How To Increase Your Metabolism

          The rate of your metabolism is mostly genetically determined, but there are still several things you can do to increase yours. Here are 6 tips for those who are looking to boost their metabolism:

1. Do not diet. Dieting will cause your body to think it has insufficient amount of fuel in your body and will therefore work slower to keep the remaining amount that it still has.


2. Drink cold water. Drinking cold water has been believed to increase metabolism since the body has to work harder to bring it down to body temperature.


3. Don't skip out on breakfast. Having a full breakfast every morning has been found to jump start your metabolism. There have been many studies supporting this.


4. Drink a cup of tea per day. Caffeine has been known to boost your metabolism since it is a stimulant for your central nervous system. Aim for having a cup of green tea per day. Green tea has antioxidants with fat burning properties.


5. Eat more protein. A hormone called glucagon is released when foods with protein are consumed, which is responsible for signaling the body to burn fat.


6. Eat more fiber. This forces your body to feel fuller, while eating less. 


7. Have the biggest meal for lunch. You are most active between lunch and dinner, therefore after you have a big meal you can use the energy you consumed. 


6. Don't remain idle for long. Studies have shown that remaining seated for longer than 4 hours actually causes your body's metabolism to temporarily shut down. To keep it active, simply give yourself breaks from sitting too long by getting up and stretching for a couple minutes.


7. Exercise regularly. Maintaining a healthy exercise uses up energy we get from meals, therefore you will have little leftover of energy from meals stored as fat. 

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Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean Diet is a delicious cuisine with available ingredients. This makes it easy to transition your diet to a healthy one.


The Mediterranean Diet highlights fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and healthy fats. The fat intake from the diet is 25% to 35% of daily calories, but most of this is from healthy fats such as olive oil, oily fish, nuts and seeds. The consumption of meat and saturated fats are low, but fish and dairy products are consumed in moderation. The people usually also have an active lifestyle and get plenty of sunshine. The health benefits appreciated by the Mediterranean region are a result of the combined effects of a healthy diet and a healthy active lifestyle.

The Mediterranean Diet was constructed with the cuisine of people from the Mediterranean region. In a 4 year study by Greece, it was found that people who lived a Mediterranean lifestyle had longer life expectancy, lower risk of heart disease than people who did not follow this lifestyle.

Tips:

• ·         Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables.
• ·         Limit your intake of red meat.
• ·         Eat oily fish, such as salmon, twice a week.
• ·         Use olive oil for your cooking.
• ·         Cut back on butter, margarine and other oils.
• ·         Include a handful of nuts in your daily diet.
• ·         Limit high fat dairy products.
• ·         Healthy active lifestyle.

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Water

Don’t ever underestimate the POWER of WATER. 

Many people don’t drink the right amount of water a day. Water flushes out the toxins in your body and cleanses your insides. It also can rejuvenate and freshen your skin, nails and hair. You NEED water. So how much exactly should you drink a day? Take your weight in pounds (for example 120lbs), divide in by two (60) and that is how much water IN OUNCES you should have a day. A glass of water is 8 ounces, so for a 120lbs person, about 7.5 glasses of water a day is perfect.

Now keep in mind that you should not drink all of this at once. Aim for about one glass per hour, and don’t drink during a meal. This will interfere with the digestion of your food. Drink water 30 minutes before a meal and an hour after.

** Drink your first glass of water within 30 minutes of waking up! This will ensure a perfect start to the day.

**Throughout the day, drink cool water. This will maintain high metabolism because your body has to work harder to bring the cool water temperature down to body temperature.

And last but not least, don’t think that drinking lots of water is enough. The body benefits from obtaining water from its most natural source. So even if you can’t drink LOTS of water, replace that with eating lots of fruit (which you should do anyway). Oranges, apples, pears, and grapes all have very nutritious WATER that will give you a healthy body, mind and soul.

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