Weight loss is a struggle during the entire day, and it is often quite challenging.
Therefore, we are often offered to try various miraculous weight loss solutions, capsules, powders, tea, special programs, and so on.
Due to this, Dr. Sara Gottfried, a Harvard-trained MD, and best-selling author, decided to share her secrets for weight loss and better overall health, based on the hormonal balance in the body.
Her course, under the title “How to Balance Your Hormones For Glowing Skin, Deeper Sleep & Better Digestion” uses the key to improved health and weight loss.
Namely, excess weight gain creates inflammation and oxidative stress in the body, leading to additional accumulation of fat, which in turn disrupts the hormonal balance in the body, and causes diseases and various conditions.
When you manage to reverse hormonal misfires, you can control food cravings and burn fat.
According to Gottfried, not all calories are the same, as some store fat in the abdominal areas, and some make you keep muscle and burn fat.
Therefore, to burn belly fat, you need to reset the belly fat hormones — insulin, leptin, cortisol, growth hormone, and adiponectin. She offers the following 10 strategies:
- Eat Protein
The consumption of protein stimulates the fat burning process and keeps you full, so you should increase the intake of protein-rich foods, such as beans, lentils, and legumes.
- Practice HIIT
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) helps you burn body fat. This workout includes exercising at a high intensity for 30-75 seconds, with a 2-3 minute break in between, consisted of exercising at a lower intensity.
- Avoid Gluten and Dairy
Gluten and dairy are the most common food intolerances, and their avoidance will help you lose weight, and treat inflammation, and insulin resistance.
- Eat Purslane
Purslane is the richest source of omega-3s, which reverse the harmful effects of fructose, and is also high in other beneficial nutrients, so it helps you lose weight, and improve your memory and learning skills.
- A Mini Fast
Intermittent fasting will help you reduce reducing visceral fat, and Gottfried suggests an 18-hour window for women and a 16-hour window for men.
- Limit Fructose
Fructose is the most metabolically dangerous sugar, as it does not signal the brain that you are full. It goes directly to the liver where it gets stored as fat and stimulates insulin and leptin resistance. This, in turn, causes inflammation, a stressed liver, and belly fat.
- Avoid Alcohol
You need to avoid sugary juices, sodas, and alcohol if you intend to lose weight.
- Get Enough Sleep
You need to sleep 7-8 hours every night in order to burn belly fat, as sleep controls cortisol and insulin levels in the body.
- Increase Adiponectin levels
Adiponectin works between fat cells and the brain, so its low levels stimulate storage of fat in the body, and vice versa. If you raise its levels, your body will burn fat. Therefore, consume more pistachios and pumpkin seeds, and get at least 35 grams of fiber daily, to optimize its levels.
- Manage Stress
Chronic stress boosts cortisol levels in the body, causing weight gain, storage of fat, and the breakdown of muscles. It is a must to find an activity that relaxes you, such as meditation, exercise, walking, yoga, essential oil baths, reading, etc.
Source: www.davidwolfe.com