While there’s no doubt that the right diet, strength training and cardio routine will help you shed the pounds, there are some other secrets to a smaller waistline that may just surprise and delight you.

Have more orgasms: A 2002 report from a large British population of men said researchers found a 50 percent reduction in overall mortality in the group of men who said they had the most orgasms. The Journal of the American Medical Association, has also reported that “high ejaculation frequency was related to decreased risk of total prostate cancer.” Having regular orgasms can increase your life span. Every time you reach orgasm, the hormone DHEA increases in response to sexual excitement and orgasm. DHEA can boost your immune system, improve cognition, keep skin healthy, and even work as an antidepressant. DHEA also helps you burn fat. Therefore, the added health benefit is that you will feel – and look – younger longer.

Get to bed earlier: More than half the respondents to a National Sleep survey reported they are morning people with higher energy earlier in the day, while 41% considered themselves night owls. Evening people were more likely than morning people to experience symptoms of insomnia, sleep apnea, enjoy less sleep than they felt they needed and take longer to fall asleep. Staying awake into the wee hours causes hormonal imbalance because it increases cortisol, decreases leptin and depletes growth hormone. This causes us to eat more and wreaks havoc with our metabolism. Cortisol naturally begins to increase during the second half of your sleep – a small boost at 2 a.m., another at 4 a.m. and the peak at around 6 am. If you’re just getting to bed immediately beforehand, you’re missing out on your most restful period of sleep. I advocate getting to bed between 10 -11 p.m. for this reason. Of course, hitting the sack earlier will also help you achieve the fat loss tip above.

Add in a probiotic: Healthy bacterial balance in the digestive system is vital for overall health, particularly for the breakdown and elimination of estrogen. Probiotics assist with bowel cleansing, preventing constipation, reducing allergy symptoms, and boosting immunity and skin health. It also, however, helps you shed weight. A 2010 study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that probiotic bacteria improves insulin sensitivity by doing exactly that, reducing systemic inflammation. In a double-blinded study, forty-five males with type 2 diabetes, impaired or normal glucose tolerance were enrolled in a 4-week treatment course and given either an acidophilus pill (friendly gut bacteria) or a placebo. They found that insulin sensitivity was preserved among the group taking acidophilus, whereas it decreased in the placebo group. While the inflammatory markers tested went unchanged, insulin sensitivity did improve with no other changes in diet or activity levels.

Get more alkaline: Excess body acidity or pH imbalance also interferes with our hormones and your fat loss goals. pH is the measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a substance. We experience health problems when the pH of our body fluids, digestive system and tissues is pushed out of its comfortable neutral zone. You will enjoy the most dramatic results when your body is slightly alkaline. Acidity decreases your body’s ability to absorb the vitamins and minerals from your foods and supplements, it interferes with your ability to detoxify and it disrupts your metabolism and it makes you more prone to fatigue and mood changes.

The pH scale runs from 0 to 14. A lower pH number means a higher level of acidity and generally less oxygen is present. A higher pH indicates greater level of alkalinity. A solution is considered neutral, neither acid nor alkaline, when it has a pH of 7. Our body continually strives to maintain its normal pH balance of about 7.0 – 7.4. You can test your pH by picking up pH strips at any health food store. Test your saliva and urine first thing in the morning and remember: green = good!

Don’t forget the fish oil: One study completed at the University of South Australia looked at the effects of diet and exercise, and found that fish oil supplements and exercise made a powerful fat-loss combination. During the study, overweight and obese adults with metabolic syndrome, and a greater risk of heart disease, took omega-3 fish oil daily in combination with moderate aerobic exercise three times a week for 12 weeks. Body fat stores, particularly abdominal fat, were significantly reduced in the fish-oil-plus-exercise group, but not in those who used fish oil or exercise alone. Supplementing the diet with fish oil may prevent muscle loss that commonly occurs in cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy. The trial involved 16 patients who took fish oil (2.2 grams of eicosapentaenoic acid/day) and 24 patients who did not. Patients who did not take fish oil lost an average of 2.3 kilograms whereas patients receiving fish oil maintained their weight. What’s even more interesting is that 69 percent of patients in the fish oil group gained or maintained muscle mass.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.