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
Sunday, 3 October 2010
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, 19 September 2010
Boost Your Calories to Boost Your Metabolism
For many of us, information concerning metabolism has related in one way or another to eating, in that we are told of metabolism-friendly foods, or metabolism unfriendly foods.
But really, while we may be basically aware that, all else being equal, a stalk of celery is better for your metabolism than fries with gravy, our understanding of diet and metabolism is actually pretty low.
To help overcome this, here are some powerful and scientific diet-related tips that will boost your metabolism. Indeed, as you will soon learn, it’s not just the case of what you eat that matters; it is when, and how, too.
So calories – yes, the word calorie has a bad rap. We frequently come across low calorie or calorie reduced foods. And it is not uncommon to overhear someone gasp about the immense calorie content of certain foods, such as a rich and creamy desert, or a giant fast food burger.
All of this anti-calorie rhetoric has therefore made a lot of us pretty calorie-phobic; as soon as we see something that has lots of them, we run away. But is this wise?
Well, yes and no. Yes, it is wise in the sense that avoiding that double-layer chocolate fudge cake for dessert may be a good idea. The calories that come from the cake are really going to be the so-called empty calorie kind; which means there is no real nutritional value that your body can squeeze out and make use of.
But in the bigger picture, it is definitely unwise for your metabolism to become calorie-avoidant.
Why? Because your body is a marvelous machine that tries, at all times, to do what it can to make your life easier. Indeed, even when is does not function at optimal levels (for a variety of reasons, including genetics), it still tries to do its very best. The body, for all of its limitations, is not lazy!
The body is always trying to keep us alive and functioning in the manner that it deems to be healthiest, so that is why if you suddenly decrease the amount of calories you need, your body will not try to do more with less. In other words, your body will not respond in the way that you want it to, it will not necessarily provoke catabolism and thus reduce weight and fat cells.
To the contrary, your smart and wise body will try to keep you alive by slowing down its metabolism. Whether you are genuinely trapped somewhere without food, or are deliberately slashing your calories, to your body the circumstances are irrelevant – it will simply believe something is wrong and become very stingy with energy.
The end result? If your body needs 2000 calories a day to survive, and you suddenly slash it to only 1000, it will not begin to burn off 1000 calories worth of cells that you have lying around on your love handles. Instead, your body will slow down its metabolism. It will really try to squeeze as much energy out of those 1000 calories, because it does not want to waste anything.
Physically, you will naturally feel more tired because your body is being very miserly with energy, and will devote its 1000-calorie ration to essential systems, like blood and oxygen supply (and others). Slash your calories and the bottom line is, metabolically, you will not be burning off extra calories. In fact, you can actually gain weight by dramatically reducing your calorie intake!
The flipside to this is of course, that you should consume a daily caloric intake that is proportionate to your body size, type, and weight loss goals. Once you have got an idea on the amount of calories that you need you can provide them to your body via healthy, efficient calories.
For instance, if your body needs 1500 calories per day, and one slice of double-fudge chocolate cake delivers a whopping 500 of those, then obviously, eating just one of these slices will take up a full 1/3rd of your daily caloric needs and worse still, they are empty calories, which means you are going to be very tired and lethargic.
On the other hand, drinking a tasty fruit smoothie made with yogurt and nuts can deliver half as many calories, and provide you with essential nutrients, vitamins, and other elements that your body needs.
So, the healthy way to lose weight is not by slashing your calorie intake; and if you are looking for easy ways to lose weight, banishing all the bad calories you enjoy in your diet is certainly not the answer either. But if you understand where good and bad calories come from, and ration the bad rather than the number of calories in themselves, you will find that boosting your calories really can boost your metabolism, and it is a whole lot easier than you might think!
Until next time, CLICK HERE and find out how you can boost your metabolism without going hungry!
Sandra
But really, while we may be basically aware that, all else being equal, a stalk of celery is better for your metabolism than fries with gravy, our understanding of diet and metabolism is actually pretty low.
To help overcome this, here are some powerful and scientific diet-related tips that will boost your metabolism. Indeed, as you will soon learn, it’s not just the case of what you eat that matters; it is when, and how, too.
So calories – yes, the word calorie has a bad rap. We frequently come across low calorie or calorie reduced foods. And it is not uncommon to overhear someone gasp about the immense calorie content of certain foods, such as a rich and creamy desert, or a giant fast food burger.
All of this anti-calorie rhetoric has therefore made a lot of us pretty calorie-phobic; as soon as we see something that has lots of them, we run away. But is this wise?
Well, yes and no. Yes, it is wise in the sense that avoiding that double-layer chocolate fudge cake for dessert may be a good idea. The calories that come from the cake are really going to be the so-called empty calorie kind; which means there is no real nutritional value that your body can squeeze out and make use of.
But in the bigger picture, it is definitely unwise for your metabolism to become calorie-avoidant.
Why? Because your body is a marvelous machine that tries, at all times, to do what it can to make your life easier. Indeed, even when is does not function at optimal levels (for a variety of reasons, including genetics), it still tries to do its very best. The body, for all of its limitations, is not lazy!
The body is always trying to keep us alive and functioning in the manner that it deems to be healthiest, so that is why if you suddenly decrease the amount of calories you need, your body will not try to do more with less. In other words, your body will not respond in the way that you want it to, it will not necessarily provoke catabolism and thus reduce weight and fat cells.
To the contrary, your smart and wise body will try to keep you alive by slowing down its metabolism. Whether you are genuinely trapped somewhere without food, or are deliberately slashing your calories, to your body the circumstances are irrelevant – it will simply believe something is wrong and become very stingy with energy.
The end result? If your body needs 2000 calories a day to survive, and you suddenly slash it to only 1000, it will not begin to burn off 1000 calories worth of cells that you have lying around on your love handles. Instead, your body will slow down its metabolism. It will really try to squeeze as much energy out of those 1000 calories, because it does not want to waste anything.
Physically, you will naturally feel more tired because your body is being very miserly with energy, and will devote its 1000-calorie ration to essential systems, like blood and oxygen supply (and others). Slash your calories and the bottom line is, metabolically, you will not be burning off extra calories. In fact, you can actually gain weight by dramatically reducing your calorie intake!
The flipside to this is of course, that you should consume a daily caloric intake that is proportionate to your body size, type, and weight loss goals. Once you have got an idea on the amount of calories that you need you can provide them to your body via healthy, efficient calories.
For instance, if your body needs 1500 calories per day, and one slice of double-fudge chocolate cake delivers a whopping 500 of those, then obviously, eating just one of these slices will take up a full 1/3rd of your daily caloric needs and worse still, they are empty calories, which means you are going to be very tired and lethargic.
On the other hand, drinking a tasty fruit smoothie made with yogurt and nuts can deliver half as many calories, and provide you with essential nutrients, vitamins, and other elements that your body needs.
So, the healthy way to lose weight is not by slashing your calorie intake; and if you are looking for easy ways to lose weight, banishing all the bad calories you enjoy in your diet is certainly not the answer either. But if you understand where good and bad calories come from, and ration the bad rather than the number of calories in themselves, you will find that boosting your calories really can boost your metabolism, and it is a whole lot easier than you might think!
Until next time, CLICK HERE and find out how you can boost your metabolism without going hungry!
Sandra
Sunday, 12 September 2010
Boosting Your Metabolism - Part 15 - There Really is Something GOOD about Your Time of the Month
Hi
Perhaps a strange one for this week’s blog, but bear with me! If you are like most of us women, the chances are that when it’s your time of the month, doing any form of workout or exercise is about the last thing on your mind. But there’s actually a positive when it comes to weight loss that you may like to know about, because capitalising on the opportunity can enable you to burn off as much as 30% more fat!
You see, studies have now demonstrated that the 2-week period prior to the onset of PMS is one in which fat burning capacity is at a premium.
In the usual scenario, PMS symptoms appear seven to ten days before menstruation, so typically from around day 4 of your period right up to the time PMS begins, your body’s production of estrogen and progesterone are at their highest. And since these hormones tell the body to use fat as a source of energy, exercising during this time can really pay off. The body will be inclined to target fat cells for catabolism.
So, if your time of the month has always been nothing but a negative hindrance to your life, now you know there’s a silver lining. It’s not like you can’t lose it, so you might as well use it, because it’s the biggest return you’ll get for your effort all month long!
Coming up next time ‘Love Your Calories and Boost Your Metabolism’, but till then, you might like to CLICK HERE and discover more about your hormones and how they affect you.
See you soon
Sandra
Perhaps a strange one for this week’s blog, but bear with me! If you are like most of us women, the chances are that when it’s your time of the month, doing any form of workout or exercise is about the last thing on your mind. But there’s actually a positive when it comes to weight loss that you may like to know about, because capitalising on the opportunity can enable you to burn off as much as 30% more fat!
You see, studies have now demonstrated that the 2-week period prior to the onset of PMS is one in which fat burning capacity is at a premium.
In the usual scenario, PMS symptoms appear seven to ten days before menstruation, so typically from around day 4 of your period right up to the time PMS begins, your body’s production of estrogen and progesterone are at their highest. And since these hormones tell the body to use fat as a source of energy, exercising during this time can really pay off. The body will be inclined to target fat cells for catabolism.
So, if your time of the month has always been nothing but a negative hindrance to your life, now you know there’s a silver lining. It’s not like you can’t lose it, so you might as well use it, because it’s the biggest return you’ll get for your effort all month long!
Coming up next time ‘Love Your Calories and Boost Your Metabolism’, but till then, you might like to CLICK HERE and discover more about your hormones and how they affect you.
See you soon
Sandra
Monday, 23 August 2010
Boosting Your Metabolism - Part 14 - Relax .... Your Waistline Depends on It
Hi again,
You may perhaps think this week’s blog title is a little strange, or at best irrelevant to losing weight, but the fact of the matter is, that experts have now identified stress as having a key influence on our metabolism.
Essentially, what happens is that when the body is under constant stress, it releases stress hormones that flood the system. These stress-related hormones actually tell the body to create larger fat cells in the abdomen, resulting in both increased weight (through increased fat cells), and a slower metabolism.
Obviously, these are two very negative factors in our quest to boost metabolism and lose weight, because the last thing that we want is more and bigger fat cells in our abdomen, coupled with a diminished metabolism. Yet, tragically, this is what happens to many people who experience constant, continuous stress, especially those of us who have to balance so many competing objectives, such as work, family, and other vital tasks.
So the simple advice here is to learn to “relax and chill out”. For many that may be easier said than done, but being aware of the need for you to do so is the first step towards finding a way that works for you.
As women, we often respond very differently to stress stimulants from one another – one woman’s pain can be another woman’s gain, and the same is true for finding ways to relax. But there are some simple techniques that do work for a good proportion of women, so see if any of the following appeal that you might like to try.
Walking is a good one – yes it’s great in that it’s exercise, but for many, finding a little time to walk alone, is often a good way to step back and gain a little clarity and a perspective on life and any of the perceived stresses it places upon us.
Many women find tranquility and relaxation by listening to music, and with today’s technology, it need never be further away than your jacket pocket or handbag. Obviously you need to set aside a little ‘me time’ to really absorb your music and get the benefit – a 23 minute dash round the supermarket doing your weekly grocery shop with Led Zeppelin banging in your head is going to provide limited benefit, but if you haven’t tried experimenting with music before, give it a try – you may be surprised how quickly you can zone in and how relaxed it can make you feel.
Other ideas you may like to try include meditation, yoga, or even just trying to eat less stimulating foods that contain caffeine and sugar etc. Whatever you decide is right for you, the main thing is to try to build a daily regime into your life that includes periodic ‘time outs’ where you can re-centre yourself and de-stress.
Remember, while relaxing is good advice for anyone, it’s important to realize that stress negatively influences metabolism - so there is a link between how much stress you experience and your ability to break down cells and lose weight.
So if you don’t want to relax because you don’t have the time, at least be aware that your stressed-out life is probably playing a greater role in your weight gain or your inability to lose weight than you may have realized.
See you next time with ‘There Really is Something GOOD about Your Time of the Month !’
Take care
Sandra
PS. To discover how you can relieve stress, lose weight and have a general feeling of well-being Click Here and find out for yourself.
You may perhaps think this week’s blog title is a little strange, or at best irrelevant to losing weight, but the fact of the matter is, that experts have now identified stress as having a key influence on our metabolism.
Essentially, what happens is that when the body is under constant stress, it releases stress hormones that flood the system. These stress-related hormones actually tell the body to create larger fat cells in the abdomen, resulting in both increased weight (through increased fat cells), and a slower metabolism.
Obviously, these are two very negative factors in our quest to boost metabolism and lose weight, because the last thing that we want is more and bigger fat cells in our abdomen, coupled with a diminished metabolism. Yet, tragically, this is what happens to many people who experience constant, continuous stress, especially those of us who have to balance so many competing objectives, such as work, family, and other vital tasks.
So the simple advice here is to learn to “relax and chill out”. For many that may be easier said than done, but being aware of the need for you to do so is the first step towards finding a way that works for you.
As women, we often respond very differently to stress stimulants from one another – one woman’s pain can be another woman’s gain, and the same is true for finding ways to relax. But there are some simple techniques that do work for a good proportion of women, so see if any of the following appeal that you might like to try.
Walking is a good one – yes it’s great in that it’s exercise, but for many, finding a little time to walk alone, is often a good way to step back and gain a little clarity and a perspective on life and any of the perceived stresses it places upon us.
Many women find tranquility and relaxation by listening to music, and with today’s technology, it need never be further away than your jacket pocket or handbag. Obviously you need to set aside a little ‘me time’ to really absorb your music and get the benefit – a 23 minute dash round the supermarket doing your weekly grocery shop with Led Zeppelin banging in your head is going to provide limited benefit, but if you haven’t tried experimenting with music before, give it a try – you may be surprised how quickly you can zone in and how relaxed it can make you feel.
Other ideas you may like to try include meditation, yoga, or even just trying to eat less stimulating foods that contain caffeine and sugar etc. Whatever you decide is right for you, the main thing is to try to build a daily regime into your life that includes periodic ‘time outs’ where you can re-centre yourself and de-stress.
Remember, while relaxing is good advice for anyone, it’s important to realize that stress negatively influences metabolism - so there is a link between how much stress you experience and your ability to break down cells and lose weight.
So if you don’t want to relax because you don’t have the time, at least be aware that your stressed-out life is probably playing a greater role in your weight gain or your inability to lose weight than you may have realized.
See you next time with ‘There Really is Something GOOD about Your Time of the Month !’
Take care
Sandra
PS. To discover how you can relieve stress, lose weight and have a general feeling of well-being Click Here and find out for yourself.
Sunday, 15 August 2010
Boosting Your Metabolism - Part 13 - Zzzzzzzz…..Zzzzzzzz
Sleep, a part of everyday life most would agree, and one most of us would equally like to have a little more of. But in the real world, this is a tough one, because most of us don’t have as much control as we should over the amount that we sleep. Work, education, family, housekeeping, and so many other commitments can literally prevent us from getting the amount of sleep that we would like, and more importantly, need.
Perhaps its nothing new for you to learn that for our ‘health’ we should all be getting 7-8 hours sleep a day – after all, doctors have been telling us that for years, but what exactly do they mean by ‘health’?
Most of us understand ‘health’ as a general term to describe a persons mental or physical condition, but our mental and physical condition is actually determined by a number of processes and functions going on within our bodies, some of which we are aware of, and some we are not.
Many women wrongly assume the only price to pay for burning the candle at both ends, is waking up to see a pair of red eyes and a few more wrinkles in the mirror, but there’s another price to pay as well – at the waistline!
So how can the amount you sleep affect your waistline?
Simple, one of those processes is our metabolism, and experts now tell us that not getting enough sleep actually lowers metabolism, because people who are constantly sleep deprived typically find that they have less energy to do regular daily activities; including digestion.
As a result, sleep-starved people often unwittingly lower their metabolism, because their bodies simply don’t have the strength to break down food efficiently, particularly carbohydrates.
The trouble is sleep, and for that matter exercise if you are willing to do it, may both raise metabolism but that doesn’t remove the catch 22 problem of finding enough hours in your day to do them both.
For example, after a long day of work and dealing with family and home commitments, you may find that the only time you have to exercise is late at night; say around 9:00 pm, or even later. That being said, if you constantly steal time away from your sleep/rest in order to exercise, you can actually do more harm than good, because the following day you won’t have enough energy to digest what you eat.
So what’s the answer, because clearly you’re not going to get fit by sleeping instead of exercising.
Ultimately, it’s a question of balance. You don’t have to work out every night - perhaps you can integrate a workout into your life during the day; maybe at lunchtime or right after work.
Most fitness clubs are open very early (some are even 24 hours a day), and if you choose to workout at home, you can do so in a generally affordable way.
If you find that you have trouble sleeping, then this can also negatively affect the speed of your metabolism. Insomnia and other sleep disorders are very common problems, for which there exists a variety of support systems to help you get the rest that you require – to see one of the best I’ve come across, Click Here and discover how you can easily take control of your life and ‘sleep like a baby’, but in the meantime, some non-medical tips to help you fall asleep include:
Of course no-one but you can find the right balance in your life, but if you thought the trade-off for missing a few hours sleep was a few eye drops and a little extra make-up the next morning, now you know better!
See you next time in ‘Relax …. Your Waistline Depends On It’
Best wishes
Sandra
Perhaps its nothing new for you to learn that for our ‘health’ we should all be getting 7-8 hours sleep a day – after all, doctors have been telling us that for years, but what exactly do they mean by ‘health’?
Most of us understand ‘health’ as a general term to describe a persons mental or physical condition, but our mental and physical condition is actually determined by a number of processes and functions going on within our bodies, some of which we are aware of, and some we are not.
Many women wrongly assume the only price to pay for burning the candle at both ends, is waking up to see a pair of red eyes and a few more wrinkles in the mirror, but there’s another price to pay as well – at the waistline!
So how can the amount you sleep affect your waistline?
Simple, one of those processes is our metabolism, and experts now tell us that not getting enough sleep actually lowers metabolism, because people who are constantly sleep deprived typically find that they have less energy to do regular daily activities; including digestion.
As a result, sleep-starved people often unwittingly lower their metabolism, because their bodies simply don’t have the strength to break down food efficiently, particularly carbohydrates.
The trouble is sleep, and for that matter exercise if you are willing to do it, may both raise metabolism but that doesn’t remove the catch 22 problem of finding enough hours in your day to do them both.
For example, after a long day of work and dealing with family and home commitments, you may find that the only time you have to exercise is late at night; say around 9:00 pm, or even later. That being said, if you constantly steal time away from your sleep/rest in order to exercise, you can actually do more harm than good, because the following day you won’t have enough energy to digest what you eat.
So what’s the answer, because clearly you’re not going to get fit by sleeping instead of exercising.
Ultimately, it’s a question of balance. You don’t have to work out every night - perhaps you can integrate a workout into your life during the day; maybe at lunchtime or right after work.
Most fitness clubs are open very early (some are even 24 hours a day), and if you choose to workout at home, you can do so in a generally affordable way.
If you find that you have trouble sleeping, then this can also negatively affect the speed of your metabolism. Insomnia and other sleep disorders are very common problems, for which there exists a variety of support systems to help you get the rest that you require – to see one of the best I’ve come across, Click Here and discover how you can easily take control of your life and ‘sleep like a baby’, but in the meantime, some non-medical tips to help you fall asleep include:
o Try drinking warm milk before bedtime
o Try yoga or other stress-relieving practices
o Try having a warm bath before bedtime
o Don’t eat late at night
o Don’t exercise close to bedtime; your body can become so energized that you won't sleep!
See you next time in ‘Relax …. Your Waistline Depends On It’
Best wishes
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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