5 Sneaky Tricks to Burn Fat

Getting your body to burn fat for fuel is serious business. Losing weight is one thing, but it takes a little extra work to get your body to burn fat from your storage areas like your gut, hips and thighs. Shedding body fat involves a lifestyle that’s focused 75% on diet and 25% on sweat. If you are over-feeding your body (even while eating healthy foods), all your body will do is burn off the calories that you've just consumed. This can leave extra fat laying around your waist and thighs.

To target this fat, you’ll need to enact what I call “first things first” principles. The principles include doing cardio everyday for 60 minutes per session and lifting weights in a “fat-loss fashion” every other day. Once you have these things in place and you still want or need to burn more body fat, below are five things that are very effective at helping your body to burn fat for fuel.

1. Start your day with a protein shake 
   Make your shake with ice and water or anything that does not add calories. Protein shakes increase your metabolism by 25%! Why wait until later in the day to burn fat when you can burn fat all day long?
2. Drink coffee 
   Always have your coffee black (you can add 2 artificial sweeteners if you dislike the taste). Drinking black coffee is one of the oldest fat-burning tricks in the book. However, if you add anything that has calories like cream or even non-fat creamers or skim milk, you stop the fat-burning process! Drinking enough caffeine to make your heart race is never a good idea, but having black coffee in moderation will keep you full and help you burn fat.
3. Have a calorie curfew 
   Stop eating four or more hours before bedtime and don’t start eating until 9 a.m. This gives your body a chance to clear out, and having a calorie curfew helps to stop late night eating. Don’t forget to drink your protein shake in the morning to break the fast and jumpstart your metabolism.
4. Take 500 mg or more of L-Carnitine
   L-Carnitine is a naturally occurring amino acid found in red meat. You would never be able to eat the amount of L-Carnitine that your body needs to burn fat from only eating red meat, so it is better to take the supplement and save the calories. This supplement is also referred to as the “Carnitine Shuttle” because it shuttles or pulls body fat into the cells and prompts this fat to be burned as fuel. It is very safe to use and does not have any side effects.
5. Take 1 aspirin every other day
   Take plain old baby aspirin every other day with your coffee in the morning – just be sure that your stomach can handle it first. This is another fat-burning trick that old timers used to do to burn fat; it’s tried, true and effective! Consult with your physician to make sure this is right for you.

Always keep in mind that it takes changes in 100 different areas to effectively lose weight and/or body fat. There is never any one thing that will get your body to burn fat for fuel – it’s always a combination of things. You are guaranteed to burn fat if you do what it takes consistently. The only question is: will you do it?