3 Ways to Drop Weight Without the Gym

lifestyle, recovery, weight loss -

3 Ways to Drop Weight Without the Gym

             Want gravity to have a little less effect on you but not quite ready to go into the gym and bang out 1000 crunches, endless hours on the stairclimber, and squat so heavy you can’t walk the next day?  Here are some tips you can start today, for FREE, in the comfort of your own home, to lighten the load and get you ready to go!

              Walk.  If you are a typical breakfast, lunch, dinner type of person; go for a 10 minute walk after every single meal.  Allow about 10 minutes for some digestion to settle, but then get the shoes tied on.  This will stimulate your body to draw the glucose you just consumed into your muscle tissue so it can be burned quickly or re-stock stores of muscle glycogen for quick energy bursts in the near future.  It also decreases the post-meal insulin spike.  This will be especially beneficial if you’re prediabetic or Type 2 Diabetic.

              Get cold.  The easiest option to begin is during your shower.  Most of us crank up the water as hot as it will go so we’re loose and relaxed.  Try this strategy:  20 seconds your usual temperature of hot water; switch immediately to cold water for 10 seconds; do 10 rounds of that.  20 seconds hot, 10 seconds cold, 10 rounds.  Over the course of several weeks, increase the amount of cold, for example maybe doing a 15 hot / 15 cold split.  Eventually work your way to 3-5 minute cold shower or plunge in a lake, river, or tub.  Cold therapy for weight reduction helps to stimulate the conversion of white adult fat (the ugly stuff) to BAT (Brown Adipose Tissue), which is basically what we all had as babies that actually keeps your metabolism burning hotter and is much more beneficial for longevity and wellbeing than white adipose tissue.

              Breathe.  Sounds simple, but our bodies require oxygen (duh) to perform oxygenation reactions, to do such things as allow the further breakdown of fatty acids.  So it’s not 5 hours of calories gone on the stairclimber that burns fat, it’s actually your respiration at a proper heart rate during that session which breaks it down and releases it via breathing.  One key with all breathing – breathe in and out through your nose.  It warms, circulates, moistens, and cleans the air, as well as draws it into the lower lobes of the lungs to activate your parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system.  A common breathing practice that I recommend to begin is Box Breathing.  Inhale for a 4 count, hold the inhale for a 4 count, exhale for a 4 count, hold the exhale for a 4 count; repeat as necessary or during exercise, remember to breathe in and out through the nose.

              These are 3 quick tips you can begin today!  Remember consistency is key – progress takes consistency and time!