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New Strategies for a lifetime of sleek good health (that do not involve dietary restraint), in no particular order:
- Make sure you get enough Sleep. Not getting enough sleep can actually cause you to gain weight. Lack of sleep seems to slow metabolism. Dozing with the TV on does not count as quality sleep. We burn more calories running than walking, walking than standing, standing than sitting, sitting than reclining; but we burn more calories when reading or even sleeping than we do when watching TV.
- Don’t eat while watching TV, working at the computer, driving or standing in front of the open refrigerator. Under all of those circumstances, we tend to eat a poorer quality of food and more of it than we intend.
- Don’t be hungry. That low-energy, draggy sort of feeling you get when you are very hungry? It is the feeling of your metabolism slipping into slow gear. (We are the lucky survivors of hunter/gatherers who suffered regular, frequent bouts of starvation and occasional days of plenty, perhaps a lucky mastodon kill. Those who were able to most efficiently conserve calories (stored as fat) to survive the winter lived to pass this genetic advantage on to their progeny. Lucky us. So when we are hungry, our genetic defenses kick into high gear and begin to conserve and store calories as efficiently as possible. Conversely, when we are getting regularly spaced small meals, our metabolism is elevated with each meal. Metabolism is also elevated with aerobic exercise. Eating frequent small meals stimulates metabolism and prevents the hungry/deprived feeling that often leads to overindulgence.
- Avoid Artificial Foods. Especially artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners maintain the body’s physiological craving for sugars. They land on the tongue, sending a message to the brain: here comes the sugar! Otherwise, highly processed, artificial foods are low in vitamins, high in refined starches.
- Increase Your Muscle Mass …in order to raise metabolism. Each year after about thirty, we lose 3% of muscle mass. Muscle is what burns calories. To increase muscle mass, do a moderate weight workout two to three times a week. Takes about 20-30 minutes…Soooo worth it!
- Start and Finish Your Day with Aerobic Exercise. Even if it only a 15-20 minute stroll, it will increase your metabolism. A walk after dinner helps digest your dinner and insure that is is burned off, rather than being stored as fat.
- Take the challenge…to read the labels on the food you plan to eat and know what you are eating. If you see words on the label that you can’t pronounce or don’t recognize as food; don’t buy it, and certainly, don’t eat it. Find the cereal that has more protein than sugar.
- Recognize alcohol and sugar calories for what they are…empty. When you take calories in liquid form you are assuring that they are stored as fat as quickly as possible. Hard to believe that refreshing fizzy drink can put on calories quicker than the same number of calories in a milk shake, but it is true. It doesn’t matter whether it is a soft drink, beer, wine, hard liquor, a sport drink or fruit juice all of these have simple sugar calories and are assimilated very quickly by our bodies. And, a recent study has shown that resveratrol and antioxidants, touted in red wines are also found in cocoa and dark chocolate products. Also, know that the calories given on the label of any drink are ‘per serving’ a standard serving is 8 oz. Most canned soft drinks are 16 ounces. Sport drinks are usually 24 oz. or 32 oz. So if you drink the whole bottle you are getting two, three or four servings.
Copyright © 2008 Anne Isham
Anne Isham, author of Eat Chocolate – Lose Weight: The Chocoholic’s Survival Guide and Practical Handbook anne@anneisham.com
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