Many people are looking to improve their overall health or slim down (or both!) and are always on the hunt for what can help them achieve their goals. It can get discouraging not losing weight and making poor decisions, but burning fat may be the answer. In fact, in addition to exercise, many factors contribute to weight and fat loss. One diet, known as the ketogenic diet, focuses on eating high fat and low carb foods. This type of diet, which we discuss further in the Body Reboot book, can burn fat, and fast. Many lose weight without having to exercise and achieve their weight loss goals thanks to eating more fat. There is a lot more to the keto diet, which we cover in our book, but for now here are 3 of the best ways to burn fat… and fast!

Increase Your Cardio

Healthline tells us that if you increase your cardio exercises, then your body is going to burn more fat. Adding the right cardio to a routine can increase fat burning which leads to more weight loss. Note that resistance-type exercises tend to be more effective for fat-burning, but if done correctly, some cardio exercises can also offer this benefit. Too much cardio can trick your body into actually storing fat! Before you add cardio routines to your workout schedule, consult  the Body Reboot book to make the most of your efforts!

Cardio, also known as aerobic exercise, is one of the most common forms of exercise and is defined as any type of exercise that specifically trains the heart and lungs.

Adding cardio to your routine may be one of the most effective ways to enhance fat burning.

For example, one review of 16 studies found that the more aerobic exercise people got, the more belly fat they lost.

Other studies have found that aerobic exercise can increase muscle mass and decrease belly fat, waist circumference and body fat.

Most research recommends between 150–300 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise weekly, or roughly 20–40 minutes of cardio each day.

Running, walking, cycling and swimming are just a few examples of some cardio exercises that can help burn fat and kick-start weight loss.

As Healthline mentioned above, one study by the International Journal of Obesity in 2007 revealed that the more exercise people implemented into their schedule, the more belly fat they lost.

OBJECTIVE:
It has been suggested that exercise has preferential effects on visceral fat reduction. However, the dose-response effect remains unclear because of limited evidence from individual studies. The purpose of this study was to systematically review the current literature to establish whether reduction of visceral fat by aerobic exercise has a dose-response relationship.

METHODS:
A database search was performed (PubMed, 1966-2006) with appropriate keywords to identify studies exploring the effects of aerobic exercise as a weight loss intervention on visceral fat reduction. Visceral fat reduction was expressed as the percentage of visceral fat change per week (%DeltaVF/w). The energy expenditure by aerobic exercise was expressed as Sigma (metabolic equivalents x h per week (METs x h/w)).

RESULTS:
Nine randomized control trials and seven non-randomized control trials were selected. In most of the studies, the subjects performed aerobic exercise generating 10 METs x h/w or more. Among all the selected groups (582 subjects), visceral fat decreased significantly (P<0.05) in 17 groups during the intervention, but not in the other 4 groups. There was no significant relationship between METs x h/w from aerobic exercise and %DeltaVF/w in all the selected groups. However, when subjects with metabolic-related disorders were not included (425 subjects), METs x h/w from aerobic exercise had a significant relationship with %DeltaVF/w (r=-0.75). Moreover, visceral fat reduction was significantly related to weight reduction during aerobic exercise intervention, although a significant visceral fat reduction may occur without significant weight loss.

CONCLUSION:
These results suggest that at least 10 METs x h/w in aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, light jogging or stationary ergometer usage, is required for visceral fat reduction, and that there is a dose-response relationship between aerobic exercise and visceral fat reduction in obese subjects without metabolic-related disorders.

Eat More Healthy Fats

Healthline states that eating more healthy fats can lead to more significant weight loss. If you’re considering going on a high fat, low carb diet like the ketogenic diet, eating healthy fats is something you’ll be doing a lot.

Although it may seem counterintuitive, increasing your intake of healthy fats may actually help prevent weight gain and help you maintain feelings of fullness.

Fat takes a while to digest and can help slow the emptying of the stomach, which can reduce appetite and hunger.

One study found that following a Mediterranean diet rich in healthy fats from olive oil and nuts was associated with a lower risk of weight gain compared to a low-fat diet.

Another small study found that when people on a weight loss diet took two tablespoons (30 ml) of coconut oil daily, they lost more belly fat than those who were given soybean oil.

Meanwhile, unhealthy types of fat like trans fats have been shown to increase body fat, waist circumference and belly fat in human and animal studies.

Olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, nuts and seeds are just a few examples of healthy types of fat that may have beneficial effects on fat burning.

However, keep in mind that healthy fat is still high in calories, so moderate how much you consume. Instead of eating more fat overall, try swapping the unhealthy fats in your diet for these healthy fat varieties.

More specifically, the American Journal of Physiology explains how the reduction of appetite and hunger is possible when you eat fat. It takes the body a while to digest fat. Since the body is slow at emptying the stomach, this leads to more fat burning.

In summary, in the study reported here, the more structured active meal supressed the initial secretion of CCK compared with the liquid control meal, presumably because, for the active meal, initially a more viscous layer containing food boluses was present in the antrum, preventing significant early emptying. Thus a larger volume was retained longer in the stomach, leading to an increased sense of fullness. Altogether, this suggests that a nutrient-induced increase in serum CCK levels did not have a direct role in the control of appetite sensation in the active meal. In contrast, the liquid meal showed a peak in both emptying rate and plasma CCK at 30 min, related to the initial quick emptying of this meal. This is the first time that macroscopic structure persistence and formation have been linked to satiety via gastric retention and CCK secretion. The results suggest that, for the studied situation in which the plasma CCK level is moderately increased during nutrient-controlled gastric emptying, gastric retention was the key factor in decreasing appetite rather than the detection of nutrients in the duodenum and that plasma CCK was not directly linked to suppression of either gastric emptying or appetite. This study paves the way for further work to assess the role of other GI hormones and the impact of even more persistent structures.

Try Intermittent Fasting

According to Nutrition Rev. 2015, the review found that fasting every other day over 3-12 weeks reduced body weight up to 7%. Fasting also decreased body fat, and people lost up to 12 pounds. Their revelations about the effects of intermittent fasting show promising results for dieters who are looking to shed more weight and burn more fat.

They found that alternate-day fasting over a period of 3–12 weeks reduced body weight by up to 7% and decreased body fat by up to 12 pounds (5.5 kg)

Intermittent fasting is a broad term that encompasses a variety of programs that manipulate the timing of eating occasions by utilizing short-term fasts in order to improve body composition and overall health. This review examines studies conducted on intermittent fasting programs to determine if they are effective at improving body composition and clinical health markers associated with disease. Intermittent fasting protocols can be grouped into alternate-day fasting, whole-day fasting, and time-restricted feeding. Alternate-day fasting trials of 3 to 12 weeks in duration appear to be effective at reducing body weight (≈3%-7%), body fat (≈3-5.5 kg), total cholesterol (≈10%-21%), and triglycerides (≈14%-42%) in normal-weight, overweight, and obese humans. Whole-day fasting trials lasting 12 to 24 weeks also reduce body weight (≈3%-9%) and body fat, and favorably improve blood lipids (≈5%-20% reduction in total cholesterol and ≈17%-50% reduction in triglycerides). Research on time-restricted feeding is limited, and clear conclusions cannot be made at present. Future studies should examine long-term effects of intermittent fasting and the potential synergistic effects of combining intermittent fasting with exercise.

Burning fat is an excellent way to lose weight and get healthy, and we want to help you reach all of your health goals. Right now we’re giving away free copies of the Body Reboot book! Pay for shipping, and we’ll send you our FREE book. Visit this page right away to see if there are any remaining copies.

Sources: Healthline, NCBI: American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, NCBI: International Journal of Obesity, 2007, NCBI: Nutrition Rev., 2015