Ways to Burn Fat

Everyone's metabolism naturally slows down with age. At 40, you could be burning 100 to 300 fewer calories a day than you did at 30. That can equate into a 10-25 pound weight gain in a year. But you can counteract that slowdown and boost your body's fat-burning capabilities by making just a few changes in your daily routine. Here are some ideas.
Breakfast
Numerous studies have found that regular breakfast eaters are often leaner than breakfast skippers. Jump-start your metabolism in the morning by eating breakfast. In addition, it's a good idea to make breakfast or lunch your largest meal because (for some people) both your activity level and metabolism decrease later in the day.
Consume good grains
Whole grains such as brown rice, wheat germ, whole-grain cereal, oatmeal and bran leave you feeling full because they take longer to digest than simple carbohydrates. In a study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School evaluated the dietary intake of more than 74,000 women for 12 years. Overall, women who regularly ate the most whole-grain foods — about 1.5 servings a day — gained less weight than women who ate the least.
Strength train
Muscle burns more calories than fat does, and decreased muscle mass can be one of the main reasons metabolism slows. Disuse can cause women to drop as much as 10 pounds of muscle between the ages of 30 and 50. Losing that much muscle means you'll burn 350 to 500 fewer calories a day. To build and maintain muscle mass, aim for two to three strength-training workouts a week. If you don't belong to a gym, try push-ups, squats, abdominal crunches and tricep dips off of a chair. You can also hire a fitness trainer to show you the proper form so the exercise is effective and injury is avoided.
Increase your intensity
You love to walk, but if that usually means strolling along at a snail's pace, your waistline will pay little attention. Instead, put intensity into your step. Pick up your pace so you're walking one mile per 15 minutes. A pedometer is an applicable tool here. Once you build up your cardiovascular fitness level, you can even alternate between walking and jogging. The key is to get your heart rate up and keep your workouts challenging.
Add yogurt to your daily intake
In a recent study from the International Journal of Obesity, women who ate three daily servings of low-fat yogurt lost 60 percent more fat than women who didn't. In another study, participants who ate three daily servings of dairy lost more than twice as much fat as those who ate less than that. Calcium-rich diets reduce fat-producing enzymes and increase enzymes that break down fat. Eat three servings of low-fat dairy a day, like milk, yogurt and hard cheeses such as Swiss.
Eat, digest and then get active
Your body's metabolic rate increases 10 percent after eating, and just a few minutes of activity could double that boost for up to three hours. Within 15 to 30 minutes of eating a snack or meal, do five or ten minutes of light activity. Take the dog for a walk, climb stairs in your house or do some basic strength exercises. Or take the time to do 20-30 minutes of a heart pumping cardio workout.
Green tea
Green tea provides a healthy dose of disease-fighting compounds and you'll also cut body fat. In a study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who drank a bottle of tea fortified with green tea extract every day for three months lost more body fat than people who drank black tea. Researchers at a health care lab in Tokyo believe disease-fighting antioxidants called catechins in green tea may help decrease body fat.