Speed Up Your Metabolism By Slowing Down Your Eating

Editors Note: This post is written by contributor Gina Ryan. Gina is a licensed nutritionist and Wellness coach from Hawaii. Read her full Bio on the About page or visit her blog http://www.lunchwithouted.wordpress.com. 

Looking at the metabolic flame most of us  are aware of exercise and the increased oxygen it brings to the body and  increasing metabolism. Yet not so many are aware of the same oxygen advantage during relaxation, deep breathing and eating.

Most of the energy produced by the body comes from the simple combination of oxygen and food. Look at it as when you breathe more you burn more. So while running while eating is counterproductive, breathing deeply and consciously while eating will increase your metabolic speed, ease digestion and relax you simultaneously.

 

Making the change to slower eating and fueling metabolism just takes practice

First try to set the stage for this type of change in eating behavior. We can easily fall back into old patterns so setting the stage simply helps to remind us what we are doing.

    * Set the table, yes even (especially) if you eat alone

    * Decorate the table with flowers and or candles -beauty has a calming effect

    * Play relaxing music (turn the TV off -we are going for stress reduction here)

    * If eating out find a comfortable relaxing atmosphere

    * Eat with others who inspire and nourish you

    * Sit with awareness of your posture -you want to be able to breathe deeply-sit up straight

    * Opening a window lets in fresher and more fully oxygenated air

    * Decide to let go of the daily tasks and worries even if just for the mealtime

 

Now to breathe!

At the start of your meal just check your breathing. Slow, fast, deep, shallow? No need to change it right now -just notice. Then during the mealtime put your fork or spoon down and check in 2-4 more times and now deepen your breath for 3 breathes before you go on with the meal.

By doing this exercise consciously for a few weeks you will build a new habit. Your body will delight in the increased oxygen, the more relaxed pace and you will have a better time digesting and metabolizing each meal. Even if you have a short lunch break you can do a number of the previous suggestions to get a fuller deeper connection with your meal and breath giving you enhanced metabolism.

When we are stressed we shut down our digestion leading to lower metabolism and digestive difficulties. Decreased calorie burning due to the stress hormones cortisol and insulin may be hampering your weight loss efforts as much if not more that the amounts of foods.  Slowing down is the answer.

Going slower takes time, one of the essential nutrients we seem to think we can keep cutting down on. We simply can’t. Life takes time. Living fully means being in our lives, in our bodies and caring for all the things that keep us in optimal health. If you feel resistance to eating slower or being conscious of your breathing during meals, simply take note of this. This change can, for some, be confrontational. Be compassionate with yourself.

 

The way you eat is a metaphor for your life and they way you choose to live it.

What does your style of eating say about you? Are you in control? Who is that in your head telling you what to do? Do old voices from the past come up around meal time? This is your life -you are now aware that you can have optimum metabolism by slowing down during meals. You can now look at the resistance as a challenge -a way to get beyond some old or outdated mode of relating to food and meals.  Slowing down, breathing and eating is about reclaiming your time and the right to live a healthy joyous life.

How do you find breathing affects your eating? What about the speed at which you eat. Try consciously eating slower and let me know how you feel.

You can visit Gina at her blog http://www.lunchwithouted.wordpress.com.

Nutrition and Broccoli Recipes: Vitamins Are Just the Beginning of this Super Food

 

When was the last time you ate broccoli?  When was the last time you got excited about eating broccoli? Well now’s the time to gorge on your greens! If the following facts about broccoli don’t get you excited to chow down, then hopefully Gordon Ramsey and the two recipes I’ve included will!

What makes Broccoli a super food?

To quote CNN.com, when it comes to nutritional content, “Broccoli is the mother lode!”  After researching the following stats, broccoli has become much easier to swallow!

•          Ounce per ounce broccoli has more vitamin C in it than oranges
•          Broccoli contains more calcium than a glass of milk
•          One medium spear has more fibre than a slice of wheat bran bread
•          Out of all produce, broccoli is the highest source of vitamin A
•          What catapults broccoli into the stratosphere of a super food is its cancer fighting properties, namely isothiocyanates .

 

How Broccoli prevents and fights cancer

Broccoli contains an abundance of isothiocyanates. Isothiocyanates stimulate the production of “Phase two enzymes”. These enzymes are our bodies own cancer fighting cells. They neutralise potential cancer causing substances before they have a chance to damage the DNA of our cells. The more of these we have the more protected we are from cancer. For example, studies have shown that these isothiocyanates are particularly powerful in blocking the growth of melanoma skin cancer cells.

Experiments using broccoli have shown dramatic results. At the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, they did a study on Broccoli’s cancer fighting powers with rats. They exposed these rats to a carcinogen that is known to stimulate breast cancer. One group had been fed broccoli for a few days before whilst the other group had not. The results of this study where very clear. The broccoli munching rats were half as likely to develop cancerous tumours, and even if the ones who did get cancer developed much smaller tumours and less of them.   

What if you don’t like broccoli?

Never fear, there are options. Broccoli sprouts are the tender shoots of broccoli are delicious in salads or sandwiches. They have actually been shown to have even more potent cancer fighting substances than the broccoli itself! Many supermarkets now carry broccoli sprouts.

If you really can’t stand broccoli other produce in the cancer fighting cruciferous family include cauliflower, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and bok choy. They also contain powerful cancer fighting substances. Studies done on these vegetables have been shown to reduce cancer including tumours of the stomach, oesophagus, lung, oral cavity and pharynx (throat), endometrium (lining of the uterus), pancreas, and colon. Why don’t you make it your challenge to have at least one of these vegetables every single day of your life?

Two easy ways to add broccoli into your diet.

Broccoli soup.

Watch this 5 minute clip of master chef Gordon Ramsey preparing what is the easiest dish in the world. I replace the goats cheese with a dollop of low fat yoghurt or a shaving of parmesan cheese.  A soup that can be used at dinner parties or slurped in a cup on the couch!

Ingredients

Broccoli (of course!)

Water

Salt/pepper

2 walnuts

Goats cheese or Low fat yoghurt or a shaving of parmasen

Blender or stick blender

Broccoli and tuna salad

Ingredients

Broccoli

1 tin tuna in oil (even this health freak doesn’t recommend using tuna in brine for this one, too bland! Try adding your own oil or a squeeze of lemon  if you are really fat conscious)

Salt/pepper

 

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add a pinch of salt, then your chosen amount of broccoli cut into its florets. Broccoli is ready when a kitchen knife can easily cut through a floret without much resistance. Drain and transfer broc to serving dish. Pour the tin of tuna in oil aver the broc and stir through. Season with salt and pepper. Eat hot. Great snack or light meal.

 

 

Do you have any other broccoli variations that you like to eat? I bet you’re glad your parents forced you to eat those greens when you were a kid!

Ask the Trainer: Breathing and Exercise

Track Calorie Intake To Lose Weight

According to a recent study, over 64% of North Americans are overweight, and 27% are classified as “obese”. We all know that North Americans have weight problems, but really think about that; over half of us are fat!

When you are overweight, everything is different. You are still a good person, but you feel more sluggish and unhealthy than you are supposed to.

Do you remember what it felt like to be a child? Did you ever think about your weight then? Probably not! When you were 10 years old and running around care-free in the summer, were you worried about how you looked in your swimsuit? Did you worry that your cellulite was showing, or that your stretch marks were exposed for the world to see?

When you were 10 years old, did you have to take a break from running around and playing, or were you able to run and play with all the energy and vigour in the world? When you are overweight, exercise is not easy. You know that you have to exercise in order to lose weight, but the idea of going for a jog or going to the gym is frightening because you know how out of shape you are and how difficult exercising is.

Well, you may not be able to drink from the fountain of youth, but you are able to get back into prime physical condition!

You are able to feel young, healthy and vital again!

If over half of us are overweight, and over a quarter of us are obese, that likely means that over half of us are looking for a way to lose weight. Most fat people want to get thin after all!

There are so many reasons to lose weight. You may want to lose weight for your health, for your vanity, or both. You may want to lose weight for a special event, like a wedding, or you may want to get ready for the bikini days of summer.

You may want to lose only five or ten pounds, or you may want to lose a larger amount of weight. You may be more concerned with dress sizes or inches than actual pounds.

No matter what, you need to know how to lose your unwanted weight, and with all of the different products and techniques on the market, how do you know which one is really going to work? The desire to lose the weight is clear, but there are so many different ways to choose from.

You have so many options! You can try the nationally recognized diet programs, such as Weight Watchers, Herbal Magic or Jenny Craig. They offer guidance, team support, and recipes/meal plans. They are also extremely expensive! They require large time commitments from you, because you need to attend meetings and seminars. You need to attend weekly, sometimes daily, weigh-ins.

You could try the drug store meal replacement options. Slim Fast, Nutri System, etc – the “shakes”. They offer you convenience in that they are pre-packaged meals, and they are less expensive than the aforementioned diet programs.

You can try the books. You know: “Dr. Atkins”, “The South Beach Diet”, and “Sugar Busters”. They all profess to be “the secrets of the stars” (Hollywood celebrities), they all offer advice, meal plans, and recipes. The cost of a book is usually negligible in the long run in comparison to the monthly costs of the meal replacement and diet programs.

What you need to know is what they all have in common. Wrapped in the guise of “the secret to weight loss”, each of the thousands of weight loss plans out there boils down to one real secret, and one real secret only:

They are all about tracking and reducing calorie intake to lose weight!

The big secret is that weight loss isn’t really a secret at all! It’s just a simple mathematical formula: burn more calories than you eat and your body will lose weight.

It’s easy, it’s natural.

Of course, you do need to know some specifics. You need to know how many calories YOUR BODY burns in a day, and how many calories YOUR BODY needs to take in per day. You need to understand YOUR metabolism. You need to know which foods to eat and which foods have more “good” calories than others. But in the end, it really is all about tracking and reducing calorie intake to lose weight.

In order to free yourself of the endless questions your face in terms of how to really lose weight, you need to realize the truth: that all you really need is to learn about calorie intake.

So learn! Learn to understand the math of your own body! Every one of us is unique; your body has different caloric needs than your friend’s does, but we all follow the universal law of “burn more than you eat to lose weight”.

So get started! Get yourself out of the “overweight” or “obese” category of most North Americans and into the wonderful category of healthy living!

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Addressing The Fears Of Weight Loss

It seems a little strange that losing weight can entice feelings of fear. Fear doesn’t seem to have a place in such a constructive process. Usually weight loss is associated with both positive and negative feelings. The positive feelings are more obvious and understandable. You’re feeling better, have more energy, look better, fit in nicer clothes, etc. However, are you aware that negative feelings about your life changing process are also normal?

Weight gain happens for a reason and it’s not all about that familiar hand to mouth motion. It’s not just about food it’s about what is behind the overeating. Smaller weight gains can usually be attributed to just poor eating and exercise habits. However, large weight gain is almost always associated with something much deeper. Gaining weight is camouflage. It allows you to disappear in society, which in turn can make you feel safer. The key is to understand what you were hiding from? Was there a trauma in you life that needs to be addressed?

Conversely, as you begin to understand why you gained the weight, you also need to address your feelings as you succeed at your weight loss efforts. This is a journey that will require time and patience. You may stall and have to restart. You may lose motivation and need assistance to get back on track. You may not fall off the wagon; you may execute a premeditated jump off the wagon. These actions can all be associated with fear.

If this sounds all too familiar, take the time to address these volatile emotions before they take you down. The following pro-active steps can ease the fears and keep you on track.

· Find A Support System. This can be a personal trainer who understands your struggle and is willing to push to keep you on track. The trainer may use motivational techniques or tactics that help you face your fears head on and eliminate the need to self-sabotage your forward motion. Personal Trainers are NOT just for movie stars any more! They are available to the general public. Call your local gym for a referral.

If a personal trainer is not an option, team up with a friend who has succeeded with weight loss and is willing to help you stay on track by exercising with you daily. Share food journals. You will learn as much from your friend’s food journal and your friend will be necessary accountability to keep your eating habits in check.

· Daily Journal Writing. Emotions locked in your mind become bigger and bigger over time which then become nearly impossible to control. Everything starts with a thought! Once you learn to train and manage your thinking you will be able to change your life. Write out your feelings and fears. The mere act of writing helps you to understand why you feel what you feel and releases the negative energy.

· Follow Up With Affirmations. After releasing the negative emotions, follow up with affirmations. It is important to fill the space with a positive turn around. Give your brain something good to dwell on now.

· Take Quiet Time. Often our lives are so busy we don’t have time to breath, much less think. Give yourself 15 minutes a day to sit and let go of the mental stress. This takes more effort than you may think. During these 15 minutes consciously let go of any thoughts that are occupying your mind. Vacuum the mental clutter and empty your mind of all thought. Let your system rest for 15 minutes and you will find that you are more in control of more of your day. velashape works

Fear is a normal part of any major life change. Once you understand this you can begin to address this emotion and push past it. Keep that forward motion by challenging any feelings that cause you to sabotage your positive growth.velashape review

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Fitness Myths Part II – The Truths Everyone Should Know

Part II
As I stated in Part I of this article, there is quite a bit of misinformation floating around in today’s society as it relates to health and wellness. Because of that, I am going to try and shed some light on a few additional myths still alive and kicking!

Myth #5 – Machines are a safer way to exercise than free weights.
Although it may seem as if an exercise machine automatically puts your body in the right position and helps you do all the movements correctly, that’s only true if the machine is properly adjusted for your weight and height.
Unless you have someone knowledgeable determine what the right settings on each machine are for your size, you can just as easily injure yourself on a machine as you could if you work out with free weights.

This is not to say that there are not risks associated with free weights that are not present with machines, but there are opportunities for injury on machines if not properly utilized. Free weights if used with proper form and correct weight can be just as safe and safer on some exercises where it is better to have a normal, non-restricted range of motion.

The key to exercise safety is form, tempo and weight, irrelevant of whether you are using barbells, dumbbells or machines.

Myth #6 – When it comes to working out, you’ve got to feel some pain if you’re going to benefit from the training. No Pain = No Gain.
Simply untrue and to be honest CRAZY! This might be the most potentially harmful of all the silly rumors out there. Pain is your body signaling that something is wrong.

While you can expect to have some degree of soreness a day or two after working out, this soreness should be a very from feeling any pain while you are working out. Fitness activity should not hurt during. If it does, then chances are you are either performing the exercise incorrectly, or you have already injured yourself to some extent.

As for “working through the pain,” not advised. If you experience pain during a workout, stop, rest, and see if the pain goes away. If the pain does not go away, or if it begins again or gets worse after you start to work out, see a doctor as soon as possible.

Pain is not a requirement for a good, productive workout.

Myth #7 – Running is the best way to get fit.
For some, maybe. For everyone, absolutely not. There is no single best way that fits all. It is more important to do what you like or you will almost certainly find a reason to quit. While running is beneficial, it is NOT a requirement to get fit. It can however, if it is something you enjoy, be a valuable part of your fitness routine.

Myth #8 – If you’re not working up a sweat, you’re not working hard enough.
Sweating is not necessarily an indicator of exertion. Your body sweats as a way of cooling itself. It is possible to burn a significant number of calories without breaking a sweat.

About the Author

Jason J. Horsley is the CEO/Founder of eFitness for Life an online fitness solution that provides an affordable, convenient alternative to conventional, expensive dietitians and personal training. Through both eFitness for Life and Health and Wealth for Life, Jason is using his 15+ years in the fitness industry to help individuals across the globe not only look better, but feel better and live longer. The eFitness for Life team is made up of coaches/trainers around the US, working with clients throughout the world via the World Wide Web and the state-of-the-art eFitnessTracker software!

Access free hints for lose 10 pounds per week – welcome to your personal guide.

Two Ways Acai Berry Capsules Improve Weight Loss

As you likely know acai berry is amazingly nutritious and contains many healthy elements. It is a key ingredient in many weight loss products. But how exactly do acai berry capsules help you lose weight? There are a number of ways they improve weight loss, and in this article I will list them all:

Acai Berry Detox

Perhaps the most significant part of weight loss that acai capsules carry. Detox or in other words a process of eliminating toxins from your body, triggers quite a few processes that results in weight loss. Obviously flushing out toxins will bring some weight loss itself (toxins have weight.) Although it won’t be too much weight and most of it will come at the start.

In addition to losing a bit of weight, eliminating toxins will make you feel more healthy and will give you more energy. These two things, especially having more energy will have a more longer lasting weight loss benefit. Feeling healthy is always nice, and having more energy is key to weight loss. With increased energy levels you can exercise more, and you won’t have as big of a desire to cheat on your diet. Speaking of which..

Appetite Suppressants

Appetite suppressants have a two fold role here. They will make you eat less, which will result in some weight loss, although unless you change your lifestyle the weight will likely come back. But more importantly, appetite suppressants allow you to switch to a healthy diet and get used to it without feeling hungry. This is the true power of appetite suppressants – to allow you to switch to a good diet.

Combine the two and what do you get? Exactly, you can switch to a healthy diet without feeling hungry, increase your energy levels and feel healthier! Add some exercise, since you have the energy to do them, and your weight loss is practically guaranteed. So go ahead and get your free trial of acai berry capsules, with acai berry there is no reason to not be in shape this summer.

Boost Energy With Acai Berry

Yep, you read it right. Besides all the health benefits acai berry possesses it can also boost your energy levels. Actually that’s one of the side benefits of acai that helps to improve weight loss results. But back to the topic at hand – energy boosting. How does acai increase your energy levels?

There are actually two ways in which acai does it. The first is the fact that acai berry acts as a natural energy booster, similar to ones like caffeine. The other is a bit more complex. As you may know acai is a very powerful antioxidant. Antioxidants help your body eliminate toxins, also known as detox. As a result of detoxifying you will feel better and more healthy as well as have more energy.

Although detox would obviously take a good bit longer to kick in than the natural energy boost provided by the berry. Still, the result of it would be that you get an immediate increase in energy, as well as a longer lasting but less potent increase in energy levels that occurs as the toxins are eliminated from your body.

It’s actually quite interesting, especially seeing how the increase in energy would help with weight loss. A big problem with weight loss is that you need to create a caloric shortage to force your body to burn fat. But creating a caloric shortage is usually done by diet and exercise, which means you eat less than you are used to and exercise more. Combined these of course leaves you feeling tired and having no energy, which just adds another thing you have to deal with while you try to lose weight.

Yet with the energy boost you get from acai berry that problem would be solved. Not to mention the appetite suppressants contained in many of the capsules would make it much easier to follow a diet without cheating. Truly acai berry is the nature’s perfect food, the amount of benefits it provides is simply amazing.

Acai Berry Products

There are several types of products based on acai berry. And as acai’s popularity continues to rise, companies try to find other creative ways to get the benefits of acai berries. The most popular types of acai berry products today are acai capsules, acai juices and acai powders. Although powder and capsules are fairly similar.

The biggest difference between acai berry juices and acai berry capsules is the focus of the products themselves. Juices are more geared to general health – containing various ingredients that would improve one’s health. This makes acai juices a good part of any diet or just healthy eating habits. On the other hand acai capsules for the most part are geared towards weight loss. The added ingredients reflect this quite well – many of the capsules contain appetite suppressants and other elements that would improve weight loss.

Last but by no means least is the price difference. While capsules cost around 60$ for a month worth, and even have a free trial available allowing you to try it before you buy it. The juices can be quite expansive. The price for acai berry juices ranges from 40$ to as much as 80$ per a 32oz bottle. Seeing how such a bottle is very unlikely to last more than a week, if even that.. I am sure you can see how making acai berry juices a part of your diet can get expansive fast.

That’s one of the reasons why acai capsules are so popular. They offer a more affordable and convenient way of getting acai berry benefits. And getting the benefits without breaking the bank is and always will be a popular thing. Combine it with the fact that capsules are more focused on weight loss than juices, and it should come as no surprise that acai berry capsules are the most popular of acai berry products.

benefits of resistance training for women – uncovered

There are multiple benefits of resistance training for women including fat loss, muscle toning and strength building to name but a few. It is however also essential that you fuel your body with the right balance of protein, carbs and good fats to enhance your body’s ability to convert the resistance training into the body you desire.

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