You haven’t skipped a day at the gym and the scale has hardly budged or worse, it has spiked. You will likely blame just two factors – calories burned and calories consumed. What looks simple on paper can get difficult in practice because an intense sweat session not only torches your calories and revs up your metabolism but also increases your hunger quotient.  Luckily, a few tweaks are all you need to ensure that your sweat session is helping in your pound-shedding efforts.

You Sweat By Numbers

Sorry to disappoint you, but the last uber-challenging workout might not have burned as many calories as you thought it did. Most people tend to overestimate the number of calories they burn during a sweat session. You really do not burn 500 calories in each Zumba session.

Your calorie-burning capabilities depend on a lot of factors like age, body weight, hormones and metabolic rate, and all of these factors are fluctuating. So instead of focusing on just numbers, monitor your intensity and how difficult the workout feels. In the weight room, the last few reps should be most difficult to finish or if you are into yoga, the last few rounds of Surya Namaskar should be the most challenging.

You Consume Extra Calories Post Workout

If you are running miles and still aren’t seeing any changes, it is time to take a closer look at your diet. Typically, you need a ballpark of 2,000-2,200 calories to maintain your weight, which means to shed kilos, you need to burn anywhere between 300-500 calories a day. In a study published in The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, scientists found that people who consumed up to three times more calories than they burned during an earlier workout could see no changes in the weighing scale.

So however drained or exhausted you might feel after a workout, be mindful of what you are putting in your mouth. The best way to beat a 200-calorie hunger pang is to eat a protein-rich snack after a workout. Include these spices in your diet to melt away those extra kilos.

You Jump For Quick Results

Once your diet and exercise are in sync, keep some patience as losing weight takes time. It’s true that a restrictive diet and endless cardio might help you get quick results, the combination of cardio, weight training, and a healthy diet can not only help you lose weight but also help you maintain your weight over time. You not only lose weight but also build good habits so it is a total win. Make these 10 easy lifestyle changes to burn that fat. 

Your Cardio Calculation Is Wrong

Try not to go by the reading on the cardio machine as some cardio machines give pretty inaccurate results. The best idea to ensure that you are burning enough calories is to increase your goal by at least 30 percent. So if you are going to the gym with the intention of burning 300 calories, burn 390 calories instead.

So the next time you hit the gym or go for that Pilates class, make sure you glance through these pointers to maximise your calorie burn, bolster your metabolism and burn fat throughout the day.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 03, 2019 01:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).