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15 Proven Ways To Eat More And Burn Fat Like A Furnace!
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Everyone wants to lose a few pounds and look their best, no matter what you wear.
Everyone wants to lose weight, but no one wants to go hungry! You don’t want to stop eating delicious food either! Well, when it comes to losing weight, not all foods are the same.
It’s true! Some foods raise your metabolism, helping you to burn more fat with no extra effort. Other foods kill off your appetite or make you feel full for longer periods of time so you aren’t hungry as often and you eat less.
And some foods do both!
So if you want to lose a few pounds and look hot, keep reading for the 15 best foods that are scientifically proven to be winners when it comes to losing weight.
1. Grapefruit
No, we aren’t talking about that grapefruit diet from 40 years ago. You know, the one that had you eat like 10 grapefruits a day? Forget that nonsense! Grapefruit really can help you to lose weight, and you don’t have to eat a dozen for them to work. Scripps Clinic in San Diego, California, found in one study that when obese people ate just a half a grapefruit before each meal, they dropped almost 4 pounds in 12 weeks, even though they didn’t make any other changes to their eating habits. Grapefruit juice had the same effects, but eating the fruit whole is better overall, as you get all the benefits of fiber as well.
Be careful if you are taking any medications as some of them can have serious side effects or stop working when mixed with grapefruit. Always ask your doctor before eating grapefruit if you are taking any prescription medications or if you have any other health conditions.
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2. Nuts
Nuts may be the best fat burning snacks around! Oh, have you been avoiding nuts because they contain fat? You can forget about that. First off, the old adage that you get fat from eating fat is bologna. Also, we aren’t talking about eating a few pounds of nuts each day, only 1 ounce each day, just about a handful. Nuts are low in carbs but rich in protein, healthy fats, and fiber. In fact, about 20 percent of the calories in nuts are never absorbed because of the way they are structured, so don’t worry about that either. Nuts are super satisfying and make you feel full with little calories.
Some studies show that nuts increase your metabolism, but not a huge amount. Other studies show that those who eat nuts for snacks have reductions in their waist size and weigh less overall than those who don’t eat nuts. Almonds appear to be the favorite with several studies showing that subjects who ate almonds lost 62 percent more weight than those who didn’t eat nuts.
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3. Apples
Eating whole apples, not the juice or applesauce, has been shown to greatly reduce the appetite. One reason could be the fiber in apples. Also, prolonged chewing tells your body that it is eating a substantial meal so it feels full more quickly.
Try eating an apple about 30 minutes before your biggest meal of the day. That will reduce your overall calorie consumption which can help you to lose weight.
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4. Coconut Oil
Yes, coconut oil contains fat, but the fats in this oil are very different than almost any other oil on earth. They contain a type of fatty acid which are called medium chain triglycerides. The body metabolizes these types of fats differently. Studies have shown that these fatty acids satisfy your hunger quickly. People who eat coconut oil burn up to 120 calories more through their increased metabolism while eating about 256 fewer calories due to feeling more full.
Other studies have shown that coconut oil reduces belly fat, which is really good for those who tend to have “apple” shapes and hold their weight in their abdomen. Most studies have subjects consume only 2 tablespoons of coconut oil each day. How many foods do you know of where you can eat just 2 tablespoons worth and lose weight around your middle? Coconut oil is simply amazing!
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5. Dark Chocolate
Wow! Losing weight doesn’t get much tastier than this! Studies show that people who ate a square (about 1 ounce) of dark chocolate twice per day (before the two biggest meals of the day) ate 15 percent less than those who ate milk chocolate or no chocolate at all!
Now, you can’t nosh a half a pound of chocolate a day and think you will lose weight, but eating an ounce or two (no more) can help you shed a few extra pounds. Dark chocolate has other health benefits too, so don’t feel guilty, savor the flavor!
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6. Potatoes
You might be thinking that potatoes are bad for you, but the truth is potatoes aren’t the problem; it’s what we do to potatoes that are the big problem! French fries, hash browns, and potato chips are super tasty but they can really pile on the pounds.
Plain potatoes, boiled or baked, are super satisfying and can actually be a meal in themselves! Potatoes contain a protein called protease inhibitor 2, which has a beneficial effect on appetite hormones. So enjoy that baked potato with dinner, or make some mashed potatoes with eggs for breakfast. You will feel full, satisfied, and should eat less.
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7. Soup
Since soups are mostly water and vegetables, most soups are very low in calories but high in fiber and volume. Eating just a cup of vegetable soup before meals can fill you up so you eat less of the main meal.
Soup is also a super satisfying and a terrific snack. Forget cream based soups, such as clam chowder or cream of corn, but stick to broth based soups, such as onion soup, and save tons of calories.
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8. Coffee
Coffee is sometimes demonized as a high calorie no-no but that isn’t really the case. Coffee itself has no calories; it’s what we add to coffee that makes it bad. The caffeine in coffee has been shown to boost the metabolism and help you to burn more calories. One study showed that consuming about 600mg of caffeine per day (which would be about 4 cups of coffee) can burn an additional 75-150 calories, depending on your weight.
Unfortunately, your body becomes accustomed to caffeine, so you should limit yourself to indulge in coffee only 3 or 4 days each week to stop your body from becoming used to it.
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9. Beans
Beans, beans, that magical fruit! Beans are super filling, super inexpensive, and super versatile, beans are a great source of protein that are high in fiber, which can fill you up but won’t necessarily fill you out.
SEE ALSO: Common Sense Nutrition Facts That Aren’t Common
Try adding some beans to soups, salads, or have Mexican night two times per week to get the most out of the beans you eat.
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10. Fish and Lean Meats
When it comes to losing weight, protein is king. The best sources of protein come from lean meat and fish. Numerous studies have shown that high protein, low carb diets can raise the metabolism by as much as 100 calories each day. One study had subjects that burned an extra 260 calories! Other studies have shown that making at least 30 percent of your daily calories come from protein caused subjects to consume 441 fewer calories each day and they lost one pound per week, without restricting anything else!
High protein diets are also known to reduce food cravings and late night snacking episodes. For some serious weight loss, eat protein like you mean it in the form of lean, organic, free range meats and wild caught fish.
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11. Green Tea
This is one of the best weight loss beverages around! Like coffee, it has some caffeine, but green tea also contains some other bioactive compounds that have a tremendous effect when it comes to fat burning. One of these is the antioxidant EGCG. This antioxidant increases the norepinephrine activity that stimulates your body to release and use stored fat in the body.
Some studies have shown that even consuming green tea extract can boost the body’s metabolism by as much as 4 percent, which would increase fat burning by as much as 17 percent! Green tea has also been shown in several studies to help reduce dangerous belly fat. So get in the habit of drinking a cup or two of green tea each day and feel the burn!
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12. Hot Peppers
If you like it hot, then this is a good solution for you! Chili peppers contain a substance called capsaicin. Numerous studies show that capsaicin reduces the appetite and raises the metabolism. This is why you will find capsaicin in many of those over the counter weight loss supplements.
If you like spicy food, then feel free to add plenty of spices and chili peppers to your meals. The body can build up a tolerance to chilis, so limit yourself to eating them two or three times per week. Perhaps it’s time to start Chili Saturdays this summer!
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13. Apple Cider Vinegar
You’ve heard all the hype about apple cider vinegar, but here is the truth about apple cider vinegar and weight loss; it really does work. Studies have shown that consuming a tablespoon of it before a meal, especially a high carb meal, can increase the feeling of fullness so much that people ate as many as 275 less calories the rest of the day.
Another study showed that consuming 2 spoons of apple vinegar each day caused persons to lose as much as 3.7 pounds over a 12 week period. Although this doesn’t sound like much, consider the fact that these subjects didn’t stop eating anything that they loved, they didn’t do more exercise, they simply added a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to their diet. That is pretty amazing.
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14. Eggs
We are talking about whole eggs here, not just the whites. In fact, despite what you might have heard, eggs are some of the healthiest and most nutritious foods around. They have been given a bad rap in the past for being high in cholesterol, but new research methods show that the cholesterol you eat has little to do with blood cholesterol levels.
Studies show that eating eggs instead of bagels for breakfast made people feel fuller, so they ate less calories over the next 36 hours! Imagine eating less for 36 hours, simply because you ate eggs for breakfast!
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15. Water
You’ve probably heard this before, but that’s because it’s true. Something as simple as drinking water can have a multitude of benefits, including losing weight. Drinking 17 ounces of water (about half a liter) can increase your metabolism by 30 percent for as long as 1.5 hours. Drinking cold water is better still because your body is forced to burn more calories to warm the water to the same temperature as your body.
These delicious foods might sound too good to be true, but science backs them up! So load up your shopping cart with tons of fresh, organic veggies, fruits, lean protein, nuts, and a bit of dark chocolate. No one will believe you are losing weight with a cart like that, but you can smile and feel comfortable knowing the truth!
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