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January 31, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Is “Fat Burning” a Myth?

Feeling like this fat cat? Read how to burn that fat.

Feeling a little like this cat looks?

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There’s a lot of misinformation about losing weight. Some of this information is complete fiction, but some does have a basis of truth — it’s just really hard to know which is which. It’s no wonder that people struggle to lose weight.

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.1. Fat Burning Myth: Working out makes you hungry, therefore you eat more

The fact is:

Don’t believe this myth or you’ll start skipping a workout here and there. The truth is that working out actually suppresses your appetite. If you wonder at the truth of this statement, it might be because your post-workout thirst mimics hunger (when you’re dehydrated), so you thought you were hungry.

Drink some water and it will not only quench your thirst, but quench your hunger pangs as well.

Motivation bonus: The best thing about working out is that it boosts your metabolism so you burn calories and fat over a longer period of time.

2.  Fat Burning Myth:  Your cardio workout only burns calories after about 15 minutes

The fact is:

Your body is burning calories around the clock, whether you’re sitting, sleeping or exercising.  However, after the first 15 minutes or so of your workout, your body switches to fat as a fuel source.

Motivation Bonus: Weight loss is ultimately dependent on burning calories.  You burn less fat if you run for twenty minutes, but you’ll burn more calories than if you go on a long walk. The quick answer is to always choose the workout that burns more calories. But more than anything, just keep moving.

3.  Fat Burning Myth: High Protein diets help you lose weight via ketosis

The fact is: 

Ketosis is the process where your body uses fat as an energy source.  You may have heard that it is a dangerous state and potentially life-threatening, but this is not the case.  To read more on this topic, click here

Instead of focusing on any one food, choose a balanced diet rich in lean protein (it helps you feel full longer and it also helps to balance your blood sugar, giving you energy for longer periods of time). Include carbohydrate rich foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains, drink lots of water, add exercise, and you’ll burn fat and keep it off. Add some of the super foods, natural fat burning remedies, and green tea too.

Motivation Bonus: Ultimately the key to fat burning and weight loss is to burn more calories than you consume. Once again, keep moving. Read here how these 7 simple steps can help you burn fat

If you’re trying to lose weight or trying to burn fat, don’t believe everything you read or hear. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Filed Under: Exercise, Fat burning foods, Healthy Eating Tagged With: , , , , ,
January 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment

These Hormones Help You Burn Fat. Learn Simple Ways You Can Boost Their Power

Our bodies are made up of a series of processes, each working with the other to keep our bodies functioning optimally.

Woohoo, I´m so HYPER because I'm revving up my hormones!

Hormones play an important role in these systems, and if you’re trying to lose some weight (and burn fat), there are several hormones that come into play. Often referred to as fat burning hormones, these babies are amazing!  AND the good news is that there are ways to manipulate these hormones to help you lose weight (eat “fat burning” foods frequently and increase lean muscle to boost your “fat burning” metabolism etc).

What are Fat Burning Hormones?

Fat burning hormones regulate your metabolism and they are naturally occurring substances in your body, as I’m sure you know. But you might not know that there are a few habits and/or activities that you can do to help to boost their presence, and in turn, help you lose weight faster.

So which hormones are the Fat Burning Hormones?

Testosterone

Known as the male sex hormone, it’s present in both men and women. Testosterone helps build muscle mass, and muscle mass boosts metabolism and burns fat. You can boost your testosterone levels with strength training (causing increased muscle mass, resulting in a faster metabolism).

Thyroid Hormones

Your thyroid gland, and the hormones that it secretes, regulates metabolism (specifically triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), which are tyrosine-based hormones produced by the thyroid gland). These hormones control how quickly the body uses energy.  

It also controls how sensitive your body should be to other hormones. When your thyroid is ‘off’ and not functioning optimally, your weight can be adversely affected.

There are medications that help when your thyroid gland is not functioning properly. If you suspect your thyroid is producing too much or too little hormone, consult a doctor. When this gland is functioning properly it will help keep your metabolism humming and your fat burning.

I use sea salt almost exclusively, so I was interested to learn that iodine is necessary for the production of T3 and T4 and that sea salt does not contain enough iodine to keep your thyroid operating optimally. A deficiency of iodine leads to decreased production of T3 and T4, enlarges the thyroid tissue and will cause the disease known as goitre.  If you only use sea salt, I recommend that you do some research to see if you are getting enough iodine from other sources.

Adrenaline

Adrenaline is a hormone that, when released, raises your blood glucose levels. It also causes fatty acids to be released. This is to provide energy when in a fight or flight situation.

When adrenaline is released, you are burning more fat and using more calories.

So the question is, ‘how to increase adrenaline levels?‘

  • Frequent exercise, such as strength training, will boost your adrenaline levels.
  • Partaking in activities that are exciting and that get your blood racing also boost levels of adrenaline. For example:
    • mountain biking
    • rock climbing
    • snowboarding
    • skiing
    • football
    • running
    • martial arts
    • sprinting

I RECOMMEND

ALL TOO OFTEN WOMEN ARE TOLD that feeling moody, asexual, tapped out, dried up, stressed out, and sleep deprived is just a part of being female. Or they’re led to believe that the answer can be found only at the bottom of a bottle of prescription pills.

Dr. Sara Gottfried, a Harvard-educated physician and nationally recognized, board-certified gynecologist, refuses to accept that being a woman means feeling overwhelmed or that popping pills is the new normal. In The Hormone Cure, she shares the unique hormone-balancing program that she has used to help thousands of women reclaim wellness, verve, and optimal health.

Combining natural therapies with rigorous scientific testing and using an informative questionnaire to identify the common causes of hormonal imbalance, Dr. Gottfried provides an individualized plan in nonjudgmental and thoughtful language.

Based on ten years’ study of cutting-edge medical research as a specialist in functional and integrative therapies, Dr. Gottfried’s three-tiered treatment strategy includes:

• Supplements and targeted lifestyle changes that address underlying deficiencies

• Herbal therapies that restore balance and optimize your body’s natural function

• Bioidentical hormones— most available without a prescription

The Hormone Cure is a groundbreaking book that demonstrates how balancing your hormones can cure underlying health issues and result in restored sleep, greater energy, improved mood, easy weight loss, increased productivity, and many more benefits. Dr. Sara Gottfried’s The Hormone Cure will transform your life.  Click the image to learn more about his life-changing new book.

Filed Under: Exercise, Fat burning foods, Hormones, Supplements Tagged With: , , , , , ,
January 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

5 Simple, Fat-Burning Changes to Your Lifestyle That You Should Make Right Now

If you’re trying to lose weight you’ll be happy to learn that there are things you can do to make weight loss much easier and a lot faster.

In fact, a few lifestyle changes and new habits can make a huge difference. Here are 5 great weight loss habits to add to your new lifestyle right now.

1.  Eat protein

Kale & Mushroom Quinoa

Photo By SweetOnVeg

Protein balances your blood sugar, so instead of spikes and plummets that you experience with starchy carbohydrates and sugary snacks, you feel full and satisfied consistently over the course of you day. You’ll also have an even level of energy that stays with you for longer. And you won’t get overly hungry or experience cravings like you have in the past.

 

2.  Eat often

Eat often

Photo By orangeacid

It probably sounds counter intuitive to consume MORE food, but eating frequent, small meals will stop the hunger pangs that make you want to empty the fridge in one sitting. The key is to make smart food choices (that also help your body burn fat and lose weight) that will leave you feeling satiated most of the day.  Here’s how:

  • If you currently eat 3 large meals each day, try eating 5-6 smaller meals.
  • Ensure that each of your meals contains protein, and a fruit or vegetable.

For example, nuts are a great snack. So are apples and cheese. By choosing whole grains, fruits and veggies, you’ll fill you up quickly and be able to keep your appetite at bay for hours.

3.  Drink water and green tea.

mornig green tea

Photo By Kanko*

Thirst is often mistaken for hunger. Drinking more liquids each day helps to flush and detox your body (many toxins affect metabolism, inflammation and the release of fat into your body). It also keeps you feeling full.  

Green tea also has fat burning properties. It actually stimulates your metabolism and it contains caffeine which suppresses appetite.  The fact is that green tea is a fabulous  fat-burning habit to adopt.

Palmer´s Mystery Hike No. 2

Photo By Powerhouse Museum Collection

4.  Walk — a lot.

A body that’s in motion is a body with a much faster metabolism than one that is sedentary. The more you move the more you burn.

Some experts recommend walking ten thousand steps each day, but others suggest that 30 minutes aerobic activity with a sustained heart rate 5 days per week will help you lose weight. Examples of aerobic exercise are running/jogging, swimming, cycling, and walking.

If you choose to track your steps each day and want to make it to the 10,000 mark, know that 10,000 steps is approximately 5 miles. Start small and build on it. You’ll feel and look great after a short period of time.

5. Lift weights.

Hippocrates explained the principle behind strength training when he wrote “that which is used develops, and that which is not used wastes away”.

Lift Weight to Burn Fat

Photo By massdistraction

The benefits of weight training include greater muscular strength, improved muscle tone and appearance, increased endurance and enhanced bone density.

But it’s because muscle burns fat that we really want to lift them.  A strength training workout also burns a lot of calories both while you’re working out AND AFTER your workout.

Add a few strength training workouts to your week or lift weights for twenty minutes here and there to begin with. One thing I’ve learned from personal experience is that if you push yourself to painful places, you’ll get discouraged right away. It’s better to start small and slow — your body will tell you when it’s ready for more. It’ll be a lot more fun too.

In summary, as the diet and exercise experts know, the best way to burn fat, lose weight and keep it off is to change your lifestyle.  There aren’t any short cuts. Adopt healthy habits and get rid of the unhealthy ones.

Start with these five habits and keep the weight off for good.

Filed Under: Exercise, Fat burning foods, Herbal Teas, Transformational Foods
December 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Happy Holidays! Get Moving!

Holiday parties, shopping, decorating, baking,

Women jogging to keep the holiday weight offwriting cards, seeing friends, traveling, cooking, cleaning, the list of activities this time of year goes on and on.

When your to do list is long it is easy to convince yourself that there isn’t enough time to exercise, there are so many more important things to do, right?

WRONG!

When we are busy exercise can be the most effective treatment available!

Changing your mindset to one of making exercise a priority

can go a long way in sticking with your exercise during the holiday season. Exercise has numerous benefits, but these relate closely to the holiday season:

  • Exercise helps to relieve stress. It clears out our stress hormones and calms us down so we can make clear decisions and deal with the increased demands of the holidays.
  • Exercise helps us sleep better. When you sleep better you get more done and are usually more patient and positive.
  • Exercise burns calories. This helps us maintain our weight during the holiday season.
  • Exercise boosts your mood. Many people struggle with depression and dark moods during the winter season. Exercise can help!
  • Exercise increases energy. Regular exercise makes your heart and lungs work more efficiently giving you more energy to tackle your holiday to do list.
  • Exercise can be social. Want to catch up with a friend during this busy time of year? Suggest a hike, walk, or gym date to get in exercise and social time.

I think the key to getting in exercise during the holidays is to have a plan.

Just take 5 minutes the each evening to organize your day and plan when you will exercise and what you will do. Nothing fancy, but if you take the time to plan you are more likely to get it done. Then, tell your family and friends the plans so they help to hold you accountable, who knows they may even follow your example and join you.

Instead of saying there are more important things to do than exercise, change your thought pattern to “Exercising for at least 30 minutes per day is a priority today!” Skip a holiday task and give yourself a gift. Don’t wait until the New Year to start or resume your exercise routine. Get started today and feel great heading into 2013. Your mind and body will thank you.

Happy Holidays and Happy Exercising!

Live Well,
Laura

 

Filed Under: Exercise, Guest Authors, Laura Baylor Articles
December 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

7 Simple Steps You Can Take to Help Burn More Weight Each Day

1st step to amplify weight loss

You’ve decided you’re going to lose that extra weight AND you’re feeling incredibly motivated.  

Weight loss and being chained to your scale

Could you use a few suggestions around the little extra actions you can take to speed the process up (besides just watching your food consumption)?

If the answer is yes, then follow along. There are lots of ways  to speed things up (and stay motivated).

 

Here are 7 of the best:

1st step to amplify weight loss

Challenge yourself and move your body a bit more than you normally would.

  • People who move a lot during their waking hours, whether in an office or at home as a mommy, are healthier and thinner than people who are inactive.
  • This has been shown to be true even when the more sedentary person consumes fewer calories.
  • Why? Well first, muscle burns fat and second because our bodies are designed to move beyond just the autonomic actions such as breathing and yawning.
  • It needs to stretch to relieve tension, move quickly to raise the heart rate, and move to heat up and burn off calories.
Do yourself a huge favor and get moving:

  • Add steps to your day.
  • Take the stairs.
  • Take the baby for a long walk.
  • Bike to the store for your missing ingredients for tonight’s dinner.
  •  In fact, aim to take at least 10,000 steps a day.
  • And get yourself a pedometer to monitor your steps throughout the day.

All of this will make a huge difference in how quickly you lose the extra weight. By the way, exercise not only speeds up your metabolism so you can lose weight, it also aids in the digestion and elimination of food.  Wouldn’t it be great to actually be hungry at your next meal or snack?

  1. 2nd small step to weight loss

    Eat consciously (mindfully)

Hectic lives don’t allow for a lot of time to spend enjoying your food. If your were to time how long you spend eating your biggest meal of the day, you’d probably be shocked. It’s likely that you spend less than ten minutes at the table.

  • It’s important to slow down, eat deliberately, and enjoy your food. You’ll find your weight loss speeding up.
  • Make it a habit to eat slowly and give your body a chance to alert you when you are satisfied (not full).
  • Your brain needs 20 minutes to arrive at the conclusion that you are “not hungry anymore“.
  • Slow down. The benefits will show up in all areas of your life, not just in your weight loss program.

Take advantage of any and all free time

Use your time wisely. No doubt you’ve got periods throughout the day where you could be doing some simple movements to keep your activity level up:

Keep Moving (and moving and moving)

The more you move your body the more calories/fat you’re going to burn. In fact, studies have shown that continuous movement throughout the day is absolutely necessary for losing weight and fat.

  • Add walking to your lifestyle
  • try to walk those 10,000 steps mentioned earlier.
  • Do what brings you joy.
    • Dance,
    • run,
    • ride a bike,
    • run up some stairs,
    • go for a vigorous swing with your child,
    • or go for a hike in nature.

Do what you love, but get (and keep) your body moving!

Get 8 hours of good sleep

  • Sleep is vital to weight loss. At the very least, it gives you more energy which allows you to get and stay active all day.
  • At a deeper level, sleep helps optimize your body’s metabolism and other systems.
  • According to a study by the American Journal of Epidemiology and reported in Women’s Health, not getting enough sleep causes your brain to believe that you need to eat
  • This is due to the hormone leptin which is regulated by sleep.
  • Lack of sleep triggers hunger pangs making you feel like you need to eat.
  • (Leptin signals the brain that the body has had enough to eat, producing a feeling of satiety. Moreover, this fullness hormone may make it easier for people to resist the temptation of foods high in calories) source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptin.
  • By the way, this same study found that women who slept for 5 hours or less were an average of 5 pounds heavier than women who snoozed for 7 hours.
  • If you are interested in learning more about how Leptin helps or hinders your weight loss, this book is awesome.

Drink water and green tea

Green tea is a natural fat burner. Additionally, the caffeine may rev your metabolism.

And drinking a glass of water or green tea before a meal or a snack will help you feel fuller.

Eat several times a day.

It might sound strange but when you eat more often, you lose weight.

  • The key to weight loss is what you eat and the size of your meals.
  • When you eat smaller healthy meals with whole grains, protein and fruits or vegetables you balance your blood sugar. This helps keep your metabolism humming and burning fat.
  • Instead of eating three larger meals, eat five to six smaller meals.

♥ 

Fat burning is a combination of eating well and exercising.

However, you can add a few simple steps to amplify your efforts. Get burning that fat and reach your weight loss goals more quickly.

What have you done that made a big difference in how quickly you were able to shed the pounds?  Care to share?  Leave a comment… 

Filed Under: Exercise, Food Cravings, Healthy Eating, Herbal Teas, Leptin
September 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

3 Ways to Get a “Skinny Mind” and Lose That Extra Weight Once and For All

A Skinny Brain

What is “The Skinny Mind”?

More than any other factor, your mindset will make or break your weight loss success. What do I mean by that? Well, have you ever noticed how differently you behave when you’ve lost a pound or two? And how great you feel because you’re hopeful about your weight loss? And how great it is to feel like you’re finally getting somewhere?

This alone is probably the most motivating factor while trying to lose weight. It’s a lot like getting compound interest on a bank deposit — it becomes self perpetuating — the better you feel, the more you want to feel better, and so on. It’s a simple feedback loop.

People are much more likely to exercise when they feel better. And the more exercise they do, the more likely they are to push themselves to exercise more. It’s the “runner’s high” concept. Once you get a taste for the endorphins (you’ll get blasted with after a good workout) it will become addicting. It’s here that our minds have the best chance for becoming “skinny”.

♥ Mindset creates reality, and we CAN acquire a “skinny” mind.

3 Ways to Encourage Your Skinny Mind:

  1. Visualize it

    Athletes win because they see themselves winning.  They concentrate so strongly that they SEE themselves winning, or crossing the finish line, or jumping higher than ever before. They SEE their victory before it ever happens. And it changes their brains. Embrace this strategy! Really SEE yourself at the weight you want to be. Walk like you weigh 120 pounds. Act like you weigh 120 pounds. Look lovingly at this new 120 pound you.
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    Concentrate on the new you mind throughout the day until you have an image of yourself that bridges the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Use this image freely and frequently to keep yourself  motivated and on track. Embrace it when you’re feeling challenged or unmotivated. It can not only help you make better decisions about diet and exercise, it may actually change your body’s chemistry to support weight loss. Try a visualization exercise each day to help you even more.
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  2.  Affirmations

Affirmations are positive statements that support success. They’re often used to replace negative thoughts or emotions. For example, if you find yourself thinking, “I hate my big stomach,” you might replace that thought with, “I love my body.”

Positive affirmations such as these will help you change how you think and feel about yourself. When you love your body, you make different choices. You make better food choices. You exercise more. You simply treat yourself better.  Create affirmations that support love for your body. For example, “I have control over myself. I make smart food choices.” Or “I love how exercise makes my body feel”.”

Repeat your affirmations daily. Say them aloud or replace your negative thoughts with a positive affirmation. Affirmations will support your lifestyle changes (and your “Skinny Mind”). . 

3.   Set small goals. 

Successful dieters learn that small goals equal consistent success. It’s difficult to follow through on a goal of losing 100 pounds. It feels too big, it’s discouraging, and difficult to manage. However, if you break that goal down into smaller goals it becomes much easier to achieve. A smaller goal might be to lose five pounds this month, or two pounds per week, or any other amount you know you can achieve. Setting small goals helps you to create a pattern of success. Each time you achieve a small goal, you’re one step closer to achieving the big one.

Skinny Healthy weight people also only eat when they’re hungry. In reality, healthy weight people tend to eat more often than larger people, because they realize that eating smaller meals several times a day helps keep their blood sugar balanced, energy levels even, and hunger at bay.  They don’t make themselves wait for 3 huge meals per day. They eat a little here and a little there so that when they sit down at a meal, they don’t have to eat a huge amount of food to tide them over to the next meal (which makes it difficult for your body to digest and eliminate).

And believe it or not, they also snack. The difference is that their snack choices are better. Snacking doesn’t mean a big bag of chips. It is more likely to be a nectarine or a piece of cheese.

And they drink water. Lots of water.  They don’t drink Diet Coke or Tab, for they know that these products are a dieter’s worst nightmare.

But back to the concept of The Skinny Mind. Use your brain to help you burn fat and lose weight. It’s the most powerful tool you own that will keep you moving toward your goal of losing weight and burning fat.

♥  Embrace healthy thinking strategies so that your “Skinny Mind” can help you achieve your weight loss goals.

Click this link to learn simple meditations from Marianne Williamson to help you lose weight.

Filed Under: Exercise, Healthy Eating, Mindful Eating Tagged With: , , ,