Clean up your act to lose your fat

Love handles, spare tires, saddle bags, junk in your trunk. These are all slang for excess body fat, and terms none of us want to have associated with our bodies. In part because of the portrayal of celebrities and models in popular media, losing fat is the number one goal people have as it relates to their bodies.

However six-pack abs aside, excess body fat, specifically being overweight or obese, and the lifestyle that leads to those conditions are related to over 80% of the top ten causes of death in Canada.

So what to do? You need a strategy that is easy to understand, implement, and maintain. Here are the top ten things you can do to dramatically improve your quality of life and reduce excess body fat.

1. Visualize your future, fitter self. When you have a clear picture of what you want to achieve, you are more likely to stay on track, especially when tempted to stray. It can be helpful to also imagine what you would look like in 5-15 years if you don’t make better choices.
2. Eat less overall. Excessive low-quality calories are the biggest contributor to increased body fat. When you eat more than you need, your body stores most the excess and excretes the rest. Most people would be much healthier if they ate 25-50% less calories, from healthier choices.
3. Eat Better: reduce highly-processed foods by choosing foods that look the same prepared as they do in their raw format. Specifically reduce processed carbohydrates, increase lean protein, and healthy fats.
4. Supplement: Very few people eat as healthy as they should, and because nutrient deficiency may increase your appetite, supplementing with high-quality vitamins, minerals and other nutrients may support fat loss.
5. Move more. Physical activity is the single largest factor you can control as it relates to your metabolism and how many calories you burn. This can come from an active lifestyle (walking to work) or intentional exercise.
6. Drink more clean water. Consuming 3-6 litres per day of water will reduce your appetite as well as contribute to the improved functioning of your digestive system including your liver and kidneys which filter out most of the toxins we consume or are exposed to.
7. Sleep more. In a recent study comparing people who slept 5.5 versus 8.5 hours each night, those that slept more had less fat and more lean body tissue, primarily due to modulating hormones including insulin sensitivity.
8. Snack. Having two snacks in between your main meals of less than 150 calories may help you control cravings and maintain a healthy blood sugar level, in turn avoiding cravings and poor choices. Try fresh veggies, lean protein, or raw nuts.
9. Reduce inflammation. Inflammation is related to a number of challenges in the body, including weight gain. When the body experiences inflammation, from toxins, physical injury, or low-quality food, it overreacts through fat gain, in case the body needs the saved energy at a later time.
10. Reduce toxins. Toxins, which are all around us, from that “new car smell” (off-gassing from upholstery, carpeting, and dashboard plastics), mattresses and pillows, and from our workplace disrupt the endocrine system and negatively affect the body’s natural hormonal balance, thereby increasing weight gain. 

Being aware of these 10 ways to decrease body fat, you can make better choices that support both fat loss as well as a much greater quality of life. Fat loss is simple, but not always easy. If you eat well and treat your body well, it will take care of you.