By
Habits we all have either move us towards our goals or take us far from them.
If you want to lose weight, the basics are everywhere, and following them will help you move towards your fat loss goal much faster.
But what if you could do some sneaky things to boost your metabolism every day to get you to that weight loss goal sooner?
Most of these strategies I will share with you might be on the ‘weird’ side, but they work.
Some might be a little unpleasant, and others tackle different sensors.
As I always say, the little things matter and add to significant results. So, it doesn’t always have to be big, grand gestures.
The critical factor here is trying to move the weight loss needle; it doesn’t always pivot when we want it to.
So, we can push it along with some little unknown and somewhat weird habits.
Check out these five ways to give you a little metabolism massage along the way.
One: Your first meal is the most important one of the day
Remember the old saying, “Eat breakfast like a king, and dinner like a pauper?”
There is a lot of truth behind this theory, as studies suggest you’ll lose weight faster by eating the most important meal at the start of your day rather than saving calories for dinner.
It still stands true even if you eat the same calories for breakfast and dinner.
If you eat high-protein foods in the morning, that’s an extra boost to your metabolism.
After you’ve been fasting from sleep, the body uses up most of the glycogen, and your body needs energy in the morning.
Although it’s hard for some people to eat in the morning, make your most important meal either earlier or late.
When it comes to dinner, it should be a small and easily digestible meal, as your body doesn’t use up a lot of calories during that time (unless you are active, of course).
The moral of this theory is to supply your body the fuel it needs when it’s most active — and for most people, that’s during the early hours of the morning.
Two: Use smaller plates for your foods
This might seem a little silly — but I use it and know it works!
A smaller plate helps us feel that we’re eating a lot and helps us to eat less in the process without leaving too much white on our plate.
You might say this is a way of tricking your brain into thinking you are eating more -and you are correct!
Try it out to see how much less food you eat — by altering your visual perspective.
Three: Spice up your life a little sprinkle at a time
By adding spice, I am referring to breakfast, lunch and dinner! All three (or if you are having multiple meals) should contain a level of spice — or pepper.
It’s also essential to make your meals delicious by adding much-needed and required flavour via spices.
I’d like you to focus on spices such as chilli cayenne pepper, curry powder, black pepper and turmeric, as these are all thermogenic. In addition, all meals add up to a slight increase in your metabolic rate.
It may not be bucket loads, but every day, each meal adds up.
I would start with smaller amounts of spice and then add more as your tolerance increases.
I add cayenne pepper to my smoothies every morning. That might seem strange, but the pepper boosts my metabolism and benefits my gut microbiome.
Four: Feel the coolness a little bit more
Did you know that our body uses energy to maintain a regulated temperature?
The natural reaction is to shiver when you are cold and sweat when overheating.
When sleeping or working in a cooler temperature, your body works super hard to maintain that balance, increasing your energy expenditure.
It does help to go into an Infra-Red Sauna or use Cryotherapy — but you don’t need to go that far (unless you want to).
Just turn the temperature dial down so you feel slightly on the ‘cooler side.’ Keep lowering it down a notch when your body becomes accustomed to it.
Five: Have your meals in front of a mirror
Yes, I know, but this works (according to research).
If you are taking the dieting path on your own, it can become effortless to fall off the bandwagon and make a few little ‘sneaky’ mistakes daily.
But, studies show that eating in front of a mirror makes you more accountable and less likely to become a diet cheater.
Think of it this way. Watching yourself eat could be very similar to sitting opposite your partner, who might comment to help increase your accountability.
Don’t want to take a mirror with you when eating out?
Well, the best thing to do is use your photo-taking feature on the phone and do it that way. Just be sure to sit away from people as you might raise a few ‘weirdo’ eyebrows.
Six: Have a watery soup before your meals
The aim here is to reduce your hunger, so you eat less.
This is easy to achieve if you eat something beforehand, especially a fibre-filled soup that’s both nourishing and hydrating simultaneously.
You could easily make up a batch of soup to last a few days and use this strategy when going out to eat.
However, restaurants are known to serve more significant than needed portions.
That soup will help you feel satiated enough to eat the right amount of food without sacrificing nutrient & deliciousness value.
If you work out regularly and eat a clean diet — then add these small tools into your weight loss toolbox — things might start shifting just when you thought a plateau started to rear its head.
Every little bit helps when you are dieting or watching your weight. As weird as these suggestions might be, researchers have already tapped into their potential for us.
Why not use them too?
I’m on Youtube! Please help grow awareness of health, lifestyle and well-being holistically, and follow my YouTube channel here.
Medium — Please sign up via my link if you want to read more articles like this or start writing your writing journey. I’d love to see you on the other side.
Sign up here for your medium subscription.
I get a portion of your monthly fee at no extra cost to you, and it will go a long way in supporting me as a writer.
As a gift, please download this as a thank you.