Walking Off The Weight

Your metabolism plays an important role in weight loss. As you eat less, your metabolism slows down to compensate for the apparent shortage of food. Thankfully there are a lot of ways to speed up your metabolism.

Speed Up Metabolism

Metabolism is essentially the speed at which our body’s motor is running. The speed at which our body burns calories is called the metabolic rate. It’s how fast your “motor” is running when you’re still in a reclined position or sleeping. About 60-75% of energy is expended by the body at rest in such activities.

The metabolism is based on the number of calories we burn throughout the day. Our body constantly burns calories to keep us going whether we are eating, sleeping, cleaning etc. People with a lower percentage of body fat (i.e. muscular) have a higher metabolism than others that are less muscular because muscle uses more calories to maintain itself than fat. Some people have a slower metabolic rate and have a harder time staying slim. Younger persons have higher (faster) metabolism because of the increased activity of cells. A slow metabolism actually causes to store fat. The slower the metabolic rate, the greater the weight gains. How to build muscles to improve metabolism? What type of exercise is ideal that speed up metabolism so that you burn calories even at rest or sleep? There are simple exercises that speed up the metabolism.

Causes for Low Metabolism

Fasting
A low calorie diet
Snacking throughout the day on high sugared foods (candy, colas, cakes, gum).
Eating or drinking too much sugar containing foods.
Lack of physical activity.
Under-active thyroid.

Metabolism Boosters

There are some natural metabolism boosters (natural foods) that improves your metabolism. Do not take over the counter pills containing animal thyroid extract that claim to boost up metabolism. These products may have side effects as diarrhea, increased heart rate, excessive sweating, nervousness, tremors, bulging eyes, etc.

How to Improve (Speed up) Metabolism

* Do not skip any meals
* Exercise daily
* Build your muscles
* Avoid alcohol, sugar, and fasting
* Drink 8-10 glasses of water daily
* Eat foods with high nutrition values

Filed under: Articles on April 20th, 2009 | No Comments »

Now you can enjoy eggs benedict on the weekend and not have to feel bad about it. The eggs make a great weekend breakfast or brunch.

6 Servings

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons hot water
* 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
* 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
* 4 slices (2 ounces) Canadian-style bacon
* 2 English muffins, split and toasted
* 4 whole eggs for poaching

Directions

In the top of a double boiler, blend hot water with mayonnaise, stirring frequently, about 7 minutes or until heated through. Stir in lemon juice. Remove from heat and set aside.

Pour 1 1/2 to 2 inches of water into a large frying pan and bring to a simmer while you prepare the muffins and bacon.

In a large non-stick frying pan, cook bacon approximately 3 minutes or until heated through (may also be heated in the microwave). Remove from heat and place one slice of bacon on each English muffin half.

One at a time, break each egg onto a saucer or into small cups or bowls. Slip eggs carefully into simmering water by lowering the lip of each egg-cup 1/2-inch below the surface of the water. Let the eggs flow out. Immediately cover with a lid and turn off the heat. Set a timer for exactly three minutes for medium-firm yolks. Adjust the time up or down for runnier or firmer yolks. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, depending on firmness desired.

Lift each perfectly poached egg from the water with a slotted spoon, but hold it over the skillet briefly to let any water clinging to the egg drain off. Place one egg on each muffin half. Top each egg with 2 tablespoons of lemon/mayonnaise sauce. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.

Nutritional Information per serving:
Calories: 325
Fat: 12g

Filed under: Recipes on April 8th, 2009 | No Comments »

This fun and fruity burrito is a big hit with kids. It is a healthy start to any morning. This banana burrito is a great way to get your kids (or yourself) to eat a serving of fruit first thing in the morning.

1 Serving

Ingredients

* 1 medium banana
* 1 flour tortilla
* 2 Tablespoon peanut butter
* 1 teaspoon 50/50 cinnamon and sugar mixed

Directions

Spread peanut butter evenly over tortilla. Place whole banana one edge of the tortilla. Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar and fold tortilla into a burrito.

Filed under: Recipes on April 7th, 2009 | No Comments »

You have heard about the physical benefits of exercise: weight loss, improved stamina, increased lifespan, and much more. But did you know that it also has benefits to your mental health? Not only does exercise make your body work better, it makes you feel better too. Let’s take a look at how exercise can make you feel better and enjoy life more.

A Boost In Energy
A sedentary lifestyle can make you feel fatigued. When you work out regularly, you feel more energized and are ready to face the day. Exercise gets your blood pumping, which then delivers oxygen to your entire body. Exercising also helps you get a better night sleep and fall asleep faster. You will feel better rested when you wake up in the morning. Working out regularly also gets you in shape for everyday life, making it more effortless to get through the ups and downs of everyday life.

Stress Reducer
Many people know that endorphins from exercise make you feel better and help you have a better outlook on life, but exercise can also provide a time for reflection; which can go a long way in reducing stress. Many of us don’t have time alone without thoughts to contemplate our problems. Some types of exercise, such as running, can provide time to think about the day and sort out problems, very similar to the way meditation helps with stress.

Better Self-Esteem
After a workout, you feel that you have accomplished something. This can give you quite the boost in self-esteem, and helps instill a pride in yourself. In return, feeling like you can accomplish things makes you more likely to work out again, which of course gives you are greater feeling of accomplishment. This creates a circle of positive reinforcement that will have you working out regularly.

Become More Social
Being social and having friends is an important part of our lives. Exercise can help us stay in touch with old friends by scheduling regular walks or runs. It can be also used to meet new friends at the gym or through sports. These kinds of activities can make you feel accepted and loved; making you feel much better.

If you’re wondering if the effects of exercise will change the way you feel, consider this: many doctors and therapists recommend exercise as part of their treatment for anxiety or depression. If exercise is powerful enough to combat depression, think what it can do to improve your life.

Filed under: Articles on April 7th, 2009 | No Comments »

Just because it’s a little chilly outside, doesn’t mean you can’t have fun and get a great workout during the colder months. Here are some great winter fitness activities you can try. Mixing up your regular gym workout with a few of these will keep your exercise routine interesting and avoids winter blues.

Walking Or Running
If you’re tired of being stuck inside, get outdoors for a good jogging or power walking session. Jog around the block or walk a mile or two. You can add light hand weights to work your arms while you’re walking.

Take Your Workout Outside
Grab a few friends or get your family outside for a workout. A short walk or jog makes for a great warm-up. Use some steps for aerobic workouts, or find items to use as weights. Use your imagination and you’ll find all sorts of “nature provided” workout equipment. Or better yet play a game of tag football for some great interval training (and of course lots of fun).

Ice Skating
Ice skating makes for a fun winter exercise. When lakes are frozen, ice skaters come out of hiding and get out on the ice for lots of fun. You may even have some outdoor ice-skating rings in your area. Most kids really enjoy ice skating too, making this a great winter fitness activity for the whole family.

Snow Shoeing
If you are living in an area with plenty of the white fluffy stuff in the winter months, trade your sneakers or boots for snow shoes. Snowshoeing works your leg muscles even more than your usual walking workout, because you have to really lift your legs to be able to walk around. Add some poles and you get a great upper body workout as well.

Hiking
Hiking isn’t just a great workout for summer and spring. Winter hiking is a totally exhilarating fitness activity that gets you out in the cool crisp air. Bring along your digital camera to take pictures of the beautiful winter scenery as you explore the trails. Even trails that you are very familiar hiking in the summer, become new and interesting again with a layer of snow.

Filed under: Articles on April 7th, 2009 | No Comments »

Walking 10,000 Steps per day is enough exercise to improve your overall health and fitness. Sadly, many of us only walk about 3,000 steps a day. Put on your pedometer and work your way up to 10,000 steps per day.

Obesity is on the rise in almost all western nations and part of it is to blame on our sedentary lifestyle. The average person now only takes between 3,000 and 5,000 steps a day. Combined with our diet of sweet and fatty foods full of refined flour and sugar makes for a potentially deadly combination. Lack of exercise and high-calorie diets result in heart disease, diabetes and an ever-growing list of other ailments.

How do we rectify the situation? By eating healthy, balanced meals and walking 10,000 steps a day. 10,000 may sound like a large number, but you can easily get there by incorporating just a few of the tips below. Some of them will add hundreds of steps to your daily count, others even thousands. Pick one of the tips to start with and make it a daily habit. Then move on and add another way to add more steps to your day. Don’t forget to keep track of the amount of steps you take with a pedometer.

* Park your car at the far end of the parking lot and walk.

* Spend 15 minutes of your lunch hour going for a brisk walk.

* When you go to check the mail, walk to the mailbox, back to your front door and then to the mailbox again before picking up your mail.

* When running errands or shopping, park the car in a central location and walk the rest of the way whenever possible.

* Go for a walk around the block after dinner with your partner.

* Find a walking buddy and schedule regular weekly walks.

* Set up a treadmill in front of the TV and walk while you watch your favorite show.

* Join a Gym and use their treadmills when it’s too cold or wet to walk outside.

* Pace around the room while you are talking on the phone.

* Take a stroll through your yard.

* Walk around the playground while your kids are playing.

Filed under: Articles on April 7th, 2009 | No Comments »

A pedometer is a neat little gadget that will help you track how much walking you have done in a day. It can be a helpful tool in getting into and sticking with an exercise schedule. Let’s take a look at how you can use a pedometer to get into shape.

Why should I walk?
Walking is one of the easiest forms of exercise to get into. You don’t need any special equipment, just a pair of comfortable shoes. There are no new techniques to learn, since you already know how to walk. Walking is a very low impact activity, that doesn’t put much stress on your joints. You can start out at any pace that is comfortable to you and walk for as long as you’d like. Over time you will gradually increase the intensity of your walking workout by walking for longer periods of time, increasing the speed as well as the incline you walk at.

What should I keep in mind when purchasing a pedometer?
You can spend anywhere from $10 - $100 and more for a pedometer. A basic model will work just fine, as long as it tracks your steps accurately. Basic models may only give you the number of steps you walked, while more advanced models will also calculate the distance walked, calories burnt and usually also keep track of several days worth of walking. Some even come with some tracking software you can use on your computer. It will be up to you to decide how many bells and whistles you would like on your pedometer.

How do I wear the pedometer properly?
There are two ways to wear a pedometer that have been working well for me and have given me very accurate results. The first is to wear the pedometer on your belt or directly on your waistband right over your front pocket. The pedometer should be in line with your foot. The second option is to clip the pedometer to the top of your shoe. On the side, right below my ankle is the most comfortable position for me.
Some people also get good results by carrying the pedometer in their back pocket or clipping it to their waistband on their side. Try something that seems comfortable to you and walk 100 steps. If your count and the pedometers count are within 5 steps of each other, you’re in good shape.

How do I get started?
Establish a base figure of how many steps a day you take right now on average. To do this, wear your pedometer each day for a week and record your daily steps. Calculate your daily average by adding up all the steps you walked for the week and dividing the number by 7. Now that you have a base figure to start with, let’s see how you can increase the steps you take each day.

How should I increase my steps?
Increase the amount of steps you take by adding 1000 – 2000 extra steps per week until you reach 10,000 steps if you are trying to stay fit and healthy or 12,000 if you are trying to loose weight. 2000 extra steps may seem like a lot at first glance, but you can spread them out over the course of the day. Park a little further away while running errands or when you go to work. Take a quick stroll during your lunch break or walk around the block with your spouse in the evening. Chase your kids around the yard. Once you get started, you will find all sorts of creative ways to get a few more steps in here and there.

Now what?
Once you have worked your way up to your target steps, stick with it. Of course there will be days when you can’t walk 10,000 steps, but do your best to average 10,000 a day during the week. If you didn’t walk much during the week, go for a hike on the weekend. Pretty soon walking will become a habit for you and you will miss your daily walk when you can’t work it in.

Filed under: Articles on April 7th, 2009 | No Comments »

A pedometer is a great inexpensive exercising tool that tracks your progress and keeps you motivated to stick to your daily workout. Let’s take a look at what exactly a pedometer is and why you need one.

A pedometer is a small electronic device, about the size of a pager or smaller. The basic function of a pedometer is to track or count how many steps you take. Most models will also convert our steps into the number of miles you walked and calculate how many calories you have burned. More advanced models will save several days worth of date and some will even connect to your computer so you can chart your progress through software provided as well.

So the pedometer helps you keep track of how many steps you walked. I find that I’m much more motivated to take a little walk through the neighborhood, or park a little further when I’m running errands when I’m wearing my pedometer.

A recent study by the University of Minnesota shows that people wearing pedometers tend to walk more. The study split people up in two groups who were both encouraged to walk each day. Only one group was given pedometers to track their steps.

Those with pedometers increased their steps by about 2100 per day, or 20 minutes of steady walking, a 30% increase in daily steps. They walked almost twice as many blocks as those without pedometers. People using a pedometer also tend to stick much longer with a walking routine.

To get the most out of your pedometer, set daily and weekly goals. Start by setting a baseline number of steps. To do this, simply wear the pedometer for a few days. Don’t try to aim for a certain number of steps. All you are doing at this point is measuring how many steps you take in a normal day. Calculate the average number of steps you take any given day. Next you want to start taking 500 to 1000 steps each day. You can easily accomplish this by taking a little walk around the block, parking a little further away during errand and at work, as well as walking to a college’s office instead of calling him or her. Each week, or every two weeks increase your steps and additional 500 to 1000 steps until you reach a minimum of 10,000 steps per day. If you are walking to lose weight, work yourself up to 12,000 to 15,000 steps per day.

Walking is one of the easiest ways to exercise every day and a pedometer will help you track your progress and motivate you to keep walking. All you have to do is put on some comfortable shoes, clip on your pedometer and put one foot in front of the other. I encourage you to give walking and using a pedometer a try.

Filed under: Articles on April 3rd, 2009 | No Comments »

This high protein smoothie make the perfect breakfast to go. Just pour it into an insulated cup after blending.

1 Serving

Ingredients

* 4 oz frozen banana and strawberries
* 3 oz silken tofu
* 3 ounces soy milk
* artificial sweetener to taste
* 2 ice cubes

Directions

Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until well mixed. Pour into a glass or mug.

Nutritional Information per serving:
Calories: 217
Fat: 8.6g
Carbohydrates: 24.6g (Fiber 2.4g)
Protein: 10.9g

Filed under: Recipes on March 27th, 2009 | No Comments »

These whole wheat pancakes are also low fat and make a great breakfast. Enjoy them with some fresh fruit for a great breakfast.

4 Servings

Ingredients

* 1 cup and 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons apple sauce
* 1 cup and 2 tablespoons water
* 1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* a pinch of salt

Directions

Sift all dry ingredients together. Add apple sauce and water and mix until combined. Pour 1/4 cup of the batter into a hot pan per pancake. Cook until bubbles rise from the center of the pancake. Flip and cook until done.

Filed under: Recipes on March 19th, 2009 | No Comments »