Saturday, March 10, 2007

7 Tips to Increase Metabolism

To increase metabolism, always eat breakfast in the morning. Break-fast...break the fast. Don't skip breakfast. If you wait until mid morning or afternoon to eat, your metabolism will run slower. Think of breakfast as adding logs to the fireplace. Your metabolism is the fireplace and logs are the breakfast.

Increase metabolism by eating smaller meals through the day. Eat 4 to 6 six small meals, 2 to 3 hours apart.

Don't depend on herbal products to increase metabolism or energy level. Any metabolic increase will be minimum and herbs are not cheap. Instead, include more energy foods such as whole grains, beans, vegetables and fruits.

Park further away and walk. Use the stairs instead of the elevator when possible. Walk to the post office instead of getting into the car. Take your dog on a daily walk. Do more activities around the house to burn energy instead of wasting money on pills and potions that don't work.

Incorporate a walking routine to increase metabolism at least three to four times a week. Walk 30 to 40 minutes each time. This is the best way to increase your metabolism.


Don't starve yourself when trying to lose weight. This will slow down your metabolism in a hurry. Avoid 5 to 6 hour gaps between meals without eating.

Be committed to eating smaller meals at regular intervals. Prepare food in advance and bring it with you. Never eat sporadically and plan each meal. The common mistake is to skip meals and eat too little during the day. This makes you vulnerable for eating junk food later in the day. Eating to lose weight takes planning.

Friday, March 9, 2007

Lose Weight Fast – 5 Detox Tips To Speed Metabolism & 5 Tips To Lose Weight Fast!

Lose Weight Fast – 5 Detox Tips To Speed Metabolism & 5 Tips To Lose Weight Fast!

The enclosed ten tips are designed to help you lose weight fast.

The first 5 will get your metabolism working quickly to burn fat quicker and then you the 5 tips that follow will help you lose weight easily.

These 10 tips can be incorporate in sensible any diet and will see you shed pounds and lose weight fast!

5 Detox Tips

The body needs to be working as efficiently as possible to lose weight fast; as if your body organs are working at maximum efficiency you will shed weight quicker. Logical but not many people think about this when dieting

So here are your 5 easy natural detox tips

Eat cherries and strawberries

These foods are rich in ellagic acid a nutrient that helps mop up free radicals and help combat pollutants such as alcohol and as a by product they boost brain power.

You can also add raspberries an alternative to the above 2 choices.

Eat Grapes

These are rich in flavinols, which help your arteries work to their maximum and make blood run smoothly and quickly around the body.

Eat citrus fruits such as berries

These foods are rich in vitamins C & E, which will help cleanse and detoxify the liver making it work more efficiently.

Prunes & Fibre

Eat prunes as they will naturally cleanse the colon stimulating the gut and help expel waste quicker, you should also up your intake of fibre as well to cleanse the colon further.

Apricots

If you are smoker this food is particularly useful, apricots are rich in beta-carotene and vitamin C which helps repair smoke damage to the lungs.

Cranberries or juice

Contains proanthocyanidin which are antitoxants that will help cleanse and flush out the kidneys.

You can also add a couple of supplements if you wish top the above list to help detoxify further. Alfalfa and milk thistle are good choices. The first acts as a general cleanser and the second as a cleanser for the liver.

Your organ will be working more efficiently with above foods and this will help you get rid of weight faster as your kidneys and liver in particular will work more smoothly.

Now here are 5 tips to lose weight fast

5 Easy weight loss tips

Drink Iced Water

Two litres a day minimum. Water has to be iced as the body will burn 100 calories just heating the water to normal body temperature. Also hunger pangs are very often thirst pangs, so this will help you stop over eating.

Add lemon to flavour if you wish and gain the added benefit of cleansing your liver at the same time.

Water also helps your body metabolize stored fat by helping the kidneys flush waste quicker. When you don’t drink enough water the liver needs to help the kidneys perform this function. When the liver has to help the kidneys its normal function of providing stored fat for energy is slowed down.

Green tea

Drink 5 cups a day. Research shows this can burn a massive 80 calories a day! It is believed the antioxidant catechins in green tea boost the metabolism and help burn fat.

Chilli sauce & mustard

These foods increase your calorie burning capacity by between 5 – 10% for up to 2 hours after eating. This is because they contain capsaicin which speeds the metabolism, so if you enjoy hot food your in luck!

Low fat diary foods

Can increase fat burning in the abdominal area. Why? Because these foods are rich in calcium which encourages the release of fat from fat cells and also reduces the amount of fat absorbed.

Eat Fibre

Eating fiber foods to help keep things moving through your bowel as stated above and makes you feel full.

The average person can lose 9-10 pounds in one year just from doubling their fiber intake aim for 25grams per day ( the average for most adults is just 8grams ) fiber rich foods include strawberries, apples, brown rice, chick peas, potatoes ( with skins ) and brown rice.

The above tips should be incorporated into a sensible diet and they will enhance it and help you lose weight fast.

How to Calculate Body Fat

How to Calculate Body Fat

Which Body Fat Calculators Are Best

There are three main ways to calculate body fat:

  • Home Body Fat Scales
  • Skinfold Calipers (Callipers)
  • Hydrostatic Weighing

Each of these body fat calculation methods has advantages and disadvantages.

Using Home Body Fat Scales to Measure Body Fat

Body fat scales claim to measure body fat quickly and conveniently. These body fat scales use the Bioelectrical Impedance method to measure your body fat percentage. A low-level electrical current is passed through your body and the "impedance", or opposition to the flow of current, is measured. The result is used in conjunction with your weight and other factors to determine your body fat percentage. Unfortunately, your body's "impedance level" can be altered by many factors besides body fat. For instance, the amount of water in your body, your skin temperature and recent physical activity can all adversely affect the results.So only by following strict rules can you hope to get an accurate measurement of your body fat using these scales. The most important rules to observe in order to make a more accurate calculation of your body fat are:

  • Don't eat or drink for 4 hours before the body fat measurement test.
  • Don't exercise for 12 hours before the test.

Notes:

  • Some studies have shown variances as high as 8 percent when using the bioelectrical impedance method even if the rules are precisely followed.
  • As with skinfold calipers (see below) there are different equations used to calculate body fat from your body density. These are usually pre-programmed into the machine.
  • The best body fat scales tend to made by Tanita.

Using Skinfold Calipers (Callipers) to Measure Body Fat Skinfold Measurements

Measuring body fat with a set of body fat calipers is the most cost effective way to determine fat levels. But it's important to use them correctly. For instance, either have a professional take the measurements for you or buy a set of Accumeasure calipers (callipers) and follow the measuring instructions. Accumeasure are the only calipers than allow you to test yourself and most studies have shown that they are very accurate.



Using Hydrostatic Weighing to Measure Body Fat

Hydrostatic weighing (underwater weighing) is the most accurate way to calculate body fat - that is, if you can find a hydrostatic weighing tank.

How does hydrostatic weighing calculate body fat? By using Archimedes Principle. Your examiner first calculates your body density by measuring the amount of water you displace when you immerse yourself in water. Then a formula is used to calculate body fat based on your body density. The problem is finding a facility (University, major gym or fitness center) which has a hydrostatic weighing tank!!

Table 1. Body Fat Guidelines from American Council on Exercise

Classification

Women (% Fat)

Men (% Fat)

Essential Fat

10-12 percent

2-4 percent

Athletes

14-20 percent

6-13 percent

Fitness

21-24 percent

14-17 percent

Acceptable

25-31 percent

18-25 percent

Why Body Fat Measurement is Important

Body fat is an important element in successful weight control. Body fat requires fewer calories than muscle. So the less fat/more muscle we have, the more calories we can eat before gaining weight. Body fat is often expressed as our "Body Fat Percentage" or "Body Fat Percent." Body fat percentage is the amount of body-fat-tissue as a percentage of total body weight. If your total body weight is 160 pounds and you have 32 pounds of fat, your body fat percentage is 20 percent.

Body Fat Calculation and Health

The higher your percentage of fat above average levels, the higher your health risk for weight-related illness, like heart disease, high blood pressure, gallstones, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, and certain cancers. Also, the higher your percentage of fat (and the smaller your percentage of muscle) the less calories you need to maintain your weight and therefore the easier it is to gain weight. This is because muscle is more metabolically active than fat tissue.