burn more calories throughout the day even when you are idle

One of the most eye catching phrases which is used by hundreds of diet and weight loss organisations trying to sell weight loss supplements is “fat burning”. The expression ‘fat burning’ conjures up the image of weight loss which requires no effort on our part and which could even take place when we were asleep or just sitting down watching a movie.

The reality is that there are no foods which just burn fat for us and while it is true that things like green tea, chillies, caffeine and grapefruit might slightly stimulate our metabolic rate if you rely on them alone to “burn off the pounds” you are unlikely to have any meaningful success.

If you are serious about burning off extra calories and therefore extra fat there are only two ways to do this. Firstly you can get down to the gym and do some cardio exercises which if you continue to do over the long term will burn off the excess calories and reduce the fat levels in your body. In good gyms there are modern machines which even tell you how many calories you are burning when you exercise.

The other way to burn calories which is probably more effective is to do strength training. This involves using moderately heavy weights to build up your muscle tone and muscle mass so that you become physically stronger and therefore burn more calories throughout the day even when you are idle. If your muscles are weak and unused you will not be burning your optimum amount of calories.

Regular strength training not only improves your posture but will over time increase your calorie burning rate. It is important to know this because cardio exercise can be very repetitive and dull and in some cases unsustainable in the long term. Having a varied exercise routine which involves heavier weights can be more fun and also release higher amounts of adrenaline which keeps you going when you feel tired at the gym.