We’ve come a long way! We now actually know more about the metabolism, and how to increase metabolic speed than most people; and we’re therefore in a position to put that information to good use.
We’ve learned that the metabolism is a process and not an actual body part.
It harmonizes two essential bodily functions: converting food into cells/tissues, and breaking cells down to provide energy. We learned that the former process is known as anabolism, and the latter is catabolism. Indeed, it’s this latter process that influences our ability to lose weight, and to keep it from coming back!
Yet going beyond the biological basics, we also learned of 3 integrated aspects of speeding up metabolism and losing weight.
These aspects were categorized in terms of: exercise, lifestyle, and diet. And within each of these 3 categories we’ve learned important, practical, and quite easy ways to boost metabolism.
Now, it’s the time for action; for as they say, wisdom is the result of experience, not study! Obviously, it was essential for us to understand this subject and how it relates to boosting metabolism in that light, there is no question study is invaluable. But now you’re also equipped with the actual practical knowledge that you need to actually have the body you always wanted.
The next step – boosting your metabolism – is all up to you. Good luck, have fun, and enjoy your better, leaner healthier life!
If you’ve been following all of this series, I do hope you’ve enjoyed it and found some new useful information.
I’ll be back with an all new and exciting series very soon but till then, take care and you’ll always be welcome to leave a comment or email me on sandra@easywaystoloseweightforwomen.com.
Best wishes for your success.
Sandra
Showing posts with label boosting your metabolism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boosting your metabolism. Show all posts
Saturday, 20 November 2010
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Boosting Your Metabolism - Part 20 - Build Muscle
Many people, particularly some women, are very cautious about undertaking any exercise regimen that can lead to muscle building.
The old perception was that muscle building leads to muscle bulking, and before long, gorging forearm veins and other unwanted results. This is, frankly, not the case.
Provided that women aren’t supporting their workouts with specific muscle-building supplements, there is no need to be concerned; because building lean muscle won’t make them bulk up.
Still, however, the question remains: why would women (and, of course, men) who want to boost their metabolism focus on muscle building? Isn’t cardiovascular exercising the only thing that matters?
Again, the answer is: No! In addition to a healthy and responsible cardiovascular program, muscle building is an exceptionally powerful way to boost metabolism.
How? Because, a pound of muscle burns more calories than a pound of fat.
And what does this mean? It means (and get ready to stare in awe) that if you have more muscle on your body – anywhere on your body – you will simply burn more calories as a result.
You don’t even have to do anything. You’ll simply burn more calories, because muscle requires more of an energy investment.
Of course, it’s common-sense that if you build muscle and then leave it alone, over time, the muscle fibres will weaken and you’ll lose that wonderful calorie-burning factory. But that’s no problem, because all you need to do is build and maintain healthy muscle.
It may sound daunting; especially if at the moment you believe you have much more fat than muscle. Yet the important thing for you to remember is that once you start building muscle – through any kind of strength training – your body will itself start burning more calories.
It has to, even while you sleep, or go to a movie, or read a book. It’s like putting your calorie-burning (catabolism) program on auto-pilot. So don’t let a little (or even a lot) of extra flab, at the moment, deter you from believing that muscle building is important.
Yes, you should enjoy cardiovascular exercise too, because that’s ultimately how your body is going to burn existing fat. But muscle building plays a profoundly supportive role in that pursuit.
And it’s an exponential one, too: the more fat you transform into muscle, the more calories you’ll burn simply to maintain that new muscle (and the wonderful cycle goes on and on!).
So you see, building muscle isn’t so scary and it can boost your metabolism too.
Next time, we’ll take a look at what the Common Metabolism-Boosting Myths are, starting with Myth No.1.
Bye for now
Sandra
The old perception was that muscle building leads to muscle bulking, and before long, gorging forearm veins and other unwanted results. This is, frankly, not the case.
Provided that women aren’t supporting their workouts with specific muscle-building supplements, there is no need to be concerned; because building lean muscle won’t make them bulk up.
Still, however, the question remains: why would women (and, of course, men) who want to boost their metabolism focus on muscle building? Isn’t cardiovascular exercising the only thing that matters?
Again, the answer is: No! In addition to a healthy and responsible cardiovascular program, muscle building is an exceptionally powerful way to boost metabolism.
How? Because, a pound of muscle burns more calories than a pound of fat.
And what does this mean? It means (and get ready to stare in awe) that if you have more muscle on your body – anywhere on your body – you will simply burn more calories as a result.
You don’t even have to do anything. You’ll simply burn more calories, because muscle requires more of an energy investment.
Of course, it’s common-sense that if you build muscle and then leave it alone, over time, the muscle fibres will weaken and you’ll lose that wonderful calorie-burning factory. But that’s no problem, because all you need to do is build and maintain healthy muscle.
It may sound daunting; especially if at the moment you believe you have much more fat than muscle. Yet the important thing for you to remember is that once you start building muscle – through any kind of strength training – your body will itself start burning more calories.
It has to, even while you sleep, or go to a movie, or read a book. It’s like putting your calorie-burning (catabolism) program on auto-pilot. So don’t let a little (or even a lot) of extra flab, at the moment, deter you from believing that muscle building is important.
Yes, you should enjoy cardiovascular exercise too, because that’s ultimately how your body is going to burn existing fat. But muscle building plays a profoundly supportive role in that pursuit.
And it’s an exponential one, too: the more fat you transform into muscle, the more calories you’ll burn simply to maintain that new muscle (and the wonderful cycle goes on and on!).
So you see, building muscle isn’t so scary and it can boost your metabolism too.
Next time, we’ll take a look at what the Common Metabolism-Boosting Myths are, starting with Myth No.1.
Bye for now
Sandra
Sunday, 3 October 2010
Boosting Your Metabolism - Part 18 - Eat Yourself Slimmer
Eat Early!
We have all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In terms of boosting your metabolism, this is certainly true, because again people who do are much less inclined to snack throughout the morning. For instance, if you have a good breakfast of fruit and low-sugar cereal in the morning, the likelihood of you visiting the vending machine at work around 10:30am diminish significantly.
That does not mean you should avoid eating between breakfast and lunchtime of course, but by starting your day in a nutritious way, you will have more control over what you eat throughout the day, and be less inclined to eat anything you can get your hands on.
Another good reason to eat a healthy breakfast is because it directly boosts your metabolism. You see studies have shown that metabolism typically slows during sleep, and does not really get going again until you eat.
Therefore, starting the day with breakfast is like kick-starting your metabolism. You will actually burn more calories throughout the day, simply by eating breakfast.
When you prepare your breakfast, control both the portion size, and beware of high-fat content. High-fat breakfasts, like those including bacon and sausage deliver lots of calories (9 calories for every gram of fat, as compared to 4 for every gram of carbohydrate and protein). Worse still, if you eat such a breakfast, you will not only have ingested a lot of fat (and hence a lot of calories), but you may also still find yourself hungry again in a few hours.
This explains why many people who eat a high fat content breakfast find themselves painfully hungry by lunchtime - it is not their “overactive metabolism” at work, it is simply because the high fat content has been swiftly digested. Conversely, breakfasts that are high in fibre take much longer to digest, which will not only ensure your body is not hungry again for a while, but also help to boost your metabolism because your body is working longer to digest it.
So, eating more (in a controlled way) and eating early, can help you boost your metabolism and slash those pounds – it is one of the most incredibly easy ways to lose weight there is!
See you next time, when we’ll take a look at the 3 food groups that are good for speeding up your metabolism.
Sandra
We have all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In terms of boosting your metabolism, this is certainly true, because again people who do are much less inclined to snack throughout the morning. For instance, if you have a good breakfast of fruit and low-sugar cereal in the morning, the likelihood of you visiting the vending machine at work around 10:30am diminish significantly.
That does not mean you should avoid eating between breakfast and lunchtime of course, but by starting your day in a nutritious way, you will have more control over what you eat throughout the day, and be less inclined to eat anything you can get your hands on.
Another good reason to eat a healthy breakfast is because it directly boosts your metabolism. You see studies have shown that metabolism typically slows during sleep, and does not really get going again until you eat.
Therefore, starting the day with breakfast is like kick-starting your metabolism. You will actually burn more calories throughout the day, simply by eating breakfast.
When you prepare your breakfast, control both the portion size, and beware of high-fat content. High-fat breakfasts, like those including bacon and sausage deliver lots of calories (9 calories for every gram of fat, as compared to 4 for every gram of carbohydrate and protein). Worse still, if you eat such a breakfast, you will not only have ingested a lot of fat (and hence a lot of calories), but you may also still find yourself hungry again in a few hours.
This explains why many people who eat a high fat content breakfast find themselves painfully hungry by lunchtime - it is not their “overactive metabolism” at work, it is simply because the high fat content has been swiftly digested. Conversely, breakfasts that are high in fibre take much longer to digest, which will not only ensure your body is not hungry again for a while, but also help to boost your metabolism because your body is working longer to digest it.
So, eating more (in a controlled way) and eating early, can help you boost your metabolism and slash those pounds – it is one of the most incredibly easy ways to lose weight there is!
See you next time, when we’ll take a look at the 3 food groups that are good for speeding up your metabolism.
Sandra
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Boosting Your Metabolism - Part 17 - Eat Yourself Slimmer
Eat More Often?
You may have heard before that eating frequently throughout the day can be very good for boosting metabolism, but if you ever wondered why, here are a couple of reasons.
The first is that people who tend to eat throughout the day do considerably less snacking. As a result, they are able to avoid the potato chips or candy bars that they might otherwise consume if they suddenly became hungry. People who eat throughout the day do not tend to experience severe hunger pangs, because they never reach that stage.
The second reason is that by eating throughout the day, you are constantly keeping your metabolism working. It is a little like having a generator running all the time; it will simply use more electricity than if you just powered it up 3 times a day.
Now, it goes without saying (though it should be said anyway just in case!), that just because it is good for metabolism-boosting to eat frequently, does not mean that you can eat junk all day long!
If you choose to eat more frequently, then try to be more aware of what you eat; because you can easily exceed the amount of daily calories you need if you do not keep an eye on this.
So, if your plan is to follow the eat-more-to-burn-more approach, it is often a good idea to keep a food journal that notes what you eat throughout the day (and drink of course).
Merely focusing on the number of your daily calories is only half the trick though. Try to ensure that you are also eating enough protein, carbohydrates, fats (the good unsaturated kind!), and the other vitamins and minerals that your body needs for a healthy way to lose weight.
See you next time in 'Boosting Your Metabolism - Eat Early!'.
Sandra
You may have heard before that eating frequently throughout the day can be very good for boosting metabolism, but if you ever wondered why, here are a couple of reasons.
The first is that people who tend to eat throughout the day do considerably less snacking. As a result, they are able to avoid the potato chips or candy bars that they might otherwise consume if they suddenly became hungry. People who eat throughout the day do not tend to experience severe hunger pangs, because they never reach that stage.
The second reason is that by eating throughout the day, you are constantly keeping your metabolism working. It is a little like having a generator running all the time; it will simply use more electricity than if you just powered it up 3 times a day.
Now, it goes without saying (though it should be said anyway just in case!), that just because it is good for metabolism-boosting to eat frequently, does not mean that you can eat junk all day long!
If you choose to eat more frequently, then try to be more aware of what you eat; because you can easily exceed the amount of daily calories you need if you do not keep an eye on this.
So, if your plan is to follow the eat-more-to-burn-more approach, it is often a good idea to keep a food journal that notes what you eat throughout the day (and drink of course).
Merely focusing on the number of your daily calories is only half the trick though. Try to ensure that you are also eating enough protein, carbohydrates, fats (the good unsaturated kind!), and the other vitamins and minerals that your body needs for a healthy way to lose weight.
See you next time in 'Boosting Your Metabolism - Eat Early!'.
Sandra
Sunday, 8 August 2010
Boosting Your Metabolism - Part 12 - Get on the Wagon
Maybe you have noticed that people who carefully choose low-fat, low-calorie meal choices, are often very disciplined when it comes to not ordering the Chef’s Special pecan pie for desert, yet order a glass or two of wine with their meal?
Well, unfortunately, these people are really undermining their efforts to boost metabolism, and are simply unaware that many alcoholic drinks are laden with almost as many calories as sugary-rich soft drinks.
A bottle of beer can deliver a few hundred calories, and most cocktails are in the same range. Wine is generally considered to deliver the least amount of calories; but even this is a bit of a slippery slope.
Three glasses of wine can be worth 300 calories that the body simply has to deal with in one form or another, but that’s not all, because studies show that drinking alcohol with meals actually encourages over eating; which means yet more calories that need to be burned away (or transformed into fat!).
The tip here isn’t to stop drinking alcohol altogether (despite the title of this section). If you enjoy alcohol then there’s no particular reason why you have to quit cold turkey, but you will save a bit of money and not consume as many calories.
If you are compensating for these added calories through exercise or muscle building, that’s okay and catabolism cannot occur. But if you go heavy on the alcohol instead, without compensating, then anabolism will inevitably occur, and new cells will be created from those calories (mostly fat cells).
So the call here is simply that you become aware that alcohol influences your metabolism significantly. If you consume excess alcohol, (even without becoming inebriated), you force your system to deal with more calories and worse still, they will be ‘empty’ calories with little nutritional value.
Just something to bear in mind till next time, when we continue through the Lifestyle section of Boosting Your Metabolism.
See you again soon
Sandra
Well, unfortunately, these people are really undermining their efforts to boost metabolism, and are simply unaware that many alcoholic drinks are laden with almost as many calories as sugary-rich soft drinks.
A bottle of beer can deliver a few hundred calories, and most cocktails are in the same range. Wine is generally considered to deliver the least amount of calories; but even this is a bit of a slippery slope.
Three glasses of wine can be worth 300 calories that the body simply has to deal with in one form or another, but that’s not all, because studies show that drinking alcohol with meals actually encourages over eating; which means yet more calories that need to be burned away (or transformed into fat!).
The tip here isn’t to stop drinking alcohol altogether (despite the title of this section). If you enjoy alcohol then there’s no particular reason why you have to quit cold turkey, but you will save a bit of money and not consume as many calories.
If you are compensating for these added calories through exercise or muscle building, that’s okay and catabolism cannot occur. But if you go heavy on the alcohol instead, without compensating, then anabolism will inevitably occur, and new cells will be created from those calories (mostly fat cells).
So the call here is simply that you become aware that alcohol influences your metabolism significantly. If you consume excess alcohol, (even without becoming inebriated), you force your system to deal with more calories and worse still, they will be ‘empty’ calories with little nutritional value.
Just something to bear in mind till next time, when we continue through the Lifestyle section of Boosting Your Metabolism.
See you again soon
Sandra
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