![]() Ways to Boost Your Metabolism. Metabolism. It’s the set of life- sustaining chemical transformations within the cells of living organisms. It’s such a big concept that it's understandable to feel as if it's beyond your control. There are a bunch of quick and easy diet and lifestyle changes you can make to boost your metabolism, make your body run more efficiently, and reach your weight- loss and fitness goals faster. Just follow this checklist. ![]() ![]() If you want to weigh less, you’ve got to eat less, right? Well, if you take in too few calories, it can cause your body to lose muscle mass, which will decrease the rate of your metabolism. Plus, when you skimp on calories, your body slows the rate at which is burns calories to conserve the fuel it's got. Lisa Moskovitz, RD, CDN agrees: “In an attempt for quick, noticeable weight loss, many people wrongfully believe that eating as few calories as possible is the best solution. Not only can this lead to numerous nutritional deficiencies as the body is getting less food overall, it can actually have the opposite effect on weight loss.” Instead of cutting calories like crazy, use the simple diet and exercise hacks below that can help you slim down quickly and safely without screwing up your metabolism. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() See how binge eating post contest can mess up your metabolism! See how binge eating post contest can mess up. Don't take a pill to make up for your poor diet. I too am trying to reverse diet and fix my metabolism. I do want to rev up my metabolism and be able. 5 Ways To “Fix” Your Metabolism. Keep reading to discover the 6 WORST things you can do if you want to rev up your. Diet, Food & Fitness. Diet & Weight Management;. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, December 2008. 18 Metabolism Boosting Foods. WebMD discusses dangerous things you should never do. Even products that claim to be natural aren’t necessarily safe. The best diet is the one you can stick. The reality is your metabolism is messed up. My Best Resources on a Fat Burning Diet. ![]() If you always opt for coffee over tea, you could be missing out on a major metabolism boost. In a recent 1. 2- week study, participants who drank 4- 5 cups of green tea daily, then did a 2. What’s its magic? The brew contains catechins, a type of antioxidant that triggers the release of fat from fat cells and helps speed the liver’s capacity for turning fat into energy. When it comes to the best workouts for weight loss, neither weights nor cardio can completely move the needle on their own. Interval training is the best way to shed pounds, increase your metabolism, improve your cholesterol profile, and improve insulin sensitivity. Complete Metabolism PillsAt the gym, sign up for a HIIT class, or turn your favorite aerobic exercise, (running, biking, even walking) into an interval workout by adding periods of intense speed (start with 3. Do this six to 1. As you get better, slowly increase the amount of time of increased intensity. Our bodies need dietary fat—particularly healthy oils—in order to lose weight and function properly. The right kinds of fats and oils help quash hunger, maximize your metabolism, and speed nutrients through your body. Healthy monounsaturated fats like olive oil can actually help the body to burn calories. ![]() Extra virgin olive oil may also increase blood levels of serotonin, a hormone associated with satiety. Plus, olive oil is also loaded with polyphenols, antioxidants that help battle many diseases such as cancer, osteoporosis and brain deterioration. Even when you're at rest, your body is constantly burning calories. In fact, 7. 5% of the calories that you burn each day are being used up just keeping you alive. If you can pack on just five pounds of muscle and sustain it, you’ll burn the caloric equivalent of three pounds of fat over the course of a year. Although it’s true that egg whites are low in calories, fat free and contain most of the protein found in an egg, eating the entire egg is beneficial to your metabolism. The yolk contains many metabolism- stoking nutrients, including fat- soluble vitamins, essential fatty acids and — most significantly — choline, a powerful compound that attacks the gene mechanism that triggers your body to store fat around your liver. Worried about cholesterol? New studies have found that moderate consumption of two whole eggs per day has no negative effect of a person’s lipid (fat) profile and may actually improve it. The theory makes sense: Your body burns carbs for energy, but if you eat them before you go to sleep, your body just stores them as fat. But the pastanomics of weight loss aren’t so simple. One study in the European Journal of Nutrition put two groups of men on identical weight loss diets. The only difference? Half of the group ate their carbs throughout the day while the second group reserved carbohydrates for nighttime. The nighttime carb group showed a significantly higher diet- induced thermogenesis (meaning they burned more calories digesting their food the next day). Moreover, the daytime- carb group showed increased blood sugar levels. Another study in the journal Obesity saw similar results. Nighttime carb eaters lost 2. Studies conducted at The Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee suggest that consuming calcium — which milk has plenty of — may help your body metabolize fat more efficiently. Other studies have shown that increased calcium intake from dairy products (though not from supplemental calcium carbonate) caused study participants to poop out more fat as opposed to it sticking around on the body. See more of our picks for the 2. Best Full- Fat Foods for Weight Loss! The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn–no matter what you're doing. Hitting the gym helps you build muscle to begin with, but eating protein keeps it from breaking down and slowing your metabolic rate as a result. Protein needs differ by individual, but typically consuming 0. Leah Kaufman, MS, RD, CDN, a New York City- based Dietitian. For a 1. 30- pound (5. Research has found that because protein is more difficult for the body to break down and digest than other nutrients, it can increase post- meal calorie burn by as much as 3. Aim to incorporate some protein into every meal and snack throughout the day. Stock up on these 2. Best- Ever Proteins for Weight Loss! It takes the body extra effort to break down whole grains than more refined and processed grains, like the flour ordinarily used to make bread and pasta. You can help keep your metabolic rate elevated by consuming foods that the body has to work harder to digest. Your go- tos are whole foods that are also rich in fiber. We’re talking brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa, and sprouted grain breads. Ideally, we sleep about eight hours for every 2. Most people spend another seven to ten hours sitting at their desk. That means most of us spend the overwhelming majority of our time sedentary. Our bodies weren't designed for this level of inactivity — most of humans’ evolutionary history involved being active, searching for food and fuel. Nutritionist Lisa Jubilee says that one way to burn more calories daily is to stand more and sit less. She cites a British study which found that standing at work burned 5. If that doesn’t sound like a lot, consider this: If you stand for just three hours of your day, in one year you’d expend more than 3. Recent studies have shown that garlic supports blood- sugar metabolism and helps control lipid (fat) levels in the blood. Adding garlic to foods that are rich in fats and carbohydrates may keep those substances from doing the damage they’re known to do. What’s more, eating garlic can help boost your immune system, help ward off heart disease, fight inflammation and lower blood pressure—to name a few. Yeah, yeah, it has zero calories, but drinking diet soda may yet play havoc with your goal of having a flat belly. Research published in the journal Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism shows that artificially sweetened beverages may screw up the body’s normal metabolic response to sugar, actually increasing appetite! Increasingly, diet drinks are being linked with weight gain, metabolic syndrome and a host of other ills. But if you really crave something sweet. Ultimately, these chocolate nibblers had lower stress- hormone levels and a more regulated metabolism than a control group. Scientists speculate that chemicals in cocoa, such as flavonoids, play a role in regulating metabolism by alleviating stress that can cause your fat- burning engines to go on the fritz. Should you think this is a license to go wild, take heed: We’re talking small amounts of high- quality dark chocolate. Researchers say 1. This antioxidant- rich traditional Chinese tea not only helps keep cholesterol levels in check and aids digestion, it can also help rev up your metabolism. Like green tea, oolong is packed with catechins, which boost weight loss efforts by improving the body’s ability to metabolize fat. A study in the Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine found that participants who regularly sipped oolong tea lost six pounds over the course of the six- week time period. Iron deficiency affects more than 1 in 5 women in the US. Being deficient in essential minerals can show up in all kinds of ways but an iron deficiency can also be a blow for getting into your skinny jeans with relative ease. See, your body can't work as efficiently to burn calories when it doesn’t have what it needs to work properly. A cup of lentils, it turns out, provides over a third of your daily iron needs. Legumes like lentils also have been shown to drive down bad cholesterol and blood pressure. That’s why they’re one of the 7 Best Foods to Eat for Raipd Weight Loss! A new report from the Credit Suisse Research Institute found that more and more of us are choosing whole- fat foods over skim, lite, fat- free or other modern monikers of leanness. And while many health organizations like the American Heart Association still want us to cut down on fat—particularly saturated fat—this full- fat trend may be a healthy rebellion against those decades- old credos, according to recent studies. In fact, people who eat a lot of high- fat dairy products actually have the lowest incidence of diabetes, according to a 2. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Those who ate a lot of low- fat dairy products, on the other hand, had the highest incidence. The researchers speculated that while calcium, protein, vitamin D and other nutrients in yogurt are indeed good for us, we need the fat that goes along with them in order to get their protective effects. These are some of the 2. Best Full- Fat Foods for Weight Loss! A 2. 00. 3 study demonstrated that a low calorie diet that is rich in almonds could help increase weight loss. Overcoming metabolic damage – Sweat Like A Pig. Last week, I showed you what an average day of meals looks like for me. As I said in that post, it’s a far cry from the days where I used to restrict on 1. Obviously, I didn’t triple my caloric intake overnight and get away with it. Today I want to address how I personally set about repairing my metabolism, and some of the methods I use with my clients.(For detailed posts on the science of metabolic damage, read this post and this post.)First steps. In May 2. 01. 1, I started working with a bodybuilding coach as I planned to compete in figure. Overnight, my coach took me from 1. It was a sudden and not gradual increase, yet I still saw an immediate weight loss. Once my body realised it was being fed properly, it stopped holding on to fat and actually did what I wanted it to. In the interests of full disclosure, I also changed the composition of my diet significantly when I began working with my coach. I increased my intake of protein and healthy fats, and switched my carbohydrate sources to only oatmeal, sweet potato and brown rice (before, even though my calories were low, I was eating carbs my body still struggles with such as pasta, bread, sugary yoghurt and ice cream). I think this played a large part in my initial weight loss, as my body was and remains very sensitive to simple carbohydrates. I also switched from having three meals per day to seven. Mentally, it was easier to eat more food when my portions were smaller. I don’t believe that mini meals speed up your metabolism or anything like that, but I generally think it is easier for people with damaged metabolisms to consume smaller, more frequent meals. I have a huge appetite now and can easily eat 1. I never thought I’d be eating creamy pasta on a rest day! Reaching a plateau. Although I initially experienced a weight loss, my body turned resistant. We tried to increase my calories further but it made me gain weight instead of losing it. In hindsight, the weight gain was irrelevant (I have proudly gained 8kg since I started lifting, despite my initial goal being to lose 5kg) and any extra puffiness I was feeling was just my body adjusting to the extra carbs. I freaked out and ran back to the safety of my new self- imposed caloric limit of 1. I ate all kinds of crap I shouldn’t have. Because of my weekend mini- binges, I was slowly gaining fat. Again, in hindsight, the binges were my body’s way of telling me I still wasn’t eating enough. Instead of restricting all week long and then bingeing on weekends, I should have just increased my calories overall and the urge to binge would have disappeared. In this post, Phil Learney even states that those with an impaired insulin response should avoid cheat meals altogether. I started to become obsessed with food again, whether I was bulking or cutting. I was consciously trying to add size, yet I felt I needed to get leaner first. By this stage, I had read up a lot on metabolic damage and I knew that my carbohydrate intake was still too low. Who would have thought that one day I would consider this a . I added 1. 00 calories every two weeks, until I was hitting around 1. I didn’t count calories or macros, but I kept a rough idea of what I was hitting in the back of my mind. My body was far from perfect, but I chose to prioritise health instead of aesthetics. I have always carried the bulk of my fat in my stomach (thank you, PCOS!) and I knew that the only way to get rid of that fat was to return to unhealthy habits of slashing calories and ramping up the cardio. Given how far I’d come, I (sensibly!) wasn’t prepared to do that. I started to feel really angry when I saw how much food other people with high metabolisms ate (probably how I made a few of you feel after Friday’s post!). It depressed me, especially when I had people commenting here that I still didn’t eat enough – when, in my mind, I was doing SO much better. Shifting focus. About a year ago, I started focusing more on strength goals. At this stage, I still planned to compete in figure but I didn’t know when, so I felt I could relax a little about sculpting the . I ate when I was hungry, and I ate carbohydrates when I felt like it. Some days I had carbohydrates with all my meals, while other days I only had one carb- heavy meal. I fell in love with carb backloading and soon after experimented with Paleo. I did not track my calories at all, until about three months in when I thought I would add up a random day’s meals just for fun. I was surprised to find that I was eating 2. A typical Paleo breakfast. I was lifting much heavier, fuelling my body properly AND naturally leaning out. You might remember me blogging throughout this time and being surprised by how much weight I was losing – I was eating more than ever before, yet the weight seemed to be falling off. The biggest change in my mindset was that I no longer had “good” and “bad” foods. I ate Paleo 9. 0 per cent of the time, but didn’t beat myself up when I wanted some grains or dairy. I could have a cheat meal outside of my designated day, and I stopped labelling these meals as cheat meals altogether. I saw food for what it was: food. I stopped thinking of certain foods as good or bad, but rather if they were the best choice for optimal performance. After my accident, I added dairy back in to my diet and started consciously trying to lose fat again. I did it in a much saner way than ever before, and barely made any changes to my regular diet. Then in June, I began strongman training and my metabolism really changed! I continued to listen to my body, and fed it what it needed (which was a lot!). I now eat about 2. I would never have dreamed of eating this much food. Simultaneously, I am getting leaner without even thinking about it. I can see increased muscle definition and my stomach is leaner than it has ever been. Never in my life have I had the confidence to wear a crop top in public, until now! I never stop to think whether I should or should not be eating something. I have no foods that are off- limits. I feel like an athlete for the first time in my life, so luckily most of the time I know that a homemade bowl of pasta is going to help my performance more than a greasy take- away pizza. Now that I’ve shared my story, here are some of my top tips for repairing metabolism: Be patient. I restricted calories for at least five years, and it took me about 1. I don’t know if it will ever be perfectly repaired (I’m still considered carbohydrate- sensitive relative to others). Too many people expect to see results overnight. If you’ve been abusing your body for years or even decades, six weeks of reverse dieting is not going to fix your issues. The longer you’ve been restricting, the longer it will take your body to recover. I can’t give you an exact timeframe, but know that waiting even a day longer to start repairing your metabolism is only making things harder. If you experience severe resistance, please, please get your hormones/thyroid tested as restrictive dieting will damage your body more than you realise. Choose whether to go balls- to- the- wall or slowly increase calories, but give it your all. If your calories are way too low (think 1. AND cardio), you should increase your intake significantly immediately. Trying to gradually increase your calories when your body has basically shut down will cause more frustration than it’s worth. Cut the cardio out and make sure you’re consuming at least 1. Most people have a basal metabolic rate of 1. Your body is smarter than you give it credit for, and it will quickly realise it has extra energy to put to use. Don’t force the healing. I mentioned above that I added 1. This is a good guideline, but some people will respond faster while others will need more time before adding any extra calories. Listen to your body – if you constantly feel full, give it some more time to adjust; if your hunger is out of control or you feel like your portions aren’t big enough, eat more. Don’t feel as though you have to follow some arbitrarily- imposed timeline to increase calories. Increase protein/fat first. Using the 1. 00 calorie increase every two weeks as a guideline, I usually recommend someone adding these calories through a serve of healthy fat such as olive or coconut oil, nuts or nut butter, avocado or coconut milk. These foods pack a high number of calories into a small serving size, so it is easier to seamlessly add more calories into your diet. Once your body has adjusted to the increase, then switch the fat for more carbohydrates. Most people who have damaged their metabolisms are sensitive to carbohydrates, so will often feel uncomfortable if they try to increase their carbs too quickly. Prepare to feel uncomfortable. There is a good chance you will gain weight or feel more bloated/puffy than usual. I’ve taken a lot of clients through this process, and about half of them experience an initial negative reaction, but from that 9. Sometimes your body just needs some time to adjust to the increased amount of carbohydrates (and associated water retention) in its system, but I promise this feeling will pass. Lift heavy and limit the cardio. There is a reason I preach what I do! If you are serious about repairing your metabolism, I’d recommend cutting all cardio except for one short sprint session per week. The heavier you lift, the more you will tax your body, and the more you will be able to eat. Ignore the mainstream media. A lot of my initial resistance to increasing my caloric intake came from what I had read in magazines. The majority of diet plans featured in fitness magazines contain 1. On the rare occasion you do see someone eating more than that, it’s a high level competitor doing hours of weight training and cardio a day and still getting by on 1. You never see women eating 2. Women almost seem proud to know that they are eating less than they should. Before I started lifting, my calorie counting tool told me I should be consuming 2. I saw it as some kind of victory if I only hit 1. That is NOT right.
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