4 Ways to Make Any Diet Work Better
A brand new year is on the horizon, and if you’re like many people, you’re making New Year’s weight loss plans. Here are 4 simple strategies guaranteed to make any diet work better.
1. Exercise!
If you’ve reached a plateau, adding aerobic exercise can start you losing again. It increases calorie burn while you’re exercising and for several hours afterwards. Walk up hills, use an elliptical machine, or swim for 30 minutes and you’ll burn 200-400 calories.
2. Increase your fiber intake.
It fills you up without calories and helps you absorb less fat. One study found that simply adding 14 grams per day of fiber led people to eat about 10% fewer calories. For fiber supplements, both psyllium and guar gum will do the trick. Take 3-6 grams before meals.
3. Get enough calcium and magnesium.
Both of these minerals are important for weight loss. When the diet lacks calcium, there is an increase in fatty acid synthase, an enzyme that converts calories into fat. Diets low in calcium increase fatty acid synthase by as much as five-fold. Magnesium influences fat-regulating stress hormones which can deposit abdominal fat, and adiponectin, a hormone that controls fat cell activity. For weight loss, we recommend getting about 1,200 mg of calcium and 600 mg magnesium a day.
4. Take vitamin D.
In one diet study, every increase of one “point” in vitamin D levels was linked to a half-pound of additional weight loss. Vitamin D may help weight loss by improving calcium absorption, and decreasing fatty acid synthase, the enzyme that converts calories to fat. Vitamin D also seems to helps normalize blood sugar and appetite. We recommend at least 2,000 IU a day.
