Natural Fat Burning Foods

I’m dedicating this post to what I consider to be some of the best fat burning foods available. As usual, these are all natural foods and loaded with vitamins, nutrients and taste! Use these foods in meals and as snacks throughout the day.

Salmon is probably one of the best meats for you overall and it tastes awesome too. Salmon is loaded with protein and Omega-3 Amino fatty acids boosting your metabolism and burning more fat. These fatty acids also have a very positive effect on your cardiovascular health, protecting you against heart disease.

Turkey is another great meat for burning fat. Turkey is packed with protein for higher caloric burn and is also naturally lower in fat compared to chicken. Just make sure you buy turkey in its most natural form (many typical thanksgiving turkeys are injected with butter or other fatty substances).

Beef is a very popular meat around the world due to its flavorful taste and wide availability. Lean beef especially is a great fat burning food as it has a reduced amount of saturated fat compared to other beef yet is still loaded with protein.  It also contains iron which is vital for the creation of hemoglobin in your red blood cells.

Green tea has been enjoyed by the Japanese for centuries and has been spreading in popularity the past several years. Green tea is a great fat burning beverage due mainly to the EGCG contained within it which stimulates your brain and nervous system resulting in higher caloric burn. Green tea also has powerful antioxidants and studies have shown it to even reduce the risk of some cancers. Furthermore, it has also been known to help lower overall cholesterol levels and improve the ratio of good cholesterol (HDL) to bad cholesterol (LDL).

Skim Milk contains large amounts of calcium, helping to increase your metabolism and burn calories. There have been many studies which show that those who drink moderate amounts of milk or low-fat dairy products daily, have less body fat ratios than those who don’t. Skim milk is best but if you find it too watery, 1% milk is a good alternative.

Edamame are one of my all time favorite fat burning snack foods.  They are essentially soy beans which have been lightly boiled and salted (of course the salt is entirely optional). Originally from Japan, edamame are an excellent source of protein, Vitamin C, iron, and calcium! They also contain 0g of saturated fats so eat them guilt free.

Broccoli is one of those super foods that you can never really eat enough of. It is literally packed with nutrients including calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid, and fiber. The calcium, vitamin C and fiber all contribute to burning fat and increasing your metabolism. On top of that, broccoli is full of antioxidants that provide a multitude of health benefits including decreasing the risk of heart disease and certain cancers.

Oats are a great way to fill you up as they’re loaded with soluble fiber, which helps reduce cholesterol and lowers the risk of heart disease. They’re also a very good source of selenium which boosts your energy and immune system by producing antibodies.  One of my favorite breakfasts is a nice big bowl of oatmeal in the morning with some blueberries on top.  Just make sure you eat the pure stuff, not the flavored variety that typically come in packets and loaded with sugar.

Follow a Fat Burning Food Plan that Works
Now if you’re really serious about losing fat permanently I believe it is absolutely vital you follow a comprehensive fat burning diet plan that’s proven to work over the long term. The best program I’ve found so far is called The Diet Solution Program. The Diet Solution Program is run by Isabel De Los Rios, a certified nutritionist and fitness trainer and the main reason I like her program is not only because it works so well but because it focuses on burning fat 100% naturally, which in my mind is by far the best way to do it.

Why naturally?  Simply because shortcuts don’t work.  Despite what many people want to believe, there is no magic pill for long term weight loss.  The truth is, real permanent fat loss can only come from a change in your eating habits and anyone who tells you otherwise is either misinformed or well frankly is full of it. Sorry but I gotta keep it real

Now there’s no doubt in my mind you’ll see results with this program but only if you actually follow it. So if you’re expecting to lose fat without any change in the way you eat, then please do NOT purchase this program!

BUT if you’re not afraid of making a real change in your life and commit yourself to following Isabel’s program, you will likely be shocked by the type of results you can achieve.  Click here to watch the Diet Solution Program video.

If you want to burn fat faster than by simply changing your diet, you can add fat burning exercises into your routine.  Regular exercise in addition to consuming fat burning foods can really accelerate your weight loss.

Now a lot of people think that fat burning exercises have to be long 2 hour sessions that they must perform every day in order to get the weight loss benefits.  Thankfully this is completely false. In fact you can easily get great results with just 20-30 minute workouts 3-4 times per week. Another common misconception is that the only exercises that will give good and lasting results are complicated in nature and difficult to perform. Well despite what you might see advertised throughout the media, fat burning exercises don’t at all have to be complicated in order to be effective. In fact, in many cases, the simpler the better.

Fat burning exercises can be broken down into two main forms of exercise: aerobic interval training exercises and strength training exercises.  Both forms of exercise can be extremely beneficial for increasing overall fat burn and the best part is each of them are relatively simple and easy to perform.

Aerobic Interval Training Exercises
For aerobic interval training exercises, you basically want to perform short intervals of intense exercise.  By performing these short bursts of exercise, you will increase your heart rate and boost your metabolism, which in turn burns fat.  The most exciting thing about these short interval exercises however is that your metabolic rate will not only rise during the exercises but will stay high for up to 24 hours post workout.  In other words, your body will continue to burn calories and fat at a much faster rate throughout the entire day and night of your workout!  This alone is what make these types of fat burning exercises so effective.

Example Interval Training Routine:

• 5 minute warm up (brisk walk).
• 45-60 seconds of intense exercise (sprint, fast jog).
• 2 minutes of moderate exercise (brisk walk, jog).
• Repeat intense and moderate exercises 5 – 10 times.
• 5 minute cool down (walk).

Strength Training Exercises
Strength training exercises are also a great way to expedite the fat burning process. By building up your lean muscle mass, your metabolism will begin to change as your body increases it’s caloric burn rate to support these muscles. In essence you will be burning more calories throughout the day even when at rest giving you an added advantage for burning fat. Aim to perform these exercises 3-4 times per week.

Some excellent strength training exercises include:

• Bench Press
• Squats
• Chin-ups
• Lunges
• Pull-Downs
• Push-Ups

If you are looking for answers on how to burn fat, there are various methods you can use to accomplish this.  However, the best way to burn fat is to incorporate all of these methods into one fat burning plan.  The following methods are all considered effective ways to burn fat.

Stay Hydrated
Staying hydrated is crucial for your body. Drink plenty of water (8-12 glasses) throughout the day. Avoid fruit juices and soda pop however as these are not good ways to hydrate your body; when trying to burn fat the last thing you need in your system are high concentrations of sugar! Keeping your body hydrated allows your body to function more efficiently and helps keep your metabolism high. Without enough water your digestive system in particular will not function properly and will hold on to fat as a result.

Eat Fat Burning Foods
Another good way to burn fat is to consume fat burning foods. Fat burning foods are foods which have a high thermic effect, that is they take a large amount of energy to digest compared to their calorie content. Eat foods that are high in protein and fiber. Foods that are high in protein take longer to digest and can significantly boost your metabolism resulting in higher caloric burn. Foods high in fiber help you feel full sooner and for longer. Fiber also helps to move fat through our digestive system faster so that less of it is absorbed into the body. Some of the best fat burning foods are fish, lean meats, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products such as skim milk.

Exercise Regularly
Exercising at least a few times a week can really help raise your metabolism and burn fat faster than diet alone. Interval training works best for this where you alternate between short intense bursts of exercise and moderate ones. Regular fat burning exercises can not only help you lose fat faster, but have significant overall health benefits as well.

Build Muscle Mass
Building muscle through strength training can also help increase fat burn. By building up your lean muscle mass you are also effectively increasing your overall body caloric burn rate which in turn burns more fat. Aim to perform strength training exercises 3-4 times per week in order to see noticeable results.

Get 8 Hours Of Sleep
Lastly but not least, you need to ensure that you get a full night sleep. Your body needs to rest and depriving it of sufficient rest can adversely effect your health and metabolism. Many studies have shown that those who get at least 7-8 hours of sleep have lower BMI’s and overall less fat than those who don’t. So rest up, you are doing your body good.

Often people are looking for a complete list of fat burning foods.  I’m not sure a complete list exists seeing that nutritionists and scientists are often discovering new foods that burn fat.  Having said that however, here’s my best attempt at a “complete” fat burning foods list.

All the foods listed below have certain common qualities that make them fat burning in nature.  Firstly, all of them are natural foods; there are no foods listed with refined sugars or fat.  Also, these foods have a high thermic effect, that is the increment in energy required above your resting metabolic rate to process food for use.  In other words all these foods require a higher than average number of calories for your body to burn in order to digest them; an important aspect for burning fat and weight loss. I’ve broken the list down into seven main categories:

Vegetables are by far the best foods you can give your body. Vegetables are naturally high in fiber, low in fat, and contain essential vitamins and nutrients to feed your muscles.

Low fat dairy products such as skim milk contain high amounts of calcium and complex carbohydrates, both of which help boost your metabolism and keep insulin levels low, resulting in increased fat burn.

Lean meats contain high levels of protein which boost your metabolism and burn fat. Fish rich in Omega-3 fatty acids such as Salmon are also great for burning fat due to the lowering of leptin levels in your body and higher resulting caloric burn rate.

Fruits which contain Vitamin C are known to help shed fat. Vitamin C dilutes fat making it less effective and also helps in releasing it from the body. Eat fruits in moderation however as they are also naturally high in sugar.

Whole Grains are both high in fiber and complex carbohydrates, keeping your metabolism high.

Spices such as cayenne pepper and jalapenos speed up your heart heart rate and boosts the metabolism, resulting in increased caloric burn.

Teas & Coffee contain caffeine which can increase your heart rate and help burn more calories. Green tea in particular is good as it also contains a chemical known as EGCG which causes the brain and nervous system to run faster and burn more calories.