsicum, which produces the sensation of burning in any tissue with which it comes into contact. Capsicum actually inhibits the growth of fat cells and can aid your body in expending extra calories each day just by jazzing up boring meals.
