Top 10 Thursday: Top 10 Metabolism Boosters For Women
By admin
Hi! How’s Thursday going so far? You know I LOVE Thursdays but I especially love this Thursday. It’s the last free Thursday morning I have before adding a new boot camp to the schedule.
So I am embracing it completely. Pancakes and a hot cup of coffee make me one happy girl. It feels like Sunday!
Yesterday on the Facebook page, I asked you guys for suggestions on what should be the Top 10 topic of the week.
While there were several great ideas they all circled around one main topic: Metabolism.
It seems that you all want to know how to speed yours up to burn more calories during the day?
That’s a legit desire for sure!
(I say naturally, because you won’t find any pill suggestions here, sorry).
Top 10 Thursday: How To Boost Your Metabolism
Water, sure it is calorie free, but the body NEEDS it just like it needs air. If you are even slightly dehydrated, studies show that your metabolism can slow down. In one study I read, adults that drink at least 8 glasses of water a day burn more calories than those that only drink up to 4 glasses.
Enjoy a glass of water before sitting down to each meal. This will also help satisfy your appetite and you’ll end up eating less.
When ever I need to drop a few pounds, I always look to my water intake first!
I have blogged about matcha several times. I have a love for it that simply can’t be explained. Matcha is high quality green tea that has been grinded into a fine powder. Instead of seeping it as you would a normal tea bag, it gets stirred in with water and down it goes.
So you get the full benefits of the tea, not just what is released into the surrounding water.
Matcha can boost the metabolism by 40% and 1 cup of matcha has the nutritional benefits equal to 20 cups of standard green tea.
Interval workouts are the bomb when it comes to burning calories during and post workout. In fact, because of the up and down intense interval pattern, your metabolism can be boosted for more than 24 hours!
AND… did you know that because of this, 2 hours of interval sprints (over 2 weeks) is the same as running 10 hours at a steady state. Which would you rather do?
Here’s an interval to try out.
No workout program is complete without strength training. A good weight loss program involves both cardio and strength to help burn fat and sculpt the body.
Strength training is essential because it helps to increase muscle mass… don’t be afraid of that! I know women like to hear “tone up” but toning is just a feminine way of saying to add muscle.
For every pound of muscle added, you can expect to burn roughly 50 extra calories per day. Why? Because it takes a lot of energy to support and maintain healthy muscles.
If you’re new to strength training, start with 2-3 days of body weight exercises and progress up as your form and confidence improves.
Hot peppers might not have you burning off 5 pounds over night, but every little bit helps, right?
Peppers contain capsaicin, it’s the phytochemical that makes the peppers hot. Studies show that capasaicin has a short term affect on metablism but also helps with weight loss because it seems to decrease appetite, and therefore overall food consumption.
Toss a few jalapenos on your next meal and see if you end up eating less!
Some people will say that exercise is the most important activity to lose weight, I am a strong believer that sleep is number one.
First off, sleep is when your body recovers from exercise. Deny your body of the 7-8 hours it needs and your workouts may suffer as will the results.
On top of that, sleep has a very strong affect on your metabolic hormones. Sleepless nights can lead to increased levels of ghrelin which increases appetite and fat storage. For the best results, aim for a full 7-8 hours of sleep a night for the best metabolism function.
I don’t know about you but chocolate is more of a friend to me then my diamonds, so knowing that it’s good for me only makes the two of us tighter!
Chocolate contains a phytochemical called catechins (also found in red wine and tea). Studies show that people who eat 1-2 oz of dark chocolate per day are not only more successful at losing weight, but at keeping the weight off.
Make sure that you choose a dark chocolate that is at least 70%. Not only will this provide a hefty dose of antioxidants, but will have less sugar than lower percentages.
Just a little spice will go a long way! Cinnamon contains a compound which helps break down the reistance of fat cells to insulin. This helps to control blood sugar levels and supports fat burning.
A small study published in the April 2009 issue of the “European Journal of Applied Physiology” reports that administration of 3 g of cinnamon per day for 14 days improved insulin sensitivity in non-diabetic men.
I mentioned this yesterday in terms of blood sugar, but when you eat fewer large meals each day your metabolism slows down. Think of it as a fire. If you go a long time without tossing a log in, the fire will start to simmer down. But if you toss in just a few branches every now and then, the fire will stay strong.
Try to eat smaller meals every 3-4 hours to keep your fire burning! I typically eat 4-6 times per day with each meal ranging from 250-350 calories.
Oh I knew I loved coffee for a reason! Not only does it pick me up when I am down, but it fires up the metabolic furnace too?
Studies show that coffee has the ability to increase the oxidation of fat, and hence burns off calories. It’s of course a short term boost and in the end you won’t be burning off a ton of calories, but it does help.
The best benefit of caffeine however is it’s energizing boost. Drinking a cup of coffee before a workout can help people to workout longer and harder which is why both runners and lifters turn to a good black cup of joe.
And if your workouts are better that means you won’t only burn more calories during the workout, but the after burn of a more intense workout will last longer as well.
Let me clarifying one thing. I am not suggesting that by adding these foods into your diet you will suddenly burn an extra 500 calories. However, we all want to know what little tricks we can do to support weight loss. I am a believer that if these ten tips are added to a lifestyle that includes a healthy diet and workout regiment, then it’s not going to hurt.
So what about you…
Do you do any of these already?
What’s your go to when you need a fat burning pick me up?
http://coffeefaq.com/site/node/6
http://nutrition.ucdavis.edu/content/infosheets/fact-pro-catechin.pdf
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