How to Force Your Body to Burn Fat

The most important fat loss tip, adding fiber to your diet, has a huge impact on your body's ability to burn fat. Fiber is one of the most efficient and natural tools for healthy weight loss.

By increasing your fiber content, you can lose weight without eliminating all the foods you love to eat. Instead of eliminating, you substitute. (For example, instead of eating white bread, eat whole grain-it tastes better, too!)

Since fiber performs like a sponge in the body's digestive tract, a high-fiber diet actually forces your body to burn fat. As fiber moves through the body it absorbs the substances containing carbohydrates, sugars, fats, and the calories that are associated with them, eventually excreting them as waste. This prevents fat from building up in your body.

Eating fiber provides a lot of bulk, causing your body to feel full sooner and longer. This prevents overeating and results in increased fat loss. Fiber also slows down the digestive process resulting in a more balanced energy level during the day.

If you think you cannot add fiber to your diet because it is too difficult, you are wrong. There are some simple ways you can make substitutions in the foods you eat. Once you make these changes, you will start to see the difference in your body.

*Add Beans to Your Diet. Try to substitute beans for some of your meat meals. It is incredibly difficult for your body to digest meat (plus, meat has NO fiber content). The process can take days or even weeks. Beans are very easy to digest and are a rich source of fiber. If you are not a bean eater, you can start slowly by adding them to soups, salads, and stews.

*Eat Whole Grains. Avoid white foods as much as possible. White foods (anything made with white flour and sugar) slow down your digestion and convert to fat as they have no nutritional value and contain no fiber. Try whole grain breads, pasta, cereals, barley, and brown rice. ALWAYS check food labels.

*Reduce Your Intake of Dairy Products. If you are concerned about your calcium needs, take a good calcium supplement every day. Dairy products do not contain fiber, increase your body's mucus, and slow down your digestion. (Also, there are a growing number of people who are sensitive to dairy products.)

*Drink Lots of Water. Increasing fiber intake makes it necessary to drink plenty of water. Water flushes the toxins out of the body. Since weight loss depends on how the body eliminates body wastes, the body must stay hydrated.

There are many excellent sources of fiber that you can build into your diet gradually. The best sources are: apples (with skin), bananas, barley, beans, berries, broccoli, corn, whole grain cereals, prunes, and fresh sweet potatoes.

As you can see, by making some simple food substitutions, you can increase your body's ability to burn fat and lose weight. Of course, you are also increasing your good health. Adding fiber to your diet can reduce your risk for many diseases and conditions like diverticulitis and colon cancer.