I receive a lot of e-mails on the topic of metabolism. What is it? Why is it important? How can I increase it? Metabolism can be a fairly complicated subject.
Metabolism is the amount of energy (calories) your body burns to maintain itself. Whether you are eating, drinking, sleeping, cleaning etc... your body is constantly burning calories to keep you going. Metabolism is affected by your body composition. By body composition, this means the amount of muscle you have versus the amount of fat. Muscle uses more calories to maintain itself than fat. People who are more muscular (and have a lower percentage of body fat) are said to have a higher metabolism than others that are less muscular.
For example, let's say you have two people who are the exact same height and weight. One exercises on a regular basis with weights, in addition to aerobic exercise, and has a low percentage of body fat. The other never exercises and has a higher percentage of body fat. The first person who exercises will have a higher metabolism than the second person.
Start exercising! If you've never exercised before, make sure you see a doctor before beginning a new exercise. You can increase your muscle mass by doing some type of resistance work (i.e. lifting weights, using resistance bands, hand weights at home etc...). You can also decrease your level of body fat by doing some type of aerobic exercise at least 4 days a week for longer than 40 minutes.
You also need to eat! - Do not 'diet', just watch the types of foods you eat. Consume foods that are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, which regulate levels of leptin in the body, such as fish. According to researchers, this hormone is responsible for the speed of metabolism in the body, as well as for your body making a decision, whether to burn fat at the point, or to store it.
Foods that speed up metabolism also include meats. The body spends more time to digest meat (proteins) in comparison to easily digested carbohydrates and fats. According to many nutritionists, digesting proteins accelerates burning of calories almost twice. Danish researchers provide even more optimistic numbers. According to them, adding 20% of protein supplements in your daily diet will increase burning of calories by more than 5%.
Vegetables! Consuming 3-4 serves daily of low G.I veggies will keep your calories burning, as it works to break down and digest these. Low G.I veggies are also called 'negative' calories, as they don't contain nasties that the body can store as fat. Once you have added your chicken, fish or meat to your plate, fill the remaining plate with salads/veggies!
Lemons increase immunity and accelerate metabolism. Lemons are often used for various metabolic disorders. Tea with lemon or water with lemon will speed up your metabolism and fat burning processes. Start by cleansing your digestive track; Kick off your morning with a luke-warm glass of water with added lemon juice.
DON'T-
If you eat a very low-calorie diet, your metabolism will slow down in order for your body to survive (your body thinks it is starving). Don't be fooled by the belief that the less you eat, you'll burn fat. What will happen is that you will actually begin to lose muscle!
DO-
Speeding up metabolism can be achieved by eating 5 small meals throughout the day, instead of eating 2-3 large meals. Food (especially in many small portions) accelerates metabolism. In fact, 10% of calories that you burn each day go to metabolizing the consumed nutrients. For best results, split your meals into 5 small portions and be sure to have a breakfast, as it results in speeding up metabolism in your body.
This is where nutritional supplements can add multiple benefits. The average person who has been struggling to burn that stubborn fat does not consume enough and find it's difficult to get into the routine of 5 meals to speed up metabolism. I recommend consuming one or two Ultimate Slim shakes per day as this was designed to be added as a snack replacement to provide extra protein to fuel your muscles and has added fat burning enhancers to keep you energized throughout the day, resulting in burning extra calories.
Example:
A typical day for someone on a 'weight loss' program will only consist of breakfast, lunch and dinner. (Some actually skip breakfast which is the most important meal of the day)...
Using Ultimate Slim will see the above 3 square meals increase to 5 by adding the shake for a morning tea snack and afternoon tea snack. (UPS does not recommend using Ultimate Slim as a meal replacement; only as snacks)
NOTES-
When you are exercising aerobically, your focus should be on burning calories and working your cardiovascular system. Because it takes more calories to exercise, your metabolism is sped up during the activity. Also exercising first thing on an empty stomach will assist in reducing stored fat cells.
When you are lifting weights or doing other resistance work, focus on the activity itself which not only burns calories but increases muscle strength, tone and endurance. (Don’t just throw the weights around and think the faster you do this, the faster you burn fat - false. Keep it controlled and be sure you feel your muscles fatigue)
The combination of aerobic activity and weight training will result in a body that has more muscle and less fat - so the end result will be a higher metabolism.
*** Remember if you want a snack in between your main meals do NOT go for the chocolate..... instead try our Ultimate Slim protein blend which is high protein, low fat and low carbohydrate and is available in 4 great flavours. This is formulated to give you that extra kick with its added fat burning enhancers and fight sugar cravings while assisting to repair and tone muscles. Order online at www.ultimateperformancesupplements.com ****
