For those of you who have joined the blog so far, welcome. Here's an article I recently came by that I wanted to share...
Looking forward to seeing you all this week for some great workouts!
Debbie
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Simple strategies are the secret to a healthy lifestyle. No earth-shattering breakthroughs that are impossible to implement here. Just simple ways to get your metabolic fire blazing. Make these five tips habit and you'll burn more calories, boost energy, and look and perform better.
1. Don't Skip Breakfast
When you wake up in the morning from that wonderful beauty sleep, rested or not, your metabolism is running at the lowest gear of the entire day. Your body is running on fumes. The second you eat something, your body cranks into gear and metabolically starts working at a higher rate. That shower with the Irish Spring may wake your mind and your senses up, but that breakfast wakes up your metabolism.
2. Don't Skip Meals
You should be eating every 3 hours. When the body has to digest food, it has to work to get it broken down into a usable form. The fancy term for this is "the thermic effect." What does this mean to you? It means that every time you eat, your body has to rev up the furnace to break that food down. That doesn't mean you should eat huge meals every three hours or swing by to get a quarter-pounder a few times a day. Simply eat a combo of high-fiber carbs, lean protein, and healthy fats every three hours, in portions that are correct for your size and activity level. When it comes to the number of meals, less is not more. In fact, more meals, means more metabolic revving, so eat wisely, but eat up.
3. Include a Lean Protein Source with Every Meal
When you eat protein, it is like throwing lighter fluid onto the fire in that wood burning stove. So include a lean protein source with every meal to get a little extra burst of metabolic power. When choosing your protein, remember that fewer legs equals better protein. In other words, fish have no legs and are a lean and healthy source of protein. Turkey and chicken have two legs—take off the skin and don't fry it and you have a fabulous source of protein. With anything that is or comes from an animal with four legs, be selective. Lean cuts of red meat and low-fat or non-fat dairy are the only way to go.
4. Exercise is a Must
When we exercise, we have this great post-exercise period called "EPOC." Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption equals more calories burned. The magnitude of the EPOC can change with different types of training. Weight training and circuit training where you have 40-70 seconds under tension per set will rev up the metabolism (So, count to 4 on each rep in the set). Interval training can also bump up the metabolic marvel. Bottom line: All training will create EPOC, but these exercises will give you the most bang for your buck. Try to do them four days per week and save the long easy sessions for your recovery days.
5. Drink Green Tea
Green tea has a natural component that helps to speed up the metabolism. Not the box tea, but brew-it-yourself with boiling water and a tea-bag-type tea. Green tea contains substances called catechins that stimulate the body to burn calories (rev up the metabolic furnace). Researchers have proven this and studies showing that four cups of green tea per day can help reduce body fat have been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Added bonus? Catechins have been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects, anti-cancer properties, and may help control cholesterol levels.
