Sunday

Some Tips to Boost Your Metabolism

Metabolism is the rate by which the body produces and consumes energy and calories to support life. There are a lot of people who would give a lot to increase their metabolism. Having a high level of metabolism enables one to maintain burn fat and lose weight fast with the least amount of activity.

There are several factors that affect the metabolism of a person, such as the amount of muscle tissue, the frequency of the meals one consumes, genetics, stress levels, personal diet and activity levels. Metabolism slows done due to the following: loss of muscle because of not enough physical activity, the tendency of the body to cannibalize its own tissue because there is not enough food energy to sustain it, and the decrease of physical activity that comes naturally with old age.

Here are several ways to fire up one's metabolism:

1. Build up on lean, mean body mass. It is only natural that metabolism decreases along with age, but it is possible to counter the effects. The amount of muscle a person has is a very strong determinant in the ability to burn calories and shed fat. So it goes without saying that exercise is essential. Build strength and resistance by working out at least twice a week, preferably with weights. Do easy exercises in between workouts. Simple tasks such as walking the dog and using the stairs in place of the elevator can already take off calories. The key is to match the amount of eating to the amount of activity one has.

2. Eat breakfast. A lot of people are ignoring the fact that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Surprisingly, the ones who eat breakfast are thinner than the ones who do not. Metabolism can slow down considerably if breakfast is taken during mid-morning or if one waits until the afternoon to eat.

3. Avoid sugar. Sugar enables the body to store fat. It is recommended that a person consumes food that helps sustain an even level of blood-sugar. Additionally, progressive exercise 2-3 times a week should be in order to stabilize blood sugar.

4. Eat spicy foods. Hot cuisine with peppers can increase metabolism.

5. Sleep more. According to research, it is riskier for people who do not get enough sleep to gain weight. Also, muscles are regenerated during the last couple of hours of slumber.

6. Increase water intake. Water flushes out toxins that are produced whenever the body burns fat. Majority of bodily functions involves water, and lack of water causes the body system's operations to decrease its speed, and produces unneeded stress as a result.

7. Eat smaller meals. It is advisable to consume 4 to 6 small meals that are timed 2 to 3 hours apart.

8. Never skip meals. People tend to skip meals in order to lose weight, which is a big mistake since it slows down metabolism.

9. Plan meals in detail. Always prepare the right amount of food to be consumed at the designated intervals. Do not commit the mistake of eating meals in sporadic patterns.

9. Ditch the stress! Stress, be it physical or emotional, triggers the release of a steroid called cortisol, which decreases metabolism. Also, people tend to eat excessively when stressed.

10. Guzzle up on green tea. It can be used as a substitute for coffee. Tea has the ability to stimulate metabolism, and unlike coffee, it has no undesirable side effects when too much is consumed.

11. Include more energy foods in the diet, such as fruits and vegetables, beans and whole grains.

Achieving the desired body weight is never impossible if one has the determination and patience needed to stabilize the metabolism level, which plays an important role in weight loss. A person needs to realize that eating right and working out is not just a passing fancy, but a way of life.

Monday

The gender riddle in weight loss

The fat cells of women are very different than men’s. This can be seen very clearly in the way women and men lose weight when following unisex food regulation and exercise plans. But it’s interesting to see how exactly they differ when it comes to common foods and exercises that people hoping to lose weight usually resort to. Let’s see following examples:

Eating less

When people first begin to notice that they are slightly overweight, they begin to eat less, or at least try and consume fewer calories. The effects on men and women are as follows:
Men: They tend to lose muscle which shows on the scale as weight loss. There is muscle and water loss together with a little of fat loss.
Women: The same diet plan makes women feel starved, which leads to a better control over fat metabolism. This is not good as it sounds. It means that the fat cells become more efficient at storing fat, which means that beyond water loss, a woman will not lose much weight per week on this diet.

Exercise

Men: Men typically burn more carbohydrates and fat during high intensity exercise.
Women: They burn more fat when they do low intensity, long duration exercise.

Fad Diets

Men: They can knock of weight on high protein diets because they have a higher protein metabolizing capacity than women.
Women: They tend to lose weight better when on high fibre diets, because fibre is an excellent fat binder and help flush out fat better.

Eating fatty food

Unfortunately, eating fatty food affects women more since their fat cells are eager to store fat. This is because women are prone to hormonal imbalance, primarily because of the cyclical hormonal flux during menstruation, and also because of effects of pregnancy and menopause. If a woman takes additional hormones during pregnancy that only add to the imbalances. This entire means that a woman’s fat cells react to hormones within the body all the time.

This is why women who want to lose weight must realize that their hormonal status plays an important role in their effort to lose weight. In fact, many weight loss clinics today ensure that women detoxify and purge their liver of accumulated hormones residues before they attempt to lose weight. This makes it easier for them to burn fat.

To summarize, the best way to tame the female fat cell is to decrease the consumption of fatty foods in the estrogenic phase of the menstruation cycle, eat more fibre, eat small frequent meals that are primarily unrefined, control water retention, do low intensity long duration exercises and detoxify the liver.


Saturday

EFFECTIVE WAYS TO STAY HEALTHY

There are many tips and ways to stay healthy. Health and fitness are topics that are in everybody’s mouths. From the television, to magazine advertisements there are several reminders to tell us how to stay healthy. However, here are some easier tips to constantly remind us how to stay healthy. Though it would not completely answer and deliver to all the health issues we may have, we could apply this as a paradigm of simple measures.

Regularize your Sleep


Our body heals and repairs itself and does its regulatory job while sleeping. So give it the rest it deserves to keep you chugging along well the next day. A lifetime of bad sleeping habits will no doubt take a toll and this is one easy way to avoid getting sick.


Eat Wisely


Don’t eat just for your tastes rather have nutritious diet, cut down on red meat, caffeine, sugar and salt. Eat small if your favorite dish is something that your doctor asked you to avoid, there is no sense in skipping it altogether and then binging on the dish when you can’t take the abstinence anymore. Take moderate steps towards the goal. Gradually decrease its intake. That way, you will be able to still enjoy the food and not increase your craving for it.


Exercise, and Stay active


Stay active and schedule an exercise in your daily routine. You can schedule it every morning when you wake up in the morning or do it at night after work. Whichever schedule you want to, make sure that you keep it to 30 minutes long to an hour. Exercise will also strengthen your bones and your body, promote better breathing and cellular activity, clear the brain and of course keep those extra calories out of the body. Even a brisk walk is considered quite healthy so if you can manage a regular exercise regimen comprised of sustained activity for 30 minutes a day.


Observe Discipline


This is one of the few things that will make or break your plans to finally live a healthy lifestyle. In order to really stick to the plan, you need to develop self-discipline especially when it involves things that you really want to do or things that you are used to doing. Temptations along the way will be many and you need to be prepared to face all that.


Tuesday

Obtaining health and fitness through proper diet and nutrition

More and more people are now going back to basics—in terms of food and health practices—because they would want to achieve prime health and fitness. With the fast-paced, technologically-driven world people are now living, who would not want to veer away from certain medical conditions and illnesses.

Experts say that because of the busy courses of people’s lives, many of them tend to forget some of the vital fragments in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, which is diet and nutrition.

Identifying the thin line

Although the terms “diet” and “nutrition” have different definitions, they are greatly connected to each other. When defined, “diet” refers to the food and liquid intake of a person while “nutrition” pertains to the science of dealing with food and nourishment. Sometimes, many people get confused with the meanings of the two because they automatically assume that less—through diet—will not affect their health's overall condition.

Experts say that more than the issues of food and liquid intake and the science of food and nourishment, diet and nutrition can revolve around nutritional information on various dietary supplements and the benefits vitamins and minerals to a person’s body. By making yourself familiar with latest diet and nutrition topics, trends, and tips can lead you to the renewal of your health and well being commitment inside your home.

You must remember that it’s never too late to redirect your eating habits, but before you take that drastic change, learn what the common diet and nutrition mistakes are so you can avoid them. Here are some realizations that can help you get by:

1. Don’t make careless assumption that the food choices you have are better than they actually are. Many experts believe that people who are very particular about diet and nutrition have larger tendencies of thinking and believing that their food choices are healthier than they really are. It is always advisable to eat whole, fresh, and unprocessed foods whenever possible to stay health and fit.

2. Don’t confuse yourself over carbohydrates. In some people that low carbohydrates diets are effective. But there are also those that say that there are excellent carbs that make people eat less. If you are confused, assess yourself first before cutting down on carbs totally. A consultation with a licensed dietician can help you determine how much carbohydrates does your body need and can also help you come up with a diet pattern will be good for you and can have long term effects.

3. Don’t think you’re eating too much when you’re actually not. Doctors say that one of the most common mistakes people make is that they overestimate and underestimate the amount of food their body needs. People are advised to monitor the portion sizes of your food to ensure that they are getting the key nutrients that their body needs.

4. Know when to eat and when not to eat. Experts believe that overeating and under eating may put an individual's health at risk because it disrupts blood sugar and insulin levels. Knowing when to eat and when not can ensure that the person will get the nutrition the body type needs. Always make sure that you eat something every three hours and don’t starve before eating the next meal.

5. Don’t neglect the importance of regular exercise. There is now denying the wonderful benefits that regular exercise can do to people especially to those who want to achieve optimum health and fitness. To ensure that you stay healthy despite being on a diet, make exercise a regular part of your life can definitely contribute to your overall

Thursday

Weight gain can ensure health and fitness

People—especially those who are very thin for their frame, age, and height—would be very happy upon discovering that they have gained some weight. For them, this weight gain would indicate not only the condition of their health and fitness but also the improvements on their physical built as well.

Aside from being an indicator of good health, fitness, and eating a well balanced diet, weight gain would also serves an indicator for a person’s overall improvement in his or her outlook in life. Although in most cases, weight gain is an indicator of good health, it can also serve as an indicator if negligence especially if there are signs of obesity.

To know if weight gain is bad or good for you, it is always best to conduct a research about its indicators as well as of its advantages and disadvantages so you will have an idea if you’re into the right thing.

What you need to know

Weight gain refers to the increase in a person’s body weight brought by intake of too many calories, lack of physical activity such as regular exercise, or a side effect of certain types of medication. However, it can also be a result of a certain set of workout routine—such as those in bodybuilding—wherein muscles tend to increase in terms of weight.

Experts say that weight gain is usually done by people because of two reasons. One, they want to build muscles for a fit body. This is very common to people who need big muscles for their jobs such gym instructors, fitness gurus, bodybuilding coaches, bouncers, bodyguards, weightlifters, and the like.

The second reason why people gain weight is because of their health. Weight gain is highly recommended to those people who have lost so much body fat due to dieting and especially to those who have developed various eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. People—especially women who are believed to suffer more from this condition—are advised to gain weight to recover from all the body fats and nutrients they have lost.

To know if you are gaining some weight, check for its symptoms such as a rounder belly, certain increase in the fat percentage of the body, increased mass of muscles and increase in the level of body’s hydration. Experts say that it can be hard to determine if a person’s weight gain is good or not. This is because people have different individual needs that need to be paid attention to. Although knowing the ideal weight for a person’s height can be a god indicator, it is always best to consult with a physician to avoid further complications. For those who are planning to gain weight to ensure they health and fitness, here are some helpful tips to get by:

1. Set your focus on set of workouts routines that target how one can increase body fat and muscles. This is one of the most effective ways of gaining weight without having to worry about obesity. Since a person burns only the unnecessary fats, he or she is paving the way for the muscles to gain weight.

2. Spend some time for to know what the target weight gain is. Just like in losing weight, weight gain also requires utmost time and dedication. If one is into weight gain, he or she must make sure that they are serious about it so they will get their desired health and level of fitness.

3. Always have a healthy and well balanced diet. For people who are gaining weight for health and fitness, this is very important if because it serves as their guide on what kind of food they should eat and the proper amount of each to get the weight that they desire.