Logging miles may be your primary weapon of mass deduction, but these weight-loss tips, tricks and shortcuts will ensure you win the battle of the bulge:
1/ Keep an eye on the scales
Would-be waistline trimmers who weighed themselves every morning lost an average of 9.2kg over six months, compared with an average of 3.1kg for non-weighers, in research published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
2/ Start on a Monday
Monday is the best day to start a diet, say researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, US. ‘On certain days, called temporal landmarks, you have a different view of yourself,’ says report co-author Jason Riis. ‘You become more forward-looking.’
3/ Work smart
Time to make the working day work for your waistline:
6:30am - Do some stretches to keep your lumbar regions limber: According to Yale scientists, back pain makes us more likely to comfort eat.
10am - Stand up - Standing for an extra hour a day burns an extra 87kcals, found a University of Iowa study.
12:30pm - After noon, ditch caffeinated drinks for H20. US research found a pre-meal pint of water leads to 44 per cent greater weight loss.
1pm - Use your lunch break. A leisurely lunch aids weight loss. Research found eating your protein and veg 15 mins before your carbs helps you avoid craving-inducing crashes.
4/ Get up early
Set your alarm: You’ve probably heard of early morning fasted runs boosting your body’s ability to burn fat as fuel in the context of improving endurance. A recent Belgian study found those exercising pre-breakfast retained a steady weight, despite being fed 30 per cent more calories over six weeks
Rise and shine: A study by Northwestern University, US, found running outside between 8am and noon can lower your Body Mass Index (BMI) by up to 20 per cent. The theory is that sunlight resets your circadian rhythms, kick-starting metabolism.
5/ Start with sprints
If your session goal is torching fat, consider this: according to a study from the College of New Jersey, running at 85 per cent max heart rate (MHR) for 20 minutes before dropping it down to 65 per cent will fire your fat-burning potential for the rest of the session, torching 23 per cent more calories than adding sprints at the end of the session.
6/ Dial up the effort
Another reason to dial up the effort: a study published in the Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine found that high-intensity exercise increases your levels of irisin – the hormone directly responsible for burning brown fat. Add sprints to outpace the pounds.
7/ Cross train
Cross-training works different muscle groups to make you a more efficient, injury-resistant runner. It also adds motivation-boosting variety and, crucially, lets you burn unwanted blubber on your running rest days. Here are some cross-training options that really burn the calories:
Punch bag: 8 kcals/min
Calisthenics: 11 kcals/min
Rowing: 12.5 kcals/min
Kettlebell: 20 kcals/min
Farmer’s walk: 22 kcals/min
Cycling: 22 kcals/min
8/ Sip milk
When you do strength work in the gym, make sure you get the fat-burning payoff along with the strength benefits. A study from McMaster University, Canada, found subjects who followed weight training with a glass of milk lost double the fat over 12 weeks compared with those who followed a weights session with an energy drink.
10/ Don’t overdo the pre-run coffee
A pre-run coffee will boost performance and lower perceived exertion. But go easy: too much caffeine can spike cortisol, telling your body to cling on to fat. James Harper, head barista at Fork Deli Patisserie, suggests a Guillermo – an espresso poured over lime. As well as its immunity-boosting vitamin C, its acidic flavonoids aid digestion. It tastes pretty good, too.
11/ Don't stress about it
Cortisol promotes fat storage, but a study in the American Journal of Medicine and Science found laughter demolishes your stores of the lard-packing ‘stress’ hormone.
12/ Have a cuppa
Researchers at Konkuk University in South Korea found that compounds in ginseng tea can increase fat oxidation during the first 20 minutes of exercise, helping your body to more quickly access fat cells for fuel. Planning a morning run? Get the kettle on, have a brew and then get going.
13/ Run like a caveman
Our cavemen ancestors had to chase their meals, and so should you – sort of. An Exeter University study found that just eight minutes of high-intensity exercise before eating improved blood vessel function, maintaining metabolism.
14/ Fight through the desire to give up
Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC), aka the afterburn effect, proves we were meant to run. In simple terms, it means that your body keeps burning more calories than normal after your workout. And with EPOC, the harder you push, the bigger the effect. So according to personal trainer Luke Barnsley, if you want to boost your EPOC potential, it’s time to push through the pain.
‘Next time you go for a full-on EPOC session, make the decision to keep going when your body is screaming for a respite,’ says Barnsley. ‘The desire to stop will become all-consuming but if you keep breathing and stay focused, you will smash through the barrier. Not only will you be building mental resilience and training your body to work harder than ever, but by finding the calm in the chaos you’ll drastically increase your work rate.’
15/ Fine-tune your pre-bed routine:
A pre-bed routine that ensures you get sufficient shuteye will deliver the dream scenario of burning fat while you doze. ‘Sleep is when our bodies replace our human growth hormone and testosterone – a vital combination when it comes to fighting fat,’ says Barnsley. Here’s your new PB (pre-bed) plan:
90 minutes pre-bed: Eat your last (small) meal of the day. Make it a hot one, because the heat of a warm meal will encourage your body to relax. And include some carbohydrate. In a study from St Louis University, US, subjects who ate a small, carb-heavy snack 90 minutes before bed shed 2kg in two months.
60 minutes pre-bed: Stop drinking (water, that is) to prevent your bladder waking you up in the night.
30 minutes pre-bed: Set aside 15 minutes for guided meditation, using an app such as Headspace. This will lower your heart rate and signal your nervous system that the time has come to wind down.
Bed time: Stick your phone on flight mode to stop it lighting up in the night. Resist the urge to check your emails. Or just leave the phone in another room.
16/ Watch the clock
Consuming your daily calorie intake within an eight-hour window can cut body fat by 15 per cent, according to research published in the Journal of Translational Medicine.
17/ Make a Spotify playlist
According to Dr Charles Spencer, director of Oxford University’s Crossmodal Research Laboratory, restaurants play upbeat music to make us eat fast and order more. So when you’re eating at home, stick with the chilled sounds to keep your weight-loss plans on track.
Also, make sure the music isn’t too loud. A study in Food Quality and Preference found you eat more if you can’t hear yourself chewing.
18/ Breakfast is the most important meal of the day
Israeli scientists found that people who ate bigger breakfasts lost 2.5 times more weight than those who went light. Pass the sourdough…
19/ Ditch the contactless
Paying by cash instead of card reduces your monthly junk-food orders by 23 per cent, found US researchers at Cornell University, US.
20/ Add some weight
Wearing a weighted vest on your run is strength training by stealth and it can increase your calorie burn by 10 per cent.
Men's Health Adjustable Weighted Vest - 10kg
Men's Health Adjustable Weighted Vest - 10kg
21/ Add some spices
If all your virtuous – but, perhaps, slightly under-whelming – eating is leaving you gastronomically unfulfilled, turn up the taste and your weight loss with this spice mix from Joe Sexton – the chef behind TV’s Fit In The Kitchen. Concocted from back-of-the cupboard staples (make sure they are not out of date, as they lose their punch) it’s packed with blood sugar balancers, anti-inflammatories and metabolism-boosters. Add it to your lean meat, eggs and greens to ensure your mind doesn’t wander to the local kebab emporium:
Coriander seeds - 5 tbsp
Powdered cumin - 4 tbsp
Cinnamon Stick - 1
Dried chilli flakes - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
Curry powder - 4 tbsp
Ground turmeric - 2 tbsp
Ginger powder - 1 tbsp
22/ Put Luther on
Movie night? Opt for a horror classic. The University of Westminster found a heart-pounding night with Jaws burns 161kcals. Watching Quint’s legs get chewed up might just put you off reaching for the Pringles, too.
23/ Keep fruit on view
Take care what’s on view: a study in Health Education Behaviour found that people who kept fruit on display weighed less than those who had sugary snacks in sight.
24/ Swap your plates
A study at Bond University, Australia, found that using smaller plates can limit your food intake by 30 per cent.
25/ Keep it simple
The inescapable truth is that it’s easier to eat calories than burn them off, so if you make just one weight-loss commitment (aside from logging your miles), make it a simple, sustainable adjustment to your diet. The American Medical Association found cutting your daily calories by 200 (a latte, say) will lead you to naturally make other lifestyle changes, helping you avoid regaining the 71 per cent of lost weight most people put back on after a crash diet.
