Weight loss may seem complicated, but it actually comes down to one simple thing: calories in versus calories out. The only way to lower your body fat percentage is to eat fewer calories than you burn. If you take in more calories than you need, they will be stored as fat.
The amount of calories burned on a daily basis depends on several factors, such as your age, gender, activity level, metabolism, diet, muscle to fat ratio, and health condition. Another key factor is thermogenesis.
This term refers to the process of heat production in your body. Certain foods and supplements increase your body’s core temperature and accelerate fat loss.
In thermogenesis, your body uses stored energy for fuel, which increases fat oxidation. Carb cycling, exercise, fat burners, and meal timing can speed up this process and help you slim down.
So, are you ready to get started? Here are four tips for burning more fat through thermogenesis:
Eat More Protein
Compared to carbs and fats, protein requires more energy to digest. Every time you eat high protein foods, you burn calories. That’s actually a good example of how thermogenesis works. Ingesting more calories from protein and fewer calories from other macros can increase your energy expenditure.
When you eat fatty foods, such as butter or oil, about three percent of those calories are used for digestion. When you consume high carbohydrate foods like grains or cookies, your body uses 10 percent of the calories ingested to break down and digest food.
By filling your plate with turkey, chicken, fish, and dairy products, your body will use 30 percent of those calories to digest food. For example, a 100-calorie chicken breast requires 30 calories to be processed during digestion. This means you’ll take in only 70 calories instead of 100.
A diet rich in protein can boost thermogenesis, suppress your appetite, and melt fat away. If you want to lean down, eat at least one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. This way, your metabolic rate will increase and you’ll burn more calories throughout the day.
Lower Your Carb Intake at Night
One of the easiest ways to increase thermogenesis is to lower your carb intake at night. During the day, you body absorb carbs from the food consumed, so its glycogen stores fill up. If you eat carbs in the evening when your glycogen stores are already full, they will be stored as fat.
After 6 PM, you should stick to high-protein foods and green vegetables like spinach, lettuce, cabbage, green peas, broccoli, and kale.
Avoid starches, whole rice, whole grains, pasta, bread, and refined sugars. For example, you can eat chicken breast and broccoli, salmon with spinach and cheese, egg white omelet with veggies, cottage cheese and olives, steak and peas, bacon, tuna salad, or kale chips.
Whey protein shakes, casein, and meal replacement supplements are a great choice too. Avoid weight gainers and other high carb products before bedtime. This simple trick will boost your metabolism and help you reach your weight loss goals.
Use Carb Cycling
Carb cycling can turn your body into a fat burning machine and speed up your metabolism. There are several ways to rotate carbs in your diet, such as going low carb for three days in a row, followed by a high carb day.
This strategy is widely used by those who follow ketogenic diets. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t use it too. After all, it’s a great way to keep your body guessing and stimulate metabolism.
Start by eating 300 grams of carbs a day split over several small meals. Do it for three consecutive days. Have 150 to 200 carbs the forth day. As you get used to carb cycling, try more advanced strategies to accelerate fat burn. For instance, you can eat 60 grams of carbs a day for five days a row.
Then, during the weekend, eat 200-250 grams of carbs a day. Repeat the next week. When your glycogen stores are empty and carbs are re-introduced into the diet, you’ll shock your body and increase thermogenesis.
Take Thermogenic Supplements
Thermogenic fat burners have been around for years. These dietary supplements accelerate metabolism, causing your body to burn more energy at rest. They work by increasing your core temperature and stimulating the release of catecholamines. These hormones made by the adrenal glands and have the role to break down fat cells.
There are different types of fat burners available on the market, so make sure you do proper research. Choose one containing natural ingredients with thermogenic effects, such as green tea extract, capsaicin, caffeine, garcinia cambogia, green coffee beans, cayenne, yohimbe, and ephedra.
These natural compounds boost your energy, inhibit fat absorption, and rev up metabolism. To fully reap their benefits, eat clean and work out regularly.
Stay away from synthetic products and thyroid stimulators because they may cause serious health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, dizziness, and breathing difficulties.
Most thermogenic fat burners are safe and have little or no side effects. In general, those containing caffeine may cause palpitations and jitters, but these symptoms go away within minutes.
