Nothing Better Than Burning Calories at Home
Losing weight can be simple and it can happen at home. Educating yourself allows you to understand the appropriate lifestyle changes that need to happen to lose weight. You can make small changes to eventually get the results you want and the results you deserve! We will run through 10 simple steps that you can implement in your life to start your own lifestyle change!
Burn calories at home with these tips
Constantly getting the proper amount of sleep can improve your overall quality of life.
Getting 6.5-8.5 hours of sleep a night is helpful for processing memories and brain health, keeping our immune system operating at full capacity (Bryant et al 2004), and has been shown to be associated with a lower body fat percentage (Bailey et al 2013).
A recent study by BYU demonstrated that consistent bedtimes (especially wake up time) and getting 6.5-8.5 hours of sleep a night (not more, not less) was associated with a healthier weight (Bailey et al 2013)!
If you are running late to work tomorrow because you slept your full 8.5 hours, tell the boss to chill! You were only trying to lose weight and be healthy!
2. Limit Tube Time
Cut the cord when it comes to spending a lot of time watching the TV or playing on your phone, tablet, or computer.
Only allowing yourself to watch 1-2 hours of TV a day will provide you with a ton of free time to improve your life. You have more time to read books, play with your kids, go for a walk (see below), and exercise. Cutting out 30 minutes of TV a day can give you time for a quick workout.
I know The Big Bang Theory is hilarious, but only watch three episodes in a row instead of four!
3. Walk more
This one isn’t just for at home. This is a lifestyle change; like taking the stairs instead of the elevator when you are going to the fourth floor. It may seem simple, but the science behind it is sound.
Just performing a step-based walking regime can induce weight loss; the more you walk the more you lose (Richardson et al 2008). Another study demonstrated that significant weight loss can be achieved in obese women via intense walking four times a week for 40 minutes (Gappmaier et al 2006). Forget the elevator, take the stairs!
It’s no secret that I believe in the power of eating hot peppers. In fact, they are #1 on our foods to eat to lose weight. The secret is the capsaicin in the peppers that helps keep our metabolism ramped up after we eat them (Bowden 2007)!
In a 2003 study, Lejeune and his team found that during weight maintenance, capsaicin was significantly effective at oxidizing stored fat! Not only that, but its’ high vitamin C content also keeps your immune system rolling strong! Bring on the hot sauce!
5. Limit caloric beverages
This one is simple but hardly ever adhered to (even by me). If you simply abstain from drinking sugary drinks: soda, lattes, energy drinks…etc. you will save yourself from consuming a ton of empty calories which has been linked to obesity (Malik 2006).
The same goes for alcohol, there’s a lot of sugar and empty calories in a twelve-pack or a jumbo margarita! I’m not saying give up drinking soda completely, but if you are consuming three a day the calories add up quickly, making it that much harder to lose weight!
6. Use a smaller plate
This is a really interesting tip that I came across the other day that makes complete sense! It’s no wonder that as plate size has increased so has food consumption. Remember your mother telling you to clean your plate before you leave the table?
Well a bigger plate means that you have to consume a bigger portion.
Use a smaller bowl when eating ice cream, or a smaller-to-medium-sized plate when having dinner. One study even demonstrated that larger packaging and dish size can lead to overeating even when the food is crappy (Wansink & Kim 2005)!
The silver lining: if your cooking is bad, use a smaller plate, you won’t have to choke down as much!
In a recent interview, Jonathan Bailor (author of the Calorie Myth) recommended when sitting down to have a meal, your plate should be divided up like this: 50% non-starchy vegetables, 30% nutrient-dense protein, and 20% fruits and whole-food fats! That’s great advice, but I think the main point is that half of your plate needs to be veggies!
Eat so many veggies that you are too full to finish your meal off with a Twinkie!
8. Fill up on fiber and water
Filling up on fiber-dense foods and water can satiate your appetite by making you feel full longer. You should drink at least eight glasses a day or take your body weight and divide by two and drink that many ounces of water a day (Bowden 2007).
The health benefits of consuming more fiber are far-reaching; it can help lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels (Anderson et al 2009). It is recommended that you should consume 14 grams of fiber per 1000 kcal consumed per day! The more the better!
9. Morning routine
If you’ve implemented the first eight tips then this one should be a breeze. Now that you are getting up earlier, eating breakfast, and beating the snooze button you will have a little extra time in the morning.
This is a great time to do some bodyweight training to improve your functional strength, get your blood pumping, and burning calories! It really is as simple as picking a bodyweight exercise and performing it until failure every morning.
On the first morning do 30 squats, the next morning try to do 31, the next morning trying to do 32…etc. Keep going and keep getting stronger. This may sound minuscule, but it will help you burn extra calories, make you stronger, and only takes five minutes.
10. Vow to do it
Okay, it’s great that you’re reading this. It tells me you want to educate yourself and improve your health and burn calories at home.
The next step, is to vow to yourself that you will try to implement at least three of these tips.
Write that down and keep it in your pocket or desk drawer. This could be the step that holds you accountable to make a change and a step towards achieving the results you deserve.
It just takes that step, that leap of faith. Take the vow and see what happens!
References
Anderson JW, Baird P, Davis Jr RH, Ferreri S, Knudtson M, Koraym A, Waters V, & Williams CL (2009) Health benefits of dietary fiber. Nutr Reviews 67:188-205.
Bowden J (2007) The 150 healthiest foods on Earth. Fair Winds Press, Beverly MA.
Bryant A, Trinder J, Curtis N (2004) Sick and tired: does sleep have a vital role in the immune system? Nature Reviews Immunology 4: 457-467.
Bailey BW, Allen MD, LeCheminant JD, Tucker LA, Errico WK, Christensen WF, Hill MD (2013) Objectively measured sleep patterns in young adult women and the relationship to adiposity. American Journal of Health Promotion: 131107080257006 DOI: 10.4278/ajhp.121012-QUAN-500.
Gappmaier E, Lake W, Nelson AG, Fisher AG (2006) Aerobic exercises in water versus walking on land: effects on indices of fat reduction and weight loss of obese women. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 46:564-569.
Lejeune MPGM, Kovacs EMR, Westerterp-Plantenga MS (2003) Effect of capsaicin on substrate oxidation and weight maintenance after modest body-weight loss in human subjects. British Journal of Nutrition 90:651-659.
Malik VS, Schulze MB, Hu FB (2006) Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 84:274-288.
Richardson CR, Newton TL, Abraham JJ, Sen A, Jimbo M, Swartz AM (2008) A meta-analysis of pedometer-based walking interventions and weight loss. Annals of Family Medicine 6:69-77.
Wansink B, Kim J (2005) Bad popcorn in big buckets: portion size can influence intake as much as taste. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 37:242-245.
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