Increase your metabolism, burn more fats

Metabolism is the process our body converts the food we eat into energy for basic functioning of the body. Food we eat (calories) —> by Metabolism (digestion,conversion,etc) —-> gives out energy.

BMR ( basal metabolic rate ) = metabolic rate of a resting person. . A person with a higher BMR will burn more calories than one with a lower BMR.

Several factors that influence our BMR includes
1) age (decrease with age by 2% per decade after age 20)
2) height ( higher BMR for those who are taller and thinner)
3) Gender ( males have higher BMR than females )
4) body composition ( higher for those with more muscle )
5) outside temperature ( higher in extreme heat or cold )
6) dieting ( lower for people on low calorie diets )
7) stress ( BMR higher under stress ).

The 2 factors that we can absolutely control is our diet (what we eat,how often we eat) and our body composition.

What happen when you go on a diet and starve yourself
If you eat 2 meals a day and you think that helps you to lose weight, you need to think again. Your body slows down the metabolism to protect you from starving, your fat cells begin to release less of the hormone leptin, which is the signal that tells your brain you are well fed and not starving. This in turn triggers other hormonal changes such as decrease in the hormone responsible for regulatiing metabolism, and a dramatic increase in appetite.

***Do you know that if you eat at 7pm and the next meal is at 10am the next day, your body goes into starvation and fat storing zone. Anything you eat, even a small slice of fruit, is converted into fat and stored, until you get back into a regular eating schedule. And all the time, these fats gets deposited in our abdominal area as belly fats.

***Do you know? the abdomen/belly is the first part of our body to deposit fats and the last to lose fats …. no matter how you train, run,swim,sit up,crunch,dance … fats in the belly is the last to go.

By increasing the frequency of your meals intake to 5 - 6 times at 3 -4 hour intervals ( small portions each time ), your body actually speed up the metabolism process. As you eat in small amount, most of it is used up for energy expendicture and nothing gets stored as fats.

Take for example if you are at a campfire, if small amount of firewood is added to the fire at small intervals consistently, you will keep the fire burning for a longer time ( thats what we want to achieve with metabolism ). If you load a huge supply of firewood and leave it to burn, you may start a big fire but it dies down faster ……

Ever had a heavy/good meal (body experience insulin surge) , enjoying every bite of it and just moments later feels tired and sleepy?

"GOOD MEALS" tends to be high in proteins ( contains tryptophan, which has a sedative effect). Large amount of food eaten causes digestion to be a major activity in your body, blood cells are diverted to your intestines from other parts of the body. Your limbs feels heavy and your brain (lacking oxygen supply) … makes you sleepy.

Its interesting to know that 1 pound of body muscle burns 50 calories at BMR ( when resting) and 1 pound of body fats only burns 2 calories. And about 70% of our total calory burned in a day results from BMR (resting).

So it make perfect sense to have more muscles than fats. Ladies should not be too concern about being too muscular as you do not have the necessary hormone testosterone, so unless you inject yourself with steroids, you are not going to get bulky and muscular like guys do from resistance training.

Combining resistance training, cardio exercises and taking regular small meal portions will certainly help you to jumpstart your metabolism … and burn those stubborn fats.

 

 

3 quick tips on weight loss

Here are 3 quick and easy tips anyone can follow to lose weight.

1. Sleep it off.
Research has shown that people who sleep less weigh more. Men and women who only have 6 hours of sleep each night were 23 percent more likely to be overweight than those who slept for 7 - 9 hours. A lack of sleep upsets the body’s hormonal balance, produces more of a hormone call " Grelin", which increases the appetite and food consumption.

If you have trouble sleeping, try a melatonin supplement or take a kiwi fruit, which has been showned to effectively reduce the time it takes to fall asleep.

2. Just say yes to food.
You stand a greater chance of maintaining long term weight loss if you do not restrict yourself to food. Studies have shown that people who put themselves on a strict diet will eventually stop doing so and tend to gain more weight as a result. Just eat in moderation, in small amount and more regularly and stick to something you can grow old with rather than a restricted diet.

3. Cut down on Carbohydrates.
Reduce your carb consumption to less than 100 grams per day and you stand to lose an average of 4 pounds a month than those who have a higher carb intake. As carbohydrate intake goes down, so do insulin levels ( a hormone that signals your body to store fat ).

** Bonus

a) In comparison for a reduce heart disease risk, Low-carb eating is far superior compared to Low-fat approach.

b) studies on a group of cyclist who consume low carb diet for 5 days and exercise the next day , then consume high carb diet for 6 days and exercise, had shown that when on a low carb diet, the cyclist burned 45 percent more fat. This is due to the improved ability of the muscles to extract energy from fats stores on low carb diet.

It is a common belief that we can’t reach our fat loss goals unless we take some kind of " fat burning" supplement. The media make us believe that we can simply pop a pill and get dramatic fat loss results like we see on TV and newpaper advertisements with celebrities like Olinda, Fann Wong and Zoe Tay endorsing them.

Do you think it is true? My conclusion, after trying various products and observing their effects on me, such as Extrim, Xando, tummytrim, leansystem 6,hydroxycut and hot rox ( Hot Rox really works, but slight discomfort and very costly ), once you stop taking it, you no longer get results.

In my quest for a more define 6 packs and the curiosity of whether such products really do what they claimed, I usually try out 1 bottle. Coupled with a moderately healthy diet and a regular exercise regime, they do have varying degree of results on me

BUT….. no fat burning pill, drink or powder have ever been proven to burn off body fat and keep it off over the long term. ( health supplements such as multi-vitamins, vitamin C, joint support-glucosamine,whey protein, etc are to me a more essential part of healthy living as compared to such products developed to capitalise on the innocent public searching for a shortcut to a desirable body )

Any transformation you may have seen in "before and after photos" in a diet pill advertisemnet was more than likely achieved from hard training, proper diet and maybe a digitally improved photoshoot. Models on such photoshoots usually stick to a very strict diet 2 - 3 weeks in preparations for the big day. ( they dont look like this all year … really )

Any pill which might have some type of benefit ( such as suppressing your appetite), is only a quick fix at best … its is only treating the symtoms, it doesn’t solve the problem.

Body fat is a symptom of POOR LIFESTYLE CHOICES, POOR NUTRITION and not burning enough calories. Any approach to fat loss that only treats a symptom and does not address all these causes, cannot work in the long run , you are wasting your time and money. Start getting the results you want today.

Nutrition, cardio, weight training and the right approach to motivation ( it has to be a lifestyle change, not a temporary desire to lose weight) , are the only things you need to get rid of fats.

If you are still eating junk food often or skipping your meals, not doing any form of exercise at all or only inconsistently, and always looking out for a shortcut in the form of a pill,cream,powder….. you should really just focus on eating better for a start, and read my post on burning fat by increasing your metabolism.

cheers to your fat burn success