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Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
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OUM / AFPM DFM Programme
Dahniel Poon 潘 保 先 & Sylvia Liang 梁 珍 美
Monday, August 27, 2012
Acid/Alkaline Theory of Disease Is Nonsense - Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
OUM / AFPM DFM Programme
Why you can’t ‘burn off’ a bad meal
Why you can’t ‘burn off’ a bad meal
Fit to Post Health – Fri, Apr 20, 2012
One of the common misconceptions of new clients at Genesis Gym is that they can "burn off" a bad meal by doing some exercise after. This is an idea driven by the negative emotion of guilt.
In this article I will explain why this method of guilt-based exercise doesn't work, and how to plan a "less healthy" meal into your week. First let's take what I call the "pizza" example. Let's say you go to a party the night before and overdo the pizza eating. According to Domino's website, half a regular peperoni pizza (4 slices) is 1160 calories.
This has: 135g carbohydrates and 51g fat.
Then guilt kicks in and you decide to go for a jog. "That will burn it off" you think. So you take a 100 minute jog which is way more than normal, but the thought of that pizza sticking on your love handles helps you push through the sore knees to finish the jog.
"Phew, I got rid of those 1160 calories!" you might think.
Not so fast.
Here is why this method will not work.
1. Food is not just calories, food is information telling your body what to do.
In this case, the large amount of carbohydrates in the pizza stimulates the storage hormone insulin, and get stored in your fat cells. The large amount of fat in the pizza, combined with insulin also get stored in your fat cells.
2. We tend to eat bad food at night. The high fat levels lower growth hormone output which is a critical part of the fat burning, and body repair processes that we need to do at night.
3. The exercise we did with good intentions, quite possibly did burn 1,160 calories.
However, it is a long, slow, cardiovascular dominant form of exercise which when done for long periods of time (needed to get rid of ALL those calories) tends to....
A. Break down muscle for fuel since amino acids are an important fuel for long activity
B. Raise stress hormones, which means fat storage especially around the tummy area, and even further break down muscles for fuel
C. Lead to an overall lower metabolism and easier future fat gain because of the increased fat and lowered lean muscle
As you can see the "burn off a bad meal" mentality doesn't work well.
So what shall we do?
1. Normal daily food should be unprocessed and "caveman" in nature. (The fish should look like a fish, the chicken should like a chicken too)
This article is a good place to start.
2. If you do eat a bad meal, try to make it more carbohydrate based with limited amounts of fats together with it. Eat it several hours before you sleep.
3. Use stretching and strength training as your main form of exercise. It builds lean mass and this increases insulin sensitivity of your muscles. Which means that nutrients from meals will tend to replenish your muscle stores rather than get shuttled into your fat cells.
4. If you do go overboard don't worry it can happen to any body, just recover quickly and get back on track. If one car tire gets punctured, fix it and get back on the road, don't feel bad about it, give up and puncture all the rest of them by doing foolish things.
End Of Article.
We Recommend That You Talk to your certified weight loss coach on the the right approach to losing fats using a holistic approach that is sustainable in your lifetime.
Talk to the one who introduced you to this blog or check us out at
The Right Holistic Approach To Weight Loss That Is Sustainable For Your LifeTime
Fit to Post Health – Fri, Apr 20, 2012
One of the common misconceptions of new clients at Genesis Gym is that they can "burn off" a bad meal by doing some exercise after. This is an idea driven by the negative emotion of guilt.
In this article I will explain why this method of guilt-based exercise doesn't work, and how to plan a "less healthy" meal into your week. First let's take what I call the "pizza" example. Let's say you go to a party the night before and overdo the pizza eating. According to Domino's website, half a regular peperoni pizza (4 slices) is 1160 calories.
This has: 135g carbohydrates and 51g fat.
Then guilt kicks in and you decide to go for a jog. "That will burn it off" you think. So you take a 100 minute jog which is way more than normal, but the thought of that pizza sticking on your love handles helps you push through the sore knees to finish the jog.
"Phew, I got rid of those 1160 calories!" you might think.
Not so fast.
Here is why this method will not work.
1. Food is not just calories, food is information telling your body what to do.
In this case, the large amount of carbohydrates in the pizza stimulates the storage hormone insulin, and get stored in your fat cells. The large amount of fat in the pizza, combined with insulin also get stored in your fat cells.
2. We tend to eat bad food at night. The high fat levels lower growth hormone output which is a critical part of the fat burning, and body repair processes that we need to do at night.
3. The exercise we did with good intentions, quite possibly did burn 1,160 calories.
However, it is a long, slow, cardiovascular dominant form of exercise which when done for long periods of time (needed to get rid of ALL those calories) tends to....
A. Break down muscle for fuel since amino acids are an important fuel for long activity
B. Raise stress hormones, which means fat storage especially around the tummy area, and even further break down muscles for fuel
C. Lead to an overall lower metabolism and easier future fat gain because of the increased fat and lowered lean muscle
As you can see the "burn off a bad meal" mentality doesn't work well.
So what shall we do?
1. Normal daily food should be unprocessed and "caveman" in nature. (The fish should look like a fish, the chicken should like a chicken too)
This article is a good place to start.
2. If you do eat a bad meal, try to make it more carbohydrate based with limited amounts of fats together with it. Eat it several hours before you sleep.
3. Use stretching and strength training as your main form of exercise. It builds lean mass and this increases insulin sensitivity of your muscles. Which means that nutrients from meals will tend to replenish your muscle stores rather than get shuttled into your fat cells.
4. If you do go overboard don't worry it can happen to any body, just recover quickly and get back on track. If one car tire gets punctured, fix it and get back on the road, don't feel bad about it, give up and puncture all the rest of them by doing foolish things.
End Of Article.
We Recommend That You Talk to your certified weight loss coach on the the right approach to losing fats using a holistic approach that is sustainable in your lifetime.
Talk to the one who introduced you to this blog or check us out at
The Right Holistic Approach To Weight Loss That Is Sustainable For Your LifeTime
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Stress and Fat Loss Connection
Stress and Fat Loss Connection
For Weight Loss, Add Sleep, Relaxation and Manage Your Stress Levels To Diet and Exercise
Weight loss is typically accomplished through changes in diet and exercise. But a new study sheds light on some other factors that can help an individual achieve success. Getting a healthy amount of sleep, avoiding stress and complying with specific elements of a weight-loss plan (such as keeping a food diary) seem to boost the odds of success, according to a new study.
Weight Loss Tip
Take the time to think about your daily schedule. Are you trying to do too much. Does your work, television viewing, or play keep you up late? Do you need help reducing your stress levels. Decide on one or two things that you can do to reduce your stress or improve your sleep, and start doing them today.
Another experience we had is that those who are in the TRA program should NOT measure their weight everyday. For some reason, those who measure themselves everyday have more challenges to lose weight. The anxiousness they subject themselves to everyday, raises their stress levels.
The process of weight loss in a biological body is not a straight line curve. It moves up and down throughout the different days of the week where we expect an average of an accumulative loss of weight at the end of each week, with our program. This is PROVIDED the TRA participant is NOT feeling stressed out throughout the weight loss journey.
We experience that those who can 'let go' and trust their weight loss coach whole heartedly and hope for the best, by following their guidelines strictly and will only take their weight measurement in front of their coach on a weekly basis, will get the BEST results. These are usually those who have a 'feel good' journey in their program and is looking forward to their weekly weight measuring meeting.
Manage Your Stress Levels
Stress is an unavoidable fact of life that can cause a number of health problems, including weight gain. And this doesn't just mean emotional eating: recent research demonstrates that stress affects your weight on an even deeper level. Stress increases levels of a hormone called cortisol, which stimulates your appetite, particularly for carbohydrates. Have you ever noticed that you reach for cakes, chips, and starches when you get the stress munchies? That's how you gain weight. And it's the kind of weight that gets stored as deep intra-abdominal fat, which is often associated with the apple shape and increased health risks.
It is a proven fact that you can reduce your cortisol levels and your cravings for excess carbohydrates by learning the simple skills of relaxation.
Dahniel Poon 潘 保 先 & Sylvia Liang 梁 珍 美
For Weight Loss, Add Sleep, Relaxation and Manage Your Stress Levels To Diet and Exercise
Weight loss is typically accomplished through changes in diet and exercise. But a new study sheds light on some other factors that can help an individual achieve success. Getting a healthy amount of sleep, avoiding stress and complying with specific elements of a weight-loss plan (such as keeping a food diary) seem to boost the odds of success, according to a new study.
Weight Loss Tip
Take the time to think about your daily schedule. Are you trying to do too much. Does your work, television viewing, or play keep you up late? Do you need help reducing your stress levels. Decide on one or two things that you can do to reduce your stress or improve your sleep, and start doing them today.
Another experience we had is that those who are in the TRA program should NOT measure their weight everyday. For some reason, those who measure themselves everyday have more challenges to lose weight. The anxiousness they subject themselves to everyday, raises their stress levels.
The process of weight loss in a biological body is not a straight line curve. It moves up and down throughout the different days of the week where we expect an average of an accumulative loss of weight at the end of each week, with our program. This is PROVIDED the TRA participant is NOT feeling stressed out throughout the weight loss journey.
We experience that those who can 'let go' and trust their weight loss coach whole heartedly and hope for the best, by following their guidelines strictly and will only take their weight measurement in front of their coach on a weekly basis, will get the BEST results. These are usually those who have a 'feel good' journey in their program and is looking forward to their weekly weight measuring meeting.
Manage Your Stress Levels
Stress is an unavoidable fact of life that can cause a number of health problems, including weight gain. And this doesn't just mean emotional eating: recent research demonstrates that stress affects your weight on an even deeper level. Stress increases levels of a hormone called cortisol, which stimulates your appetite, particularly for carbohydrates. Have you ever noticed that you reach for cakes, chips, and starches when you get the stress munchies? That's how you gain weight. And it's the kind of weight that gets stored as deep intra-abdominal fat, which is often associated with the apple shape and increased health risks.
It is a proven fact that you can reduce your cortisol levels and your cravings for excess carbohydrates by learning the simple skills of relaxation.
Dahniel Poon 潘 保 先 & Sylvia Liang 梁 珍 美
Chewing As A Weight Loss Strategy
Chewing As A Weight Loss Strategy
Do you wolf your food down? If you want to be lean and fit for life you might want to consider the relationship between chewing and weight control or weight loss. While most weight management or dietary programs focus on what to eat, little if any attention is given to HOW TO EAT.
What you will see in this article is a practical strategy you can implement right now to lose weight and be lean and fit for life. Simply by chewing your food longer, until it is basically a liquid in your mouth, you do three things that help your weight loss, health and longevity. The first is that you will eat less. The second is that you will digest and assimilate nutrients more effectively; the third is that you will mitigate toxins and allergies from food, which are important to longevity and weight loss.
Chewing and Food Intake:
Recent studies from Oita Medical School in Japan show a direct relationship between chewing speed and the release of histamine from the brain. Chewing slower and longer causes the brain to release histamine, resulting in decreased food intake.
The speed at which you chew sends signals to your brain that control how much you eat.
Further, hormones such as leptin, ghrelin and cholestokinnen that are involved in the sensation of fullness, do not reach peak expression until 20 to 40 minutes after food is ingested. Chewing longer allows these hormones to work for you. You get the same sense of fullness on less food because you are giving these hormones time to work. Many speed eaters literally chew and swallow faster than their bodies natural satiety signaling can keep up with. If you want to lose weight but you wolf your food down, you are shooting yourself in the foot.
There is a direct relationship between chewing and weight loss. Simply put, the more you chew, and the more slowly you chew, the less you eat. The less you eat at any given meal, the more weight loss.
Chewing and Digestion and Absorption.
Eating the right foods gets you nowhere if you don’t absorb them. Worse, eating the right foods takes you backwards if they putrefy into toxins.
Eating the right food is important, but eating the right food and properly digesting it is essential for life long weight loss.
Digestion begins in the mouth. Specifically, saliva contains a fat metabolizing enzyme called lingual lipase. Before any fat you ingest even hits your stomach, it begins breaking down in your mouth via the action of lingual lipase.
-- What you will see in this article is a practical strategy you can implement right now to lose weight and be lean and fit for life. Simply by chewing your food longer, until it is basically a liquid in your mouth, you do three things that help your weight loss, health and longevity. The first is that you will eat less. The second is that you will digest and assimilate nutrients more effectively; the third is that you will mitigate toxins and allergies from food, which are important to longevity and weight loss.
Chewing and Food Intake:
Recent studies from Oita Medical School in Japan show a direct relationship between chewing speed and the release of histamine from the brain. Chewing slower and longer causes the brain to release histamine, resulting in decreased food intake.
The speed at which you chew sends signals to your brain that control how much you eat.
Further, hormones such as leptin, ghrelin and cholestokinnen that are involved in the sensation of fullness, do not reach peak expression until 20 to 40 minutes after food is ingested. Chewing longer allows these hormones to work for you. You get the same sense of fullness on less food because you are giving these hormones time to work. Many speed eaters literally chew and swallow faster than their bodies natural satiety signaling can keep up with. If you want to lose weight but you wolf your food down, you are shooting yourself in the foot.
There is a direct relationship between chewing and weight loss. Simply put, the more you chew, and the more slowly you chew, the less you eat. The less you eat at any given meal, the more weight loss.
Chewing and Digestion and Absorption.
Eating the right foods gets you nowhere if you don’t absorb them. Worse, eating the right foods takes you backwards if they putrefy into toxins.
Eating the right food is important, but eating the right food and properly digesting it is essential for life long weight loss.
Digestion begins in the mouth. Specifically, saliva contains a fat metabolizing enzyme called lingual lipase. Before any fat you ingest even hits your stomach, it begins breaking down in your mouth via the action of lingual lipase.
Dahniel Poon 潘 保 先 & Sylvia Liang 梁 珍 美
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Exercise And The Fat Loss Connection
5th May, 2011
Exercise And The Fat Loss Connection
By Dr. Bruce Miller DDS, CNS
What You Need To Know About Exercise
Firstly, for any exercise regime to work, you must learn to differentiate between weight loss and fat loss. Weight loss, I repeat, refers to the loss of water, muscle and fat but fat loss refers to losing fat only, the hazardous and ugly fats that surround your abdomen and organs, deep within your belly.
Exercise And The Fat Loss Connection
By Dr. Bruce Miller DDS, CNS
A Re-look at Your Lifestyle
Americans have the most number of health clubs, gyms, weight loss centers, and countless books on diet and weight loss, yet obesity is on the rise in America. Many clinical trials have shown that obese people are insensitive to insulin in their muscle tissues. Exercise promotes blood flow to the muscle tissues and this helps the muscles to be more sensitive to insulin. High levels of insulin prohibit fats to be used as a fuel source, making it difficult for you to burn fat.
A clinical trial on sedentary overweight people who did brisk walking for 15 to 90 minutes weekly after 16 weeks, resulted in a major improvement in their insulin sensitivity (nearly 50 percent). The average weight loss was about 13 pounds (Dr. A.S. Leon et al.).
What Happens When You Exercise
Exercise of any kind will help lower insulin levels, as insulin prevents stored fat from being released from your adipose tissue. However, you can benefit more from exercise if you also eat right as you spend more time eating. The out-dated idea of starving and over-exercising has actually reversed the way our bodies make energy, causing millions of people to gain weight.
If you want to gain maximum hormonal benefits from your exercise, the food you take before, during and after exercise should not spike your insulin. Exercising and eating this way, will keep your glucagon and insulin in balance as energy is used immediately and insulin is not needed to store the excess fat. However for optimum fat loss glucagon levels must be, most of the time, higher than insulin levels.
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"Action Strategies For Effective Fat Loss"
The TRA fat loss program by DSP Global Group. A natural and non dependent system to lose fat by eating from regular food outlets. Sustainable for life, even after completion of program. Achieve body greatness. Live Free. Call +60127176398 or +60127766398 for non obligatory preview, and nothing is out of your reach!
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What You Need To Know About Exercise
Firstly, for any exercise regime to work, you must learn to differentiate between weight loss and fat loss. Weight loss, I repeat, refers to the loss of water, muscle and fat but fat loss refers to losing fat only, the hazardous and ugly fats that surround your abdomen and organs, deep within your belly.
Secondly, your weighing scale is not the answer to losing fat. Even if you exercise regularly and consistently, the reading on your scale may not go down or it may even show a gain or may even stay the same.
The reason: Exercise increase muscle mass and muscle weighs five times more than fat. If you want to know whether you are losing fat, you can use a measuring tape to measure your waist circumference or if your pants that you usually wear becomes loose. These are signs that you are beginning to lose fat. Or better still, stand on a more accurate machine that could actually measure your actual muscle and fat weight separately so that you will know exactly what is happening to your body.
Thirdly, you need to understand how your hormones store fat and how they burn fat when you are exercising.
Eating Right Is Most Important
Insulin resistance causes excess insulin (hyperinsulinemia) to be built up in the blood and as a storage hormone, it prevents your fat cells from releasing stored fat for energy. However, once you have improved insulin resistance by gaining control of insulin, the body is able to switch from storing fat to burning fat.
Fourthly, there is no quick fix to fat loss. It took you years of poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle to make you fat. It's going to require time, sensible eating and consistent exercise to burn fat you have accumulated all these years. The key to fat loss is therefore a combination of eating and exercising to balance insulin and glucagon to improve insulin resistance. This will allow the body to burn fat.
Finally, food choices you make can reduce or enhance the benefits of exercise. "Realize that 80 percent of your insulin lowering ability will come from your diet, and only 20 percent from exercise. The amount of fat burning drops even further if you are following a high GI diet," says Dr. Barry Sears.
The Conclusion By DSP According to the experts, although exercises are good for your cardiovascular health, exercises alone can be very inefficient as your lifetime maintenance of losing unwanted fats in your body. Moreover, only less than 30% of the people who enrolled into the various complete exercise programs could carry them out for more than 10 years. What's worse, according to the recent newspaper survey, 60% of Malaysians do not exercise. So, in order to have an effective fat loss in a healthy manner, one would need a complete program that addresses the right way to eat, with right minimum exercises backed by a very supportive coaching system. The TRA Weight Management System By DSP In view of all of the above, the DSP TRA program is the best practical option. Apart from the regular easy eating habits, we recommend very minimum work related daily exercises and/or "window shopping" on weekends with your family. You can even park your car a little further to walk a little more to your office as your exercise. The great news is, no matter how busy a person is, in order to live, they will have to eat their breakfast, lunch and dinner. So this is where we excel. The strongest point of the TRA by DSP Global Group is that we are able to help you identify your healthy food patterns from your regular food outlets that is sustainable for a lifetime. Although we recommend at least some form of mild exercise and brisk walking, more than half of our few thousand customers lost their fat weight without exercising. This is because, according to the experts, right food diet contributes to 80% of the fat loss in the body. The real secret is to let us find for you, your happy way to eat. It has to be acceptable and easy for you to comply, so that you will enjoy doing it for the rest of your life without any cravings and feeling deprived. TRA program, which stands for the "The Right Approach" to weight management program, therefore, is an independent system. We measure and check individually, your body weight, body fat, muscle weight, visceral fat, organ age, etc, all at the same time, on a weekly basis, during the first 6 weeks of the coaching program, to make sure your body is on the right track. Once the participant has completed the entire program in accordance to the coach's minimum and easy to comply guidelines, he will be able to maintain his new body that is firm, youthful, and energetic in a general wellness condition, forever, without needing any additional program again. So, don't wait, recommend the TRA to your friends and relatives whom you feel deserves a second chance to be happy and healthy! | |||||
How To Lose Weight The Right & Natural Way
Want To Save Lives? Call us to let us know if your friends want to know how to lose fat
weight in a safe and sustainable way.
Always At Your Service!
Dahniel Poon 潘 保 先 & Sylvia Liang 梁 珍 美
for
Quality Lifestyle made Possible!
Dahniel Poon +6012717398
Sylvia Liang +60127766398
| |||||
Drinking Enough Water Helps You Lose Weight
Water
If you are trying to lose weight, drink plenty of purified water instead of beverages, such as soft drinks, which contain far too much refined sugars or other man made sweeteners.
Water helps in fat loss. Part of the increased fat and calorie burning occurs as your body warms the liquid to your body temperature. When you are dehydrated, your body temperature drops slightly, and causes your body to store fat as a way to help raise or maintain the temperature. According to research, drinking 18 ounces of water increases your metabolic rate by about 30 percent for about 40 minutes. (18 ounces = 532ml)
How To Lose Weight The Right & Natural Way
Want To Save Lives? Call us to let us know if your friends want to know how to lose fat weight
in a safe and sustainable way.
Always At Your Service!
Dahniel Poon 潘 保 先 & Sylvia Liang 梁 珍 美
for
Quality Lifestyle made Possible!
Dahniel Poon +6012717398
Sylvia Liang +60127766398
9 Ways to Burn Fat
9 Ways to Burn Fat
Easy steps you can take By Robyn Moreno
Everyone's metabolism naturally slows down with age. At 40, you could be burning 100 to 300 fewer calories a day than you did at 30, says Pamela M. Peeke, M.D., author of Body for Life for Women and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. That can translate into a 10-25-pound weight gain in a year. But you can counteract that slowdown and boost your body's fat-burning capabilities by making just a few tweaks to your daily routine.
The following strategies will help you bust out of a weight-loss plateau and burn even more fat.
Take five
Do five minutes of exercise each morning. We all have a metabolic thermostat, called the metastat, that can be turned up or down, and morning is the best time to activate it. Each day, your metastat is waiting for signals to rev up, so the more signals you can send it, the better. Your best bet is a light, full-body activity like walking or push-ups.
Fuel up in the morning
Numerous studies have found that regular breakfast eaters are often leaner than breakfast skippers. "Your metabolism naturally slows at night, but you can jump-start it in the morning by eating breakfast," says Tammy Lakatos Shames, R.D., C.D.N., co-author of Fire Up Your Metabolism. And because both your activity level and metabolism decrease later in the day, it's a good idea to make breakfast or lunch your largest meal.
Fill up on good grains
Whole grains such as brown rice, wheat germ, dark bread, whole-grain cereal, oatmeal and bran leave you feeling full because they take longer to digest than simple carbohydrates. In a study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School evaluated the dietary intake of more than 74,000 women for 12 years. Overall, women who regularly ate the most whole-grain foods — about 1.5 servings a day — gained less weight than women who ate the least.
Pump yourself up
Muscle burns more calories than fat does, and decreased muscle mass can be one of the main reasons metabolism slows. Disuse can cause women to drop as much as 10 pounds of muscle between the ages of 30 and 50. Losing that much muscle means you'll burn 350 to 500 fewer calories a day. To build and maintain muscle mass, aim for two to three strength-training workouts a week. If you don't belong to a gym, try push-ups, squats, abdominal crunches and tricep dips off a chair.
Power on with protein
Add a little high-quality, lowfat protein, such as chicken, fish and egg whites, to your meals, and you'll help your body burn fat faster. "Because protein requires more energy to digest, it speeds up your metabolism, and protein is necessary to ensure against loss of muscle tissue," says Michael Thurmond, author of 6 Day Body Makeover.
Get your vitamin "I"
That's "I" for intensity. You love to walk, but if that usually means strolling along at a snail's pace, your waistline will pay little attention. Instead, put intensity, or "vitamin I," into your stride. Pick up your pace so you're walking at 4 mph, or one mile per 15 minutes. Once you build up your cardiovascular fitness level, you can even alternate between walking and jogging. The key is to get your heart rate up and keep your workouts challenging.
Say yes to yogurt
In a recent study from the International Journal of Obesity, women who ate three daily servings of lowfat yogurt lost 60 percent more fat than women who didn't. In another study, participants who ate three daily servings of dairy lost more than twice as much fat as those who ate less than that. "Calcium-rich diets reduce fat-producing enzymes and increase enzymes that break down fat," says Michael B. Zemel, Ph.D., lead author of both studies and director of the Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Eat three servings of lowfat dairy a day, like milk, yogurt and hard cheeses (Gouda, Cheddar and Monterey Jack).
Get active after eating
Your body's metabolic rate increases 10 percent after eating, and just a few minutes of activity could double that boost for up to three hours. Within 15 to 30 minutes of eating a snack or meal, do five or 10 minutes of light activity. Take the dog for a walk, climb stairs in your house or do some basic strength exercises.
Sip green tea
You might love your lattes, but if you switch to green tea, not only will you get a healthy dose of disease-fighting compounds, you'll also cut body fat. In a study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who drank a bottle of tea fortified with green tea extract every day for three months lost more body fat than people who drank black tea. Researchers at a health care lab in Tokyo believe disease-fighting antioxidants called catechins in green tea may help decrease body fat.
Easy steps you can take By Robyn Moreno
Everyone's metabolism naturally slows down with age. At 40, you could be burning 100 to 300 fewer calories a day than you did at 30, says Pamela M. Peeke, M.D., author of Body for Life for Women and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. That can translate into a 10-25-pound weight gain in a year. But you can counteract that slowdown and boost your body's fat-burning capabilities by making just a few tweaks to your daily routine.
The following strategies will help you bust out of a weight-loss plateau and burn even more fat.
Take five
Do five minutes of exercise each morning. We all have a metabolic thermostat, called the metastat, that can be turned up or down, and morning is the best time to activate it. Each day, your metastat is waiting for signals to rev up, so the more signals you can send it, the better. Your best bet is a light, full-body activity like walking or push-ups.
Fuel up in the morning
Numerous studies have found that regular breakfast eaters are often leaner than breakfast skippers. "Your metabolism naturally slows at night, but you can jump-start it in the morning by eating breakfast," says Tammy Lakatos Shames, R.D., C.D.N., co-author of Fire Up Your Metabolism. And because both your activity level and metabolism decrease later in the day, it's a good idea to make breakfast or lunch your largest meal.
Fill up on good grains
Whole grains such as brown rice, wheat germ, dark bread, whole-grain cereal, oatmeal and bran leave you feeling full because they take longer to digest than simple carbohydrates. In a study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School evaluated the dietary intake of more than 74,000 women for 12 years. Overall, women who regularly ate the most whole-grain foods — about 1.5 servings a day — gained less weight than women who ate the least.
Pump yourself up
Muscle burns more calories than fat does, and decreased muscle mass can be one of the main reasons metabolism slows. Disuse can cause women to drop as much as 10 pounds of muscle between the ages of 30 and 50. Losing that much muscle means you'll burn 350 to 500 fewer calories a day. To build and maintain muscle mass, aim for two to three strength-training workouts a week. If you don't belong to a gym, try push-ups, squats, abdominal crunches and tricep dips off a chair.
Power on with protein
Add a little high-quality, lowfat protein, such as chicken, fish and egg whites, to your meals, and you'll help your body burn fat faster. "Because protein requires more energy to digest, it speeds up your metabolism, and protein is necessary to ensure against loss of muscle tissue," says Michael Thurmond, author of 6 Day Body Makeover.
Get your vitamin "I"
That's "I" for intensity. You love to walk, but if that usually means strolling along at a snail's pace, your waistline will pay little attention. Instead, put intensity, or "vitamin I," into your stride. Pick up your pace so you're walking at 4 mph, or one mile per 15 minutes. Once you build up your cardiovascular fitness level, you can even alternate between walking and jogging. The key is to get your heart rate up and keep your workouts challenging.
Say yes to yogurt
In a recent study from the International Journal of Obesity, women who ate three daily servings of lowfat yogurt lost 60 percent more fat than women who didn't. In another study, participants who ate three daily servings of dairy lost more than twice as much fat as those who ate less than that. "Calcium-rich diets reduce fat-producing enzymes and increase enzymes that break down fat," says Michael B. Zemel, Ph.D., lead author of both studies and director of the Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Eat three servings of lowfat dairy a day, like milk, yogurt and hard cheeses (Gouda, Cheddar and Monterey Jack).
Get active after eating
Your body's metabolic rate increases 10 percent after eating, and just a few minutes of activity could double that boost for up to three hours. Within 15 to 30 minutes of eating a snack or meal, do five or 10 minutes of light activity. Take the dog for a walk, climb stairs in your house or do some basic strength exercises.
Sip green tea
You might love your lattes, but if you switch to green tea, not only will you get a healthy dose of disease-fighting compounds, you'll also cut body fat. In a study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who drank a bottle of tea fortified with green tea extract every day for three months lost more body fat than people who drank black tea. Researchers at a health care lab in Tokyo believe disease-fighting antioxidants called catechins in green tea may help decrease body fat.
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