5 EASY HACKS TO BOOST YOUR METABOLISM (BACKED BY SCIENCE)

You may have thought that your inherited slow metabolism from your mom set you on a path in search of diets and weight-loss wonders, but the good news is that you are not stuck with it.

In fact, you can actually trick your body into burning more calories (and more efficiently) by eating right and hitting the gym. But there are a number of other ways you can naturally boost your metabolism…

What is my metabolism?

Before we get into the easy hacks to boosting your metabolism, let’s first explain what your metabolism is (drum roll please).

Your metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories for energy.

The speed of your body’s metabolism will depend on a number of factors, namely: gender, age, muscle mass, genetics, body fat and activity level.

While your control over your genetic and gender influences on your metabolism is restricted, there are other ways to naturally boost your metabolism…

1. Hit the gym

Strength training 2 to 3 times a week and working out on a regular basis will do wonders in speeding up the rate at which your body burns calories. As well as weight training, high-intensity interval training is something you need to include in your workout schedule.

The trick is to ramp up your intensity for 30-second intervals and then return to your normal speed afterwards. This applies to running, swimming, spinning or any cardio workout on a machine such as a stepper.

This strategy will enable your body to take in more oxygen, this allows the powerhouse of your cells, known as the mitochondria, to work even harder and burn even more energy.

This way you can exercise for shorter periods of time and get amazing results.

Have a look at this fitastic HIIT workout video.

Compound exercises are also an effective way to burn calories in a shorter period of time by making your body work harder than it would in doing isolation exercises. Read: 4 SURPRISING BENEFITS OF COMPOUND EXERCISES (#2 IS AWESOME).

2. Eat Omega-3’s

Eating foods such as fish (tuna, salmon and herring) and adding Omega-3 supplements to your diet will amp up your metabolism. These vital nutrients help balance your blood sugar levels, regulate your metabolism and reduce inflammation.

Omegas have also been found to reduce your body’s resistance to leptin.

“Studies have shown that an absence of leptin in the body or leptin resistance can lead to uncontrolled feeding and weight gain.”

Experts recommend you take 1,000 to 2,000 mg of Omega 3 a day.

3. Make yourself a hot cup of green tea

Green tea is known for its incredible antioxidant affects. But there is new evidence that suggests the active ingredient found in the tea known as catechin, may help boost your metabolism.

The exact metabolic benefits from green tea are not yet certain, but drinking 1 to 2 cups a day, in addition to a well-balanced diet, is key.

4. Stop stressing

Easier said than done, we get it. But the thing is, stress affects your hormone levels and can cause your body to create more cortisol than needed. Cortisol helps in regulating your appetite and researchers have linked abnormal amounts of this hormone to eating issues.

Disordered eating, which is both food avoidance and overeating (depending on how you deal with stress) can disrupt your metabolism.

Stress is also linked to sleep issues, and not enough sleep adversely impacts your metabolism.

Try yoga, deep breathing, meditation or even a long, hot bath to decompress and destress from time to time. Trust me, your body needs it.

5. Eat a well-balanced diet

I’m sure this isn’t the first time you have heard someone tell you this. And one of the most frustrating issues with dieting is that when you cut too many calories out, your metabolism thinks that times are tough and hits the brakes on fat-burning and starts to conserve energy.

This means that the moment you go back to eating normally again, your body puts back on the weight (if not more).

You need to eat the right amount of calories to match your metabolic rate. Here is an awesome calorie counter to work out how much you should be consuming.

If you need help with creating a healthy diet and eating plan, then we can help!

Extra tips:

Make sure you are getting enough sleep (between 6 and 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night)
Drink enough water – between 6 and 8 glasses a day.
Eat your B’s – Make sure you are getting a healthy dose of B vitamins. This vital vitamin is found in eggs, baked potatoes, peanut butter, spinach, peas, bananas and whole-grain foods

The takeaway

Exercise, eat right, limit your stress, get enough sleep and drink enough water and you should be able to speed up your metabolism in no time.

September 28, 2019 Gemma Oberholzer Eat Well Comments Off

3 HEALTHY MEALS FOR HEALTHY BONES

It turns out, you may need for than a cup of milk a day to help get strong and healthy bones! As well as regular exercise, you also need to make sure you are eating the right foods.

Calcium is a vital nutrient for the promotion of healthy bones. There are a number of delicious meals that are naturally high in calcium, specifically dairy products. But it’s not just calcium that helps build strong bones, vitamin K, potassium and magnesium help too (which are found in fruits and veggies).

We did the research and the taste tests and found the most deliciously scrumptious (and simple) meals to promote healthy bones…

Download Here

September 11, 2019 Gemma Oberholzer Eat Well Comments Off

5 NATURAL (& EFFECTIVE) WAYS TO BUILD STRONGER BONES

Did you know that your bones are living tissue? They contain blood vessels, nerves and bone marrow, which is where blood cells are formed?

Our body’s natural cycle of bone renewal

Your bones are constantly breaking down and rebuilding themselves, the construction of our bones never ends, it is a constant cycle of renewal as old bone is broken down and new bone is built.

If our bones did not repair and reinforce themselves, we would suffer from broken bones on a daily basis.

When we are under the age of 20, our bodies form more bone than we lose. The majority of adults will reach their peak bone mass by the age of 25. Which is really young! The trick is to focus on building your bone mass when you are younger and maintaining these healthy lifestyle choices as you get older.

But it’s never too late to lead a healthy life!

Losing bone mass as we get older

When we are around the age of 30, we start to lose more bone than our bodies create. If not enough bone mass is created when we are younger or if bone loss occurs when we are older, then our risk of fragile bones and osteoporosis is increased.

This may sound rather overwhelming, but the thing is, there are a number of diet and lifestyle changes you can make to build strong and healthy bones and maintain them as you get older.

Natural ways to build healthy bones

1. Calcium

You may already know that calcium is great for building healthy and strong bones. Calcium is, in fact, a vital nutrient for building bones and slowing down the pace of bone loss.

However, calcium cannot work alone in promoting healthy bones. Some experts even suggest that over-consumption of calcium or dairy products (a great source of calcium) may be bad for your body.

Luckily, it’s easy to ensure you are getting the right amount of calcium.

How much calcium do I need?

The recommended daily intake for calcium is 1000mg for adults up to the age of 50 and 1,200mg for those who are older than 50, as this is when bone loss starts to speed up.

As we get older, our intestines start to absorb LESS calcium from our food and the kidneys also seem to be less effective at conserving calcium. Because of this, your body might start to take calcium from your bones (Yikes! Somebody please pass the milk!).

The best way to ensure you are getting enough calcium is through food.

What foods are rich in calcium?

Seeds
Milk and Cheese
Yoghurt
Sardines and Canned Salmon
Beans and Lentils
Almonds
Whey Protein
Some Leafy Greens

2. Vitamin D

Vitamin D is essential to promoting healthy bones. Vitamin D is basically the Robin to the Batman that is calcium.

Vitamin D helps your body to absorb calcium.

You can get vitamin D from food sources and supplements. Sunlight is also a great way to get a good dose of this amazing vitamin. Your body needs roughly 1000 IU of vitamin D daily.

If you can, try to spend roughly 5 to 30 minutes in the sun, between 10 am and 3 pm, twice a week. Make sure your face, arms, legs and lack soak up the rays without sunscreen. If you have fair skin, then limit this exposure to 10 minutes.

3. Exercise

Make sure you perform strength training and resistance training. Have a look at our excellent blog post: 1 PIECE OF EQUIPMENT. 10 MOVES. ALL THE SWEAT to get you started!

Here’s another goodie: 8 REASONS WHY EVERY WOMAN SHOULD LIFT WEIGHTS. Did you know that women have a higher risk of osteoporosis compared to men? Even more reason to hit the gym!

Moving your body through active exercises helps to build more muscle and build strong and healthy bones.

A recent study also found that aerobic exercises such as jogging, walking and dancing helped improve calcium absorption in the upper body and upper thighs.

4. Protein

Make sure you are getting enough protein. In fact, 50% of our bones are made up of protein. Studies have found that a low protein diet decreases calcium absorption and might also affect the rate at which our bones form and break down.

5. Collagen

There isn’t much research on the effects of collagen as yet, but some early evidence suggests that taking a collagen supplement can help protect your bone health.

Collagen is one of the main proteins found in your bones. It contains vital amino acids (proline, glycine and lysine) which help promote bone health and build strong muscles.

How healthy are your bones?

It’s time to grab your running shoes, hit the gym, improve your diets and increase your supplement intake.