Getting rid of the COVID 19 (pounds that is…)
There’s a bit extra to love on many of us since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit. The new COVID 19—pounds that is. Self- or government-imposed quarantine, combined with the closures of many gyms, has led to a more sedentary lifestyle for many—and the weight just seemed to kind of jump onto us. If you’re ready to start the road back to your pre-COVID weight, make sure biochemistry is on your side. Here are our favorite bio-hacks for weight loss—different strategies will appeal to different people, so choose one and give it a go!
Restricting your eating window
Believe it or not, in the US the average eating window is 15 hours per day—and most people graze throughout the day—that’s 15 out of 24 hours in continuous consumption mode. This is very easy to do when you are working from home in a lockdown situation. Try restricting your eating window in any of the following ways:
Eat in a 12-hour window (for example, breakfast at 7:00am, dinner finished by 7:00pm)
Don’t snack between meals (let your body clear out between meals)
Try intermittent fasting (skip breakfast and have your first meal at lunch time)
Try a 24-hour fast (it will change your relationship to food, and you will get a new definition of what hunger is to you)
Wait for a half hour upon waking to eat, and finish your last meal two hours before bedtime
Change the composition of your meals
Increase your protein intake, and eat protein at every meal (you will feel more satiated, and eat less calories overall—try even starting your day with a protein shake)
Eat protein and fats first, wait 15 minutes, then eat carbs (research has shown this to greatly reduce the negative effects of carbs on blood sugar and subsequent fat storage)
Eat 50% of your daily calories at breakfast time (research has shown that between two groups eating 50% of their calories at dinner, or 50% of their calories at breakfast, the breakfast group lost three times the weight than the dinner group, and had better blood glucose and lipid profiles)
Eat most of your carbs at breakfast time (the body is much more insulin sensitive in the morning, and can better deal with carbs)
Eat less and less as the day progresses (there is a great saying, “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.” It works!
Set a start and end date for a diet cycle
There are, of course, many different diet strategies to choose from. It can be hard to adopt one, when you think you are just supposed to keep going forever. No one is excited about a life of deprivation. Set a time limit for a diet strategy, like 30 days. A start and end date makes it seem doable, and not overbearing. Then, if you want to continue, you can.
Give yourself a cheat day
If you adopt a diet strategy, give yourself one cheat day a week. Research shows that your metabolism slows down during a calorie restriction period, and a cheat day can “reset” your metabolism and even make the diet strategy more effective over time. It also gives you something to look forward to each week, so you’re not feeling deprived and sorry for yourself.
Build your workouts and activity around mealtimes
By now, you know we are big fans of Microworkouts—short, five-minute workouts before each meal (we like pairing kettlebell swings with either a pulling, pushing or squatting movement on rotating days). If that feels like too much, try just going for a walk after each meal.
Give cold exposure a try
You burn calories just trying to stay warm—and research has shown that cold water immersion returns insulin sensitivity to Type 2 Diabetics. It’s a super effective way to jumpstart your metabolism. Try 15 seconds in a cold shower to start (at the end of a warm shower) and build up from there. It also is a fantastic mood enhancer.
We hope some of these bio-hacks will appeal to you. Let us know how it goes!
Until next time,
Scott and Lennart