FOODS THAT BOOST METABOLISM

SOURCE: https://www.fitstudio.com/articles/can-food-burn-fat?&sid=ISm20120516x124457

• Living Healthy
• Can Food Burn Fat?

Can Food Burn Fat?

by Bonnie Taub-Dix, R.D., author of Read It Before You Eat It

    

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If food literally burned fat, we’d all be injecting it directly into our hips and love handles! Unfortunately, biology doesn’t work that way. There are certain foods, however, that create more of a thermogenic effect than others. In other words, they turn up the heat your body generates during digestion, allowing you to torch calories quickly. That doesn’t mean you can ignore eating a balanced diet overall, minding your portions, and exercising regularly (nice try!).
Use the following seven foods to turn your metabolism into a furnace.

1. Green tea

Substances called catechins, which are abundant in green tea, may stimulate the metabolism, studies show. Drinking 4 cups daily should be enough to do the trick, experts say. If you’re sensitive to caffeine, you may want to opt for a decaf variety.

2. Lean protein

Eating lean protein helps you feel fuller longer and build muscle, and digesting it turns your metabolism into a blow torch. But please don’t eat steaks the size of your foot. The average woman only needs about 46 grams of protein daily, and the average man requires 56 grams, roughly.

3. Whole grains

Your body burns more calories digesting brown rice, quinoa, and whole wheat pasta, compared to their highly-processed counterparts. According to the USDA Dietary Guidelines, you should make at least half of your daily grains whole. But why stop at half?

4. Almonds

Eating a handful of almonds, instead of less healthy snacks, showed a reduction in body weight and greater satiety, research reveals. Can’t stop at a handful? Separate 23 almonds, skin on, into snack-sized bags to control portions.

5. Chili peppers

The active compound in hot peppers, known as Capsaicin, appears to heat up your metabolism and your mouth, research shows. And the effect sticks, whether the peppers are raw, cooked, or dried. Out with the salt; chili pepper flakes, in!

6. Ice water

Your body burns more calories in cooler temperatures because it has to work harder to stay warm. It can’t hurt to drop a few ice cubes into your H20; you just might drop an inch as well.

7. Beans

Probably the most underrated items in the supermarket, beans are rich in soluble fiber and help reduce fat and cholesterol in your blood. They’re also high in protein, inexpensive, and convenient to cook. Add them to salads, stews, or eat them cold as snacks.

BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES

I will update once in awhile.

Well, it's been a while since I've written on here. I am a very shy person and I think I'm going to sound like a fool. I basically started the blog to end up just not doing it. But If I end up sounding like a fool, so be it. :) Please leave comments so I can see how I am doing.

I wanted to start out with how I got started. My very first workout was only .70 miles. I tracked it with www.mapmyfitness.com. It tracks distance, calories and other things. Check them out at the link I provided. It is an insentive to me to use. I have mine set to let me know every half of  a mile that I walk. I get encouraged to go another half a mile every time I hear it tell me. lol 

The calorie burning calculator is a huge encouragement to me as well. When you see the calories that you have burned.... you want to burn more! 

On mapmyfitness, they have dozens of different sorts of exercises to choose from... walking, running, home workout, treadmill, trampoline and many many more. 

Let me know if you try out this app and what you think of it. 

DRINK PLENTY OF WATER

Experts say to drink half of your weight in water. Therefore divide your wight in half and that is how many ounces of water you should drink per day. For example... if you weigh 100 pounds, you should drink 50 ounces of water per day. Staying hydrated is very important!

Almost disappointed myself this morning!

Yesterday was a very intense workout at Fuel fitness. I swear she tried to kill me! lol I manged to make it through. All sweaty and triumphant!! Needless to say, this morning I was not feeling it. I did not want to go to an hour of cardio on top of yesterday near death experience. I decided this morning that I wasn't going to go. I needed a break.... yep you guessed it. I was making excuses. I got up and got dressed. Even though I was sore and half dead from yesterday, I went to the cardio class anyway. I felt wonderful when I finished and very proud of myself. Don't make excuses... make yourself do it!

About me

I feel like I should start by saying that I'm very new to this. Please be patient with me. Also, If you have any suggestions please let me know. I am starting this blog to try to help other people in the struggle with weight loss. 

What my posts are going to be about are my struggles and triumphs, what works for me and what doesn't, and anything else I feel like telling you. :) Basically my day to day. I hope I help someone :)

I lost my mom a year ago in May. (5-2-12) The loss of my mother was devastating to me. I seriously felt that I didn't care if my life continued. I didn't do anything. Sitting on the couch and eating was all I did. Getting off of the couch to go to the kitchen to get something to eat would wind me to the point where I would have to stop to catch my breath. Needless to say, I packed on the pounds. I was up to 348 pounds. While sitting on the couch one day, I started having trouble breathing. I came to the realization that I wasn't going to live much longer. That is when my boys and my husband popped into my head. Realizing that if I passed away, I would be doing to them what I was going through. I couldn't bare the fact of hurting them the way I was hurting. I immediately got off the couch and put on some loose fitting clothes. (I could no longer fit it most of my clothes) The largest pair of pants I had was a 26 and I couldn't close them anymore. Well back to where I was lol.... I got off the couch, got dressed and walked over to the cemetery across the street from where I live. I downloaded a fitness tracker and walked around the inside of the cemetery. It was only 0.07 miles, but I thought I was going to die. It was such a struggle to walk that far. I felt that it was such a huge accomplishment.... It was a huge accomplishment! That was the beginning of my life change. I will never say that I am dieting, because I'm not. I have changed my life in all aspects of it. Diets don't work! 

I also want to tell you that I DO NOT take any weight loss aids. I refuse to take them. I have been told that you need to loose the weight the way you want to keep it off. I don't want to have to continue throwing my money away on weight loss products and depending on them for the rest of my life. I use good old fashioned portion control and exercise. Portion control is very very important. Read those labels!!

My husband and my boys are my biggest supporters and they are so proud of me. I couldn't have done it without them. (Thank you Brandon, Troy and Gene. I love you with all of my heart)

My journey started eight months ago. I joined TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) a month after that. Having to be accountable to the scale at TOPS every week keeps me going.  The support I receive from the other members is truly irreplaceable as well. As I said before my starting weight was 348 pounds. Today I weigh 230.5 pounds. That is a weigh loss of 117.5 pounds. My goal weight is 160 pounds which means I have 70.5 pounds  to lose to reach my goal. There is no doubt in my mind that I will do it. Nothing will stop me. I am one determined SOB. lol

When I started, I walked 0.07 miles. I am now walking 2-3 miles more than 4 times a week. Walking is still hard for me because of my back and leg problems, but I no longer use that as an excuse. ( I broke my back twice and now have nerve problems and several other conditions that hinder me. I push through it now. As the Marines say.... Pain is weakness leaving the body.) I can and will do anything I set my mind to. Having a positive attitude, not making excuses and never giving up will get you where you want to be.

Many people have said that I am starving myself or making myself  "getting rid of" things I eat. I promise you that none of that is true. I eat whatever I want. Moderation is the key. I even eat chocolate! I actually enjoy food so much more now than I did before. I don't refuse myself anything. I eat chips, chocolate, candy, cupcakes........ I just don't eat a lot of them. For example, If I want a cupcake, I will cut it in half and only eat half of it.

Thank you for listening to me. If you want to talk to me, please feel free to do so. My email address is sparks4166@gmail.com. :)