Whether you are trying to burn off excess fat, controlling weight, or want to improve your overall health, losing weight is a daunting task that needs loads of effort and determination. Losing actual body fat is quite challenging and requires significant changes in your diet and exercise routine to increase the fat burning process. By making some healthy lifestyle tweaks and adding some healthy power-packed foods to your diet, you can lose belly fat fast and keep it off for long. Here are some research-backed ways to lose fat and promote weight loss.

Fill Your Diet with Iron Rich Foods

Iron is an important mineral that performs a number of vital functions in the body. Insufficient levels of iron in your body can lead to anemia, which makes you feel tired and prevent you from staying active. It will decrease your energy, stamina, and, eventually, your ability to lose weight and keep it off. A study found that a group of women who received treatment for iron deficiency anemia experienced a reduction in body weight. Fill your diet with iron-rich foods to get a healthy dose of iron to boost your metabolism and maintain your energy levels. Foods that are high in iron include:

• Spinach
• Shellfish
• Beef liver
• Legumes
• Red meat
• Pumpkin seeds
• Quinoa
• Turkey
• Broccoli
• Fish
• Tofu

Increase Your Vitamin D Intake

Vitamin D, Yes, you have read it right. Taking this vitamin daily can help you shed some pounds. A study suggests that people who followed a weight loss program with higher levels of vitamin D dropped more pounds than those who weren’t getting enough vitamin D from their diet. Another study has shown that vitamin D can increase the effectiveness of leptin, a satiety hormone that signals the brain that your stomach is full. To get a sufficient amount of vitamin D from the diet, add fatty fish, dairy products, beef liver, soymilk, cereals, and egg yolks.

Eat Slowly

If you are wondering how eating slowly can help you lose weight, then knowing this fact will make you chew slowly at every meal. A study suggests that a group of people who chewed each bite 40 times ate less food than those who chewed each bite 15 times. It shows that chewing longer will decrease the production of the ghrelin hormone, which is responsible for increasing appetite. Eating slowly can also increase the release of appetite-suppressing peptide hormones that can control hunger. Furthermore, chewing more thoroughly will efficiently break down the food so that your body can easily absorb the nutrients and give your brain signals that your stomach is full.

Eat Foods that Keep You Full

It’s no wonder that our mind is wired to crave rich foods such as ice cream, French fries, chocolates, cookies, croissants, and cupcakes. Some studies have shown that these rich foods trigger a release of chemicals that are similar to those experienced by drug addicts. These foods make you lose control, so you tend to overeat them. The key to control your appetite is to avoid these unhealthy foods. There are hundreds of healthy food choices available that can increase satiety and keep your glucose at a high level. Eating nutritious foods can help you better resist cravings and control your appetite.

Foods that are filling have the ability to ward off hunger and help you eat less, which will eventually help you lose body fat. Here is a list of filling foods that you should add to your weight loss diet plan to lose fat.

• Boiled potatoes
• Eggs
• Oatmeal
• Fish
• Soups
• Lean meat
• Greek Yogurt
• Vegetables
• Cottage cheese
• Legumes
• Fruits
• Nuts
• Popcorn
• Quinoa

Stay Active

When it comes to losing body fat, staying physically active is the key to reach your weight loss goals. If you sit on your desk every day for eight or more hours, now is the time to take strict action and move your body. Get up and walk around for at least five minutes every once an hour. According to a study, people who sit on a sofa or in a chair for hours tend to generate more belly fat than those who stay active all day. Choosing the right physical activity can speed up the process of burning calories. For example, standing can significantly use more calories than sitting down. So, if you want to lose more body fat, stay active by doing short bouts of workouts to burn more calories and keep your body healthy.

Get More Sleep

Did you know getting enough sleep can help boost the process of fat burning and help you prevent weight gain? A study has shown that a group of women who slept five or fewer hours per night were more likely to gain more pounds than those who got seven hours of sleep per night. It clearly suggests that getting a minimum of seven hours of sleep will increase your chances of losing weight. Some researches show that insomnia (lack of sleep) can have a negative impact on hunger hormones, increased appetite, and increase the risk of obesity and other health problems. So, get enough sleep and stick to your sleep schedule to promote the process of fat burning and weight loss.

Drink Green Tea

Adding green tea to your diet is the simplest and easiest way to reduce body fat and lose weight. According to some studies, sipping green tea regularly can significantly help you shed some extra pounds. It is because of EGCG, an active ingredient of green tea, which can reduce the absorption of fat. Green tea is also rich in antioxidants that help increase fat burning and boost metabolism. So, skip all sugar-sweetened beverages and alcoholic drinks and start sipping green tea for the desired body weight.

Adopting these healthy lifestyle and diet changes will surely help you lose fat and slim down your waist.