Five easy ways to burn fat

You’re exercising like a demon following a Christmas blow-out but what you really want to know is how to burn fat when you’re not in the gym. 

Follow these tips for a slimmer you in 2015:

1. Wine o’clock

Research shows that having just one glass of red wine, rather than a beer, helps to reduce fat storage. This is due to the resveratrol contained in red grape skins, which when combined with a low calorie diet can reduce you fat levels. Make sure you’re not polishing off a bottle of the good stuff each night though – that will have the reverse effect!

2. Swap fats

Fat gets a bad rap, but if you’re eating the right fat then it can actually help with a weight loss plan. Eating unsaturated fats, found in things like avocados, sunflower and vegetable oils, nuts and salmon, has been linked to lower fat levels. 

According to Swedish scientists, unsaturated fats have also been linked to gaining up to three times more weight in muscle rather than fat, compared to those who consumed the same amount of saturated fats.

3. Keep the doctor away

An apple a day really is good for you according to researchers at the University of Iowa. Eating an apple before you have your biggest meal increases the levels of hunger suppressant hormone GLP-1, reducing your calorie intake by 15 per cent. That’s a snack worth having!

4. Eat your greens

A compound found in spinach extract and other green leaves such as green tea, has the effect of making you feel fuller for longer, according to a Swedish scientist. By loading up on Japanese sencha immediately after a meal, for example, the full effect lasts for up to two hours, killing any pangs you may have for between-meal snacking.

5. Get spice in your life

Chilli’s powers for spiking metabolism have been well documented, but according to the University of Colorado, adding chilli and other spices could stop you eating as much fat in the first instance. They discovered that people rated heavily spiced and low fat meals to be just as tasty as fat-drenched alternatives.