Sponsored By: Before and After Weight Loss Clinics
Your best friend eats doughnuts for breakfast, pizza for dinner and never skips dessert all while maintaining a size 2. You, on the other hand, simply look at a doughnut and gain 5 pounds. Life just isn’t fair.
Well, you can’t change genetics or your age; but by making a few lifestyle tweaks you can give your metabolism a boost and help you on your weight loss journey.
1. Breathe.
You need oxygen to burn fat, so the better you can oxygenate your body, the more efficiently you can speed up your metabolism and lose weight.
Try this exercise throughout the day (sitting at a stoplight or while watching TV): Hold down one nostril and breathe in through the other as deeply as you can, filling your lungs so your diaphragm rises as much as possible; hold it and count to 10. Then, let the air out slowly through your mouth. Then repeat, holding down the other nostril. Do this five times.
2. Sleep.
Your body produces hormones while you sleep that help regulate your appetite. If you deprive your body of even a small portion of the sleep it needs, the important weight loss regulating hormones, such as insulin, leptin and ghrelin, are thrown off and your chances of being heavier are greater. Sleeping seven to eight hours each night has been scientifically proven to increase your metabolism significantly.
3. Drink water.
German researchers have found that drinking lots of ice-cold water can help you have a higher metabolic rate. If you’re looking to drop some pounds, follow this rule: Drink eight 8-ounce glasses a day for the first 200 pounds you weigh and 8 ounces more for every 25 additional pounds. Feeling hungry? Drink a glass of water first and then wait awhile to see if you were really just thirsty.
4. Eat three meals a day.
Too often people skip meals as a way to lose weight. But when you skip a meal, your body goes into starvation mode and starts storing fat. If you’re not feeding your body, it will conserve energy by slowing everything down so your organs and brain can continue to function. Keep your metabolism high by eating every four to five hours with a protein snack in between if you’re still hungry.
5. Move.
Joining a gym isn’t for everyone. That’s OK. Just get moving in some way. Take a dance class, walk outdoors, walk on the treadmill while watching your favorite TV show, swim, or bike with the kids. It doesn’t matter as long as you’re moving at least three times a week for 20 minutes to start and then building up as you go.
Research shows that you will burn fat at least two days longer if you do HIIT — high intensity intermitent exercise where you exercise at a fast pace for a few minutes and then slow down, then speed up again.
6. Take probiotics/eat yogurt.
Obesity is due not only to overeating and a sedentary lifestyle, but also to the presence of a certain fat-boosting bacteria in the digestive tract. Researchers have found diets that alter the mix of microorganisms in the gut can actually help you shed weight. Eating yogurt and other probiotic foods can alter bacterial cultures in the human digestive tract and reduce the risks of obesity, diabetes and other health problems. Try eating yogurt three or four times a week and/or taking a probiotic supplement.
These tips aren’t hard or expensive to implement. Give them a shot and see if you don’t notice a faster metabolism – and a smaller pants size.
If you’re looking to make lasting lifestyle changes to improve your health and lose weight, consult the experts at Before and After Weight Loss Clinics at 561 Belle Station Blvd. In Mount Pleasant.
Created by a Registed Dietician and a Food Chemist, Before and After Weight Loss Clinics helps clients who have had problems losing weight in the past and who have a wide range of medical problems. With the support of a behavioral therapist and caring weight loss consultants, and the Belly Buster Diet Inc. diet plan, clients are able to alter their mindset about dieting and make long lasting changes in their relationship to eating.
To learn more about how Before and After Weight Loss Clinics can help you lose the weight – and keep it off, visit BestDietSource.com or or call the Mount Pleasant location at 843-972-7658.
