16 Great tips to Healthy Living

Healthy living is not just dieting, its all about the whole lifestyle – excercising works

Don’t to extremes

Reducing calories by 15-20% a day will almost exclusively burn fat while larger cuts in calories will burn a combo of muscle tissue and fat.

Muscle drives the metabolism – calorie burning.

If you’re currently eating 3000 calories, reduce to 2400-2550, but do so according to smart guidelines you will want to include all the necessary food groups consisting of loads of fruit and veggies. they are a great way to feel full without all the empty calories associated with junk food and carbs.

Graze all day

Professional athletes and models eat all day long yet keep their total calories under control.

The grazing method, 5-6 small meals, elevates the metabolism.

Each time you eat, the metabolism increases, and over a 6-10 week period, that increase can continue the body reducing your fat levels.

Think of it like starting a fire, you have to keep feeding it in order for it to keep burning well it’s the same with your metabolism, you have to keep feeding your body in order for it to keep burning the calories. You just need to feed it the right food like fruit and vegetables.

Increase Protein

Carbs, protein and fat – are equal in their efficiency to be stored as body fat, but protein accentuate a greater metabolic boosting effect than carbs or dietary fat.

When calories drop, protein saves muscle which helps keep the metabolism elevated.

Aim for 1.2 grams per pound of bodyweight daily. Make sure you mix it up, chicken, pork and beef as each has their own “protein” and you do need beef in your diet to build those strong muscles!

Play with Carbs

Carbs help retain metabolic boosting muscle yet they can stimulate fat storage.

Following a modified low carb diet – staggering your carbohydrate intake is one of the most effective ways to jump start your metabolism and to burn stubborn fat fast.

Just make sure the carbs you are eating are good carbs like whole grain breads and wholewheat pastas.

Carbs also help with energy, so remember we need them so don’t forget them when you are trying to lose weight.

The best way is to just cut back and stay away from processed foods and plain white breads and bad pastas.

Go Backward

The biggest reason for fat loss coming to a halt is that the body downgrades its metabolism and fails to meet its dwindling intake of calories.

The solution: dramatically increase your calorie intake once every 2-3 weeks.

The one day splurge “re-sets” the metabolism by restoring thyroid levels, the calorie burning hormone that declines with dieting.

Skip the Late Night Carbs

Carbs eaten before bedtime are more likely to be stored as body fat so focus on lean proteins and fiber based vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and salad fixings.

The lone exception to this rule would be: if you train late at night and your goal is to build muscle mass, you’ll need the carbs to replenish glycogen and support growth.

Go Fish

When calories are controlled, the inclusion of omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon, trout and sardines may promote speedier fat loss.

One interesting study revealed dieters who ate fish on a daily basis lost more weight than those who ate fish just once a week (Am Journ Clin Nutr 70:817-825, 1999)

Red peppers; the spicy ingredient in Mexican and Indian dishes contains Capsaicin which can increase the metabolic rate by effecting the Sympathetic Branch of the Nervous system.

Spiking your chicken dishes with these red peppers might give a small benefit or alteratively, you can take 5 to 10 encapsulated grams of Capsaicin from your local health food store. (Journal of Nutrition 116:1272-1278, 1986.)

Don’t Be Cardio Crazy!

Radically reducing calories slows the metabolism short circuiting fat loss.

The same is true with radical caloric expenditure.

Example: 2 cardio sessions a day. Excess cardio slows the metabolism, promotes a loss in muscle and even can lower testosterone levels.

For real results, stick to 4-6 sessions a week, 30 – 45 minutes at a clip and maintain a high level of intensity.

Separate Cardio From Weight Training

What happens when you do cardio first and follow it up with weight training?

You don’t build as much muscle density.

How about cardio after training?

You risk overtraining and the negative hormonal milieu that can stifle the metabolic rate.

The best scenario;

hit the cardio in the morning – on an empty stomach – get in a few meals and return to the gym later in the day to build muscle density.

Serotonin Control

Serotonin is a brain chemical that helps controls hunger.

Guess what?

It can take a nose dive with dieting. ( R.J. Wurtman and J.J. Wurtman, “Brain serotonin, carbohydrate-craving, obesity, and depression.” Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 398 (1996): 35-41.)

One way to prevent a drop is smaller and more frequent meals.

Mother Earth’s flavor enhancer stimulates adrenaline and uncoupling proteins (UCP).

Adrenaline triggers fat breakdown and UCP, located in metabolically active “brown fat”, increase calorie burning.

Garlic also controls cortisol levels which can support muscle retention while dieting.

For best results use fresh raw garlic in your salads or on your other meals, but if you can’t handle raw garlic then use fresh bulbs in your cooking or give supplements a try.

Sip Green Tea

Green tea contains caffeine and polyphenols called epilgallocatechin gallate which has been shown to increase calorie burning.

These special calorie burning compound helps burn an extra 100 or-so calories a day, about equal to a brisk walk.

In maximizing fat loss, every calorie counts. (Dullo, A.G., et al., Efficiency of a green tea extract rich in catechin polyphenols and caffeine in increasing 24-h energy expenditure and fat oxidation in humans. Am J Clin Nutr, 1999. 70(6):p.1040- 5.)

Fat? Yes Fat!

To rip up, you have to eat fewer carbs, but on occasion – say once a week – you can add a little healthy fat, 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, some red meat, walnuts or cashews.

The reason?

Dietary fat can make the body more effective in using and burning fat – as long as calories and carbs remain under control. (Thomas CD et al. Nutrient Balance and Energy Expenditure During the Ad Libitum Feeding of High Fat and High Carbohydrate Diets in Humans. Am J Clin Nutr 1992;55:934)

Irony of Ironies;

When you eat less and try to dump body fat, a lot of times the metabolism adapts and burns quite a bit fewer calories. One way to get around the slowdown is with phosphates.

A combo of 537 mgs of calcium phosphate, 107 mgs of potassium phosphate and 25 mgs of sodium phosphate given to strict dieters yielded a 12-19% more elevated metabolism than dieters who did not use phosphates.

Write It Down

This one seems simple, but it’s one of the most overlooked tips in shedding fat.

Dieters who record what they eat, meal by meal, day by day, not only make better choices, but cheat less and eat fewer total calories.

Writing it down “keeps you honest” and is a tool for reminding you that getting lean is a day by day process.

Just remember, every little change you make will have an impact on your ability to lose weight and how much you lose.

Switching from soda to water alone will start the weight loss process, getting up and moving when you are usually stationary will do the same.

Change one thing a day and you will be on the fast track to losing the weight you want to lose and keeping it off!

Also keep in mind, doing something for 20 days in a row becomes a habit, so make sure you are doing things that are good for you and your body.

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