Eat Yourself Lean: 3 Super Fat Burning Foods

Eat Yourself Lean: 3 Super Fat Burning Foods

Eat Yourself Lean: 3 Super Fat Burning Foods

Eat Yourself Lean: 3 Super Fat Burning Foods

This article series is going to empower you to eat yourself lean! You read that right. There are actually foods that jumpstart metabolism, clear your body of fat-storing toxins and that trigger hormones that release fat. This is the second of an 8 article series focusing on what foods you can eat to optimize essential hormones that help burn body fat.

Some hormones are classified as adipokine. Adipokines are cell-signaling proteins secreted by adipose (fat) tissue. Cell signalling is vital to the communication process that is responsible for coordinating and governing cellular activities, including fat metabolization. When cell signalling breaks down misinformation between cells occurs and leads to the development of diseases like: obesity, cancer, autoimmunity and diabetes.

Adiponectin is a fat-releasing hormone that is classified as an adipokine. It modulates glucose regulation and fatty acid oxidation. Glucose is a very important energy source in the body, but when there's too much it is stored as fat. Fatty acids are molecules found in fat cell membranes. They are another important source of energy for the body and as free fatty acids are released from fat cells, the fat cells shrink and the body becomes leaner.

So we can see how the hormone, adiponectin, plays a big role in how much fat is stored by the body. Adiponectin does 2 huge things to boost metabolism and help you burn stubborn fat:

• It improves the ability of muscles to use glucose for energy so that it won't be stored as fat.
• It increases the rate at which the body breaks down fat.

And as a bonus, adiponectin also helps curb appetite so that you can avoid excess snacking and overeating.

So right about now you are probably wondering how you can optimize adiponectin levels in your body so that you can burn fat fast. The first thing you need to do is get moving, because the leaner your body gets, the more adiponectin is utilized in the body. Second, replace some of your daily carbohydrate intake with healthy monounsaturated fats.

Our three featured fat burning foods are great sources of monounsaturated fats that will help adiponectin do it's job in the body:

1. Avocados: Avocados are so easy to eat and pack a powerful nutrient punch. Slice one up and eat it on a piece of toast for breakfast or make a quick guacamole as a snack by mashing one avocado with a little lime juice and garlic salt.
2. Olives: Pile them onto your pizza, include them in your next salad or use olive oil instead of vegetable oil when cooking.
3. Nuts like almonds, pecans and cashews: It's as easy as grabbing a handful of nuts to munch on or make a good ol' fashioned PB&J with your favorite natural nut butter.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9032197

Eat Yourself Lean: 3 Super Fat Burning Foods

Burning Fat Made Easy

Burning Fat Made Easy

NUTRITION

Most people know that lean cuts of meat, a variety of fresh fruit, nuts, seeds, legumes, small amounts of whole grains, and plenty of water are the basis for a healthy nutritional regime, and are conducive to burning fat effectively. The right mix of these food groups will be slightly different for each person. Monitor how you feel after eating certain foods and adjust your intakes accordingly.

Ensure you eat protein, low glycaemic (G.I.) carbohydrates, and a small amount of fat with every meal, to promote fat burning. Each of these macronutrients plays its own role in helping you to burn fat - for example, protein helps your muscles repair effectively, low G.I. carbohydrates provide your body with the vitamins and minerals it needs, and fat helps keep you fuller for longer so you don't get hungry between meals.

Protein sources include meat, seafood, tempeh and eggs. Low G.I. carbohydrates include green vegetables, some fruits, and legumes. Fats include olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds. Note that many foods contain more than one macronutrient - e.g. eggs have both protein and fat, and legumes have both protein and carbohydrates.

EXERCISE

There are three types of exercise I would recommend including into your week, to enhance your fat burning potential:

1. Resistance Training
2. Cardiovascular Training
3. Mind-Body Exercise

Resistance training assists with fat burning by helping us to build muscle. Muscle is a very metabolically hungry tissue that likes to burn calories, and having more of it means that we will burn more calories, even at rest. Resistance training could involve lifting free weights or machine weights, doing body weight exercises (e.g. squats, lunges, push ups and chin ups), or using a resistance band to do exercises.

Cardiovascular training is the 'huffy puffy' type of training that is great for the health of our heart and lungs. Once you have a good base level of fitness, you can incorporate intervals, or 'short bursts' of high intensity cardio into your regime to 'fire up the system' and enhance your fat burning potential. High intensity doesn't have to mean high impact. A high intensity burst could be cycling as fast as you can for 30 seconds followed by 1 minute 30 seconds of an easy, recovery pace.

Mind-body exercise is often under-rated in terms of fat burning, but in fact it has huge benefits in this area. Fat burning readily occurs when we are in a state of relaxation, and mind-body exercise can also help us recover faster and solidify the benefits of our more intense forms of exercise. In this category are relaxing forms of yoga, tai chi, Qi Gong, and general stretching.

SLEEP

We go through both physical and psychological repair phases while we sleep. Should we receive inadequate physical repair time, we may either choose not to exercise the following day because we don't have enough energy, or we may complete an exercise session at a less than optimal level, thus meaning decreased performance and fat burning results.

As well as requiring physical energy for an exercise session, we also require mental energy. Lacking this, we may decide our motivation is inadequate to attempt any form of exercise that day. Had we slept well and other factors in our life remained the same, we would have chosen to do the exercise session and received the calorie burning effect as well as numerous other benefits.

When we wake up feeling refreshed and energised after a great sleep we are more likely to make nutrition choices that support our goal of burning fat. It is easier to opt for something healthy if we have the energy to prepare it and if we are not craving a quick carbohydrate/fat/salt fix that might be the case after a poor night's sleep. Get in your 8 hours and reap the benefits for fat burning.

STRESS

As mentioned in the exercise section, our body burns fat when it is in a state of relaxation. Many people in modern society are in a constant state of stress and are hugely inhibiting their body's ability to burn fat. They are constantly producing cortisol - a stress hormone that is very good at storing fat, particularly belly fat.

This mechanism used to be important back in the days when we hunted for our food, our life may have been in danger (so a stress response was important for survival), and food was scarce. However, in modern times it is largely mental and emotional stress we are constantly putting ourselves under, and it is having an adverse effect on our fat burning ability - especially due to the high sugar, processed foods that many people choose to consume when stressed. So do your body a favour - do some deep breathing, take time out to relax, and decrease the amount of 'stuff' you have going on in your life!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9036688

Small Food Changes Yield Weight Loss

Small Food Changes Yield Weight Loss

It's small food changes that make the difference, not crash diets. Most people diet by crash dieting. Perhaps that's why 70% of our population is overweight and obese. You lose the weight fast, then gain it all back, plus some. This yo-yo dieting is very unhealthy and has high risks of all types of diseases, including a 300% increased risk of heart disease.

Over the years, I've been very successful at the principle of making the choice to be healthy. My clients learn to choose healthy foods. When you have choice, you have the ability to make changes, adjust, and enjoy life.

How do you get the most out of your choices?

Small, step-by-step changes that become easy, habit, and actually desired. It's how you actually keep the weight off long-term.

For example, we are all told to eat more vegetables. It's easy to say, hard to do. So, what if you started your diet by just including 3 servings of vegetables every day and take away nothing? Now, all you need is a snack of vegetables, a serving of vegetables at lunch and one at dinner.

You can plan this, and choose what you like. If you like carrots, eat carrots. I don't like Brussels sprouts except when they are very fresh. So, I only eat them once a year when they are very fresh. Never eat a food that disgusts you.

Once you establish the habit of eating 3 servings per day, you increase it. You build on the good foundation. Then, you will naturally push out the bad foods because you are satisfied, happy, and no longer crave the bad stuff.

See how easy that is?

The downside is it's not fast. You won't see 5 pounds of fat loss in a week.

What you do see a slow, steady decline that's easy to maintain, easy to do, and feels good. That's how you lose weight safely. That's how you get rid of disease.

If you have lots of weight to lose, choosing more fruits and vegetables may yield a faster weight loss, simply because your body no longer needs to hold onto the extra weight. You start to feel more energetic and lively because your body has the nutrients to support more energy.

Losing weight is not easy. It does require dedication, commitment, and follow-through. Making the small food changes makes the process easier and more enjoyable.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9037498

Mistakes to Avoid This Year for Easy Weight Loss

Weight loss is one of the common problems that everyone is facing. The number of obese people is increasing day by day and people who are suffering from obesity seek for weight loss plans for a better and healthier life. However, how many people stick to a particular plan to reduce weight? It is not a cup of tea for everyone to diet and exercise and slim down to a perfect zero figure. Many people who try following a particular diet are not aware of the pros and cons of the diet they are following. So in this article, we will discuss weight loss mistakes, which one should avoid this year.

Starving

Starving or crash diet courses are a strict no-no as they make you weak from inside. Do not deprive yourself from eating the right nutrients. You need to eat more to gain more vitamins and drink juices too. There are many fruits and vegetables, which makes losing weight easy.

Focusing on quick weight loss

Weight loss is not short term; it is a long-term program. People who focus on quick weight loss may not get satisfactory results. One can to create a healthy diet plan, meet with your health expert, and ask for an enjoyable workout routine.

Exercising on an empty stomach

Exercising on an empty stomach is harmful. It is a bad idea to do such a torture to your body. Never hit the gym without eating your meals. You can eat healthy snacks such sprouts or salads or a glass of fresh juice to boost energy.

Eating pills for weight loss

Many people want to lose weight fast, however it is not recommended to eat pills, which are harmful for the body. Vitamins for weight loss are good options as it is natural and are not at all harmful for the body. So whenever you take pills make sure that these are made from natural herbs.

Lack of good sleep

It is important to sleep well to lose weight. You need to sleep at least 8 hours a day. In the era of technology, one keeps themselves busy with their mobile phone, laptop or television and thus does not have adequate sleep. While sleeping switch off all the electronic gadget.

Low-fat diet

To live a healthy life, you need to maintain a balanced diet. A balanced diet means it should have all nutritional elements. It should be full of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, calcium, and other nutrients. You can eat cereals, oats and raw vegetables for a healthy lifestyle.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9028246

Get Fit With These Fat-Burning Recipes

Weight loss and keeping the pounds off is not a simple or fast process. The good news is that there are simple diet tricks that can help you along the way. Did you know that simply eating lots of fiber, protein and healthy carbohydrates can help boost your body's metabolism and keep you feeling full all day long?

If you are looking for ways to incorporate these weight-busting ingredients into your everyday menu, then begin with the quick and easy fat-burning recipes mentioned in this article. These amazing recipes all include at least one weight loss superfood. What is even better is that you can prepare them in less than 30 minutes.

Recipe for Breakfast: Feta Omelet and Broccoli with Toast

This simple and fast recipe for breakfast takes only about 15 minutes to prepare. This power breakfast will surely leave you feeling satisfied yet energized. The broccoli gives you a filling supply of fiber while the protein-packed eggs help curb your appetite and stop those unhealthy food cravings during the late-mornings.

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of rye bread (toasted)
• ¼ teaspoon dried dill
• 2 tablespoons feta cheese (crumbled)
• 2 pieces large eggs (beaten)
• 1 cup broccoli (chopped)
• Cooking spray

Procedure:

1. Preheat a nonstick pan over medium pan then lightly grease with cooking spray. Toss in the broccoli and cook for about 3 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, mix the dill, feta and egg. Add the egg mixture to the pan and cook for about 4 minutes. Flip the omelet to the other side and cook for about 2 minutes. Serve with a toast.

Chocolate-Coated Banana Bites

Dessert should always be a part of a healthy balanced meal. Bananas are abundant on resistant starch, a type of healthy carbohydrates that helps you burn fats and eat less.

In addition to this, the semi-sweet chocolate is packed with healthy fats to further boost your metabolism.

Ingredients:

• 1 piece small banana (peeled and sliced into chunks)
• 2 tablespoons of semisweet chocolate chips

Procedure:

1. In a small microwave-safe bowl or heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag, put in the chocolate chips and microwave for 1 minute at high setting or until the chocolate melts.
2. Dip the banana pieces in the melted chocolate.

Grilled Chicken Slices Served with Summer Succotash

You can burn up to 300 extra calories on a daily basis by merely eating the right types of food. This recipe can help your body burn more calories and fats, consequently helping you slim down rapidly. What is the best thing about it is that it only takes 5 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat roll
• Lemon wedges
• ½ cup basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese (grated)
• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• ½ cup corn
• 1 cup frozen baby lima beans
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper
• 4 thin chicken cutlets

Procedure:

1. Preheat a grill pan over high heat.
2. With salt and pepper, season the chicken slices and grill until cooked through.
3. In the meantime, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a big pan over medium-high heat.
4. Add in the beans, grape tomatoes and corn. Cook with occasional tossing until the tomatoes burst.
5. Add in the Parmesan cheese and basil leaves.
6. Pair each serving with lemon wedges and whole-wheat roll

Each of the featured weight loss meal in this article is packed with healthy carbohydrates that will surely boost your metabolism and help you drop the unwanted weight. As an additional bonus, you can prepare these recipes in less than 30 minutes.

Foods to Avoid

1. Frozen Dinners - "Healthy" frozen dinners make a dangerous selection when you are trying to shed off the unwanted weight. They might be low in sugar or fat, but they are packed with junk. Instead, prepare leftover servings from dinners and reheat them for breakfast or lunch the following day.


2. Multi-grain Bread - While this may sound healthy, you might be missing the essential minerals and vitamins that your body needs. The grains may be over processed, losing its fiber and nutrients. Opt for a whole grain brain instead.


3. Whole Wheat Pasta - Replacing your usual white pasta with brown pasta is a good initiative towards a healthy diet. However, this can also be an impediment to losing weight. Whole wheat pasta is packed with carbs that break down into sugar inside the body. This may also mean having as much calories as your usual white pasta. For a low-carb option, substitute your pasta with spaghetti squash.


4. Sugar-free products - While these products may be lesser in calories, they actually contain unhealthy sugar substitutes so make sure that you do your research and gather information about what you are actually taking.

Keith Stieneke is interested in health and wellness including such things as weight loss and anti-aging. He has written many articles on such subjects and is a life long student of health and wellness.

Weight issues have long been a concern of his and as he learns more about fitness and weight loss, anti-aging and other health and wellness related topics he will share those interests with you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9022855

Change How You Live If You Want To Lose Weight

When it comes to weight loss, if you want to accomplish this in the most natural way, then you will need to change how you live your daily life. If you are not willing to change how you live, then unfortunately not much positive in regards to health will occur and you will likely not end up losing that excess weight.

It can be difficult to face the fact you have not been eating in a nutritious manner. In all honesty, no one really likes to point out that they have been doing something detrimental to their health since that doesn't really feel too good.

No one likes to admit failing at something.

Nevertheless, overeating on a regular basis is the number one cause of weight gain and the reason why most people continually fail at grasping a firm hold on the weight loss process. If your body takes in too much food and doesn't get the chance to exercise the excess off, then it just accumulates as more fat on the body.

That's as simple as it can be put. Eat too much regularly, gain weight regularly.

If you want to lose weight, you need to be willing to change how you live in regards to your snacks from cookies, potato chips, and soda to things such as fruit, yogurt, and water.

Instead of going to get fast food or order pizza after work, you need to be willing to cook a healthy meal and more importantly eat only an appropriate portion size. Yes, you can still gain weight overeating even on healthy food.

Remember, your body only needs a certain amount of fuel so don't overfill your personal gas tank. Just put in what your body needs to get through the day in a healthy manner. Your waistline and your wallet will thank you in the long run.

These are just a couple of examples of the types of changes that need to be made in your daily living habits. True weight loss success will occur not from merely 1 or 2 decisions but from quite a number of them over a prolonged period of time.

Remember, a person does not gain 50 pounds in 1 or 2 months so don't expect to lose 50 pounds in that short time-frame either.

Give the process the chance to turn your life around by committing yourself wholeheartedly to try your best. With each passing day, strive to improve the decisions you make with the choices you're faced with. Are you willing to change how you live each day in order to lose a substantial amount of weight?

The more you focus on each individual instance, the sooner you will find your daily living habits changing into ones that are positive and lead to weight loss. Afterwards you will be stunned wondering why you did not make these healthy decisions months, or even years earlier.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9030490

The 7 Fat Loss Fundamentals

1. Resistance training

This is the best way to transform your body - hands down. Strength training changes your body composition like no other exercise. Resistance training (any exercise which provides resistance to the muscles to work against - ie training with weights or using your own bodyweight) causes tearing of the muscle fibers and when your body re-builds them, they are rebuilt stronger than they previously were. You are actually impacting your body positively by introducing newer, stronger muscle, which means your body metabolism increases, resulting in you becoming more efficient at burning fat at all times.

2. Interval Conditioning

Also known as Interval training or High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) this is intense cardio training in short, sharp bursts that revs up your metabolism and fat burning capability as far as it can go. Any exercise that is high intensity such as sprinting or jumping rope qualifies as interval training, as long as the intensity is kept up consistently for a few minutes, then decreased for a few minutes (not slowed down to a walk) then again sped up to the maximum. The main advantages of this type of exercise is that you burn calories at the work rate not only while exercising, but for many hours afterwards, even when resting.

3. Drink water - and plenty of it

This is so important, yet so often overlooked. Your body is made up of 60-70% water, your blood is almost 90% water - so your body needs this vital ingredient to function correctly, for any number of functions such as regulating temperature, transporting nutrients, for digestion, lubrication of joints, to name just a few. So replenishing lost fluids is vital for not only your body to function correctly, but also to maintain performance. Dehydration is one of your body's main enemies. Even a slight drop in your hydration levels decreases muscular and aerobic endurance significantly. It doesn't take much. Look at it this way - if you lose more than 10-12% of your body weight in water, you could die. How much should you drink? 65-80oz a day.

4. Don't skip breakfast

With our busy lifestyles, breakfast is probably the easiest meal of the day to skip. With so much to do in the mornings and the tendency to get up at the last minute as we feel so tired, it is tempting to do this on a regular basis. But this only results in hampering our attempts at losing weight. If you skip breakfast, you slow your body's metabolic process down, resulting in less efficient fat burning at rest during the day. Remember that you haven't eaten anything for 7-8 hours, so not giving your body those much needed nutrients early can result in you overeating during the day. A good breakfast made up of complex-carbs and protein will give your body the start to the day it needs to feel energized and full.

5. Use multi-joint exercises

I'm a big believer in multi-joint exercises. For fat burning, you get so much more for your 'money' (ie time) when you perform exercises that are multi-joint, than isolation exercises. Squats, lunges, push-ups, upright-rows, kettle-bell movements, any multi-joint exercise revs up your metabolism so much faster as so many more muscles in your body are engaged in one exercise, than say an isolation exercise like bicep-curls. Using these exercises frequently will result in lean, toned muscles, high calorie burn during and after the training session.

6. Don't worry over weight loss

'Obsessive scale disorder' is commonplace when many people start a fitness and weight loss program. Weighing yourself too often is not going to give you a fair indication of your progress. If you need to weigh yourself, do it only once a week, no more. Remember, its fat loss that's important, not weight loss. Weight loss is only important when the weight you've actually lost is fat - not weight loss through losing water or muscle. Concentrate on your physique, how you look and feel in your clothes and your body composition. If you are going to measure something, measure your body fat composition every few weeks - this is a far more accurate and representative measure of your fat loss progress.

7. Eat frequently

Eat every 3-4 hours. Starving yourself and restricting calories only results in your body slowing down its metabolism to conserve energy - a standard reaction of your body's survival mechanism - not very efficient for fat-burning. Fire up your metabolism by eating regularly, so your body has to work to digest your frequent food intake. Foods that are of course nutritionally rich, lean protein, low fat dairy and healthy fats.

Ultimately, to lose fat, you have to commit yourself to a complete process - You must strength-train, eat the correct foods in the correct quantities at the right times, perform high intensity interval conditioning, and drink plenty of water. If any of these elements are lacking, your progress and results will suffer.

The goal here is to make your body a fat-burning machine, to burn calories and burn fat all over the body at a higher rate than normal, even when not exercising.

A design engineer, sports coach, father of two, husband, son, brother, amongst many other roles, like many men, George finds he needs to play many of these roles on most days - and on others, perhaps one or two. Not only does George understand what it takes to be a working Dad with a successful career, he also lives the life, and recognises the daily challenges that come with balancing these roles. GeorgeVlismas is the founder of OnlyMensHealth.com, a newsletter and website dedicated to helping men of all ages achieve more of what they want and deserve in life, in all the roles they have to fulfil today.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9031615