Lose weight – everything that supports you in your goal

Simply burn more calories at the same time and lose weight while you sleep, so to speak? That sounds too good to be true. Unfortunately, to date we are not aware of any miracle cure that replaces a balanced diet and regular exercise sessions. But why is it that some people just don't get fat, while others gain weight just by looking at the cake? However, there are no miracle cures responsible for this, just a few good habits. Our tips will help you boost your metabolism and increase your daily calorie requirement.

What is the energy requirement made up?

Our daily energy requirement consists of the basic and performance metabolic rate as well as the food-induced thermogenesis. The basal metabolic rate indicates how many calories our body burns at rest. He will e.g. B. influenced by age, weight or gender. Performance expenditure is the energy consumption through physical activity. Of course, there are big individual differences here. The performance expenditure is often overestimated, since professional activities and leisure activities generally do not require a lot of energy expenditure.

In addition to the basal and performance metabolic rate, a third component determines our daily calorie consumption: food-induced or postprandial thermogenesis. Behind this complicated-sounding term there is a very simple fact: A part of the energy contained in nutrients (fat, protein, carbohydrates) is needed for the digestion and processing of the nutrients. Food-induced thermogenesis accounts for approximately 10% of energy requirements.

1) Building muscle through strength training

Endurance sports such as jogging or swimming get your circulation going and burn a lot of calories. Many people therefore rely primarily on cardio units to lose weight. When it comes to calorie consumption, endurance sports are clearly ahead. While jogging burns around 500 calories per hour, strength training usually uses significantly less because of the breaks between repetition sets. Of course, there are strong individual differences and intensive strength training such as CrossFit can also consume a similar number of calories as jogging. However, what is more important than the exact calorie consumption is: How does the training affect my body in the long term? For both cardio and strength sessions, calorie consumption is increased for a while after training. This is called the afterburn effect. However, only regular strength training causes the body to burn more calories in the long term - even at rest. Strength training ensures that muscle mass is maintained or built up.

More muscles mean that the body burns more calories, because muscles require more energy than fat tissue. Muscles are a luxury for the body and expensive to maintain due to the high energy consumption. If they are not needed (e.g. because you almost only do endurance sports or don't do any sports at all), the body breaks them down. Muscle mass can be lost, especially in starvation situations, as is the case when losing weight. The result: Energy consumption decreases and the yo-yo effect often follows the diet. You can counteract this muscle loss with regular strength training (at least 2-3 times per week).

2) More exercise

Small livestock also make messes. This also applies to physical activity. It's not just the sports program that counts, but every type of exercise. So: It's better to do your shopping on foot or by bike, stand or walk while talking on the phone, take the stairs, chew chewing gum or tap your foot, ...

3) Nutri-Plus Metabolism Active

Our contribution to activating the metabolism: Nutri-Plus Metabolism Active. The plant-based micronutrient combination was specifically developed to support metabolism. In addition to essential vitamins and minerals, the product contains, among other things: still  Pineapple powder, grape seed extract and coenzyme Q 10. The latter can, for example, promote weight loss when dieting.

4) Drink water

Water not only fills the stomach and keeps us full for longer, but also increases energy consumption. The water must be absorbed by the body and excreted again. It is said that 100 calories are consumed per liter of water.

5) Protein-rich diet

To build muscle, our body needs protein. Anyone who does strength training should therefore consume enough protein so that the body has building blocks for regeneration and muscle building. Protein is particularly important when dieting or in a calorie deficit, as a protein-rich diet protects against muscle loss. If the body does not get enough protein from food, it falls back on its own supplies - the muscles. Adequate protein intake protects against muscle breakdown when losing weight and thus helps to keep the body's energy consumption high. A 2016 study showed that protein intake above the recommended reference value (>1.2 g/kg body weight) promotes the maintenance of muscle mass in a calorie deficit. The least muscle mass was lost when a high-protein diet was combined with high training intensity.

But a protein-rich diet also has even more advantages. Protein satisfies you for longer, prevents cravings and you automatically eat less. And protein helps maintain weight in the long term after a diet. In addition, more energy is used to digest and metabolize protein in the body than other nutrients.

Food-induced thermogenesis is not the same for all nutrients. The most energy is lost with protein: 14-20% of the energy absorbed. For carbohydrates (4-10%) and fats (2-4%), however, the value is significantly lower. However, the energy supplied is the same for carbohydrates and protein (4 kcal/100 g). So if you eat a diet rich in protein (e.g. with our Nutri-Plus protein powder), use it this effect and consumes more calories than with a high-carbohydrate diet.

6) Supplement vitamin D

Studies suggest that vitamin D deficiency causes obesity. It is assumed that an insufficient supply of vitamin D leads to excessive fat storage and thus to obesity. Since the sun vitamin has numerous other positive effects on the metabolism, supplementation is generally recommended (e.g. with our Nutri-Plus sunshine vitamin).

 7) Heat and cold

External factors such as temperature also influence our calorie consumption. For example, heat above 30 °C causes an increase in basal metabolic rate of 0.5% for every degree increase in temperature. Cold also increases energy consumption. Alternating showers or sauna sessions can therefore boost metabolism and increase calorie consumption.

8) Get enough sleep

If you sleep less, you have more time to burn calories? Studies show that this calculation doesn't add up because lack of sleep leads to obesity. However, we don't yet know exactly how too little sleep leads to more pounds.

9) Eat spicy

The substance capsaicin contained in chili peppers stimulates the metabolism and thereby increases energy consumption. Other spices such as pepper and ginger also heat us up and have the same effect.

10) Caffeine

Caffeine (e.g. in coffee, green tea) also stimulates the circulation and thus increases the basal metabolic rate. Studies show that drinking coffee or green tea is beneficial for your figure. Provided it is drunk without milk and sugar.

Negative calories: truth or myth?

Some foods are said to burn more calories than they contain. Vegetables such as asparagus, pointed cabbage or celery have very few calories (≤ 20 kcal/100 g). Digestion therefore uses significantly more energy than these foods supply. Another popular example of negative calories is ice water. This contains no calories, but must be heated to body temperature, which means it uses energy. However, the myth about negative calories and the associated weight loss has not been scientifically proven. But no matter whether it's a myth or not: you can't go wrong with low-calorie vegetables anyway.

Vegetarians and vegans are generally slimmer than meat eaters. Is this simply because they consume fewer calories? And what about the nutrient supply? In our blog post you will find out why plant-based diets shed pounds more easily than conventional diets.

Does plant-based make you slim?

If you only nibble on lettuce and carrots, you will naturally lose weight. So it's no wonder that vegans and vegetarians are always slim. But they also have to struggle with all sorts of nutrient deficiencies. The most common prejudices about plant-based nutrition and losing weight are probably something like this. What is true is that vegans and vegetarians are generally slimmer than meat eaters. This is also proven by data from the American National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. For this purpose, the nutritional behavior of more than 13,000 people was analyzed. The result: Vegetarians consume an average of 363 fewer calories and have a lower BMI than meat eaters. However, vegetarians (BMI = 25.5) were thinner than meat eaters (BMI = 28.3), but their average BMI was still in the overweight range. The vegan lifestyle (BMI = 23.1) was the only diet that correlated with an ideal body weight.