January 12th, 2009 | by Riki Quinn

The holidays are over and we gained a few more presents and the   inevitable extra pounds. So how do we get rid of them? Well, the bottom line is not new to anyone: it has to do with exercise and eating. But we don’t have to run 5 miles everyday and eat like a rabbit to look and feel healthy.

I know it’s not easy to workout during this season. First of all, it’s cold outside, it’s raining, or snowing or just too cold to go out for a morning walk or jog. All I want to do is curl up in a warm blanket in front of the heater and watch TV or read a book. Who wants to exercise?  Besides, I have a deadline for the end of the week.  I don’t have time. Sound familiar?

News flash! It’s not only you who loves to be lazy -  it’s your fat cells as well. When we are sedentary the  carbs that we just consumed eating that chocolate-covered, caramel-filled doughnut, have nothing constructive to do (like create energy). The cells in our bodies tell them to go away when they knock at the door, they’re not needed. So they go to the main garbage sorter, the liver. Here they turn into fat cells for later use. And if we don’t use them they accumulate. And that’s why we gain weight. We gain it even if we eat healthfully. There are always some extra carbs in our diet.

Overeating causes a similar reaction in the body. The excess carbs end up as fat. But being able to control what you eat is one of the harder things to do. It is a lot easier to abstain completely from something rather than just do a little of it. So, should we stop eating?

Not the best idea. Let alone the fact that’s it’s unhealthy, eating less than the recommended daily calorie intake (1200-2000 for women), actually has the opposite effect we would imagine. We think: we don’t eat, we don’t gain weight. But in reality, our bodies go into starvation mode, where the metabolism slows down to conserve energy, thus burning less carbs! In this mode our bodies break down muscle in order to conserve as much fat as possible.

Ok, so how do we eat right? Well, I recently read an article in Cosmopolitan that suggested some great tips to “trick” our bodies into burning more calories while we eat!:

1. Drink lots of cold water. Water speeds up our metabolism. And if we drink cold water our bodies work harder to heat it up so we burn more. (According to Chinese medicine, it’s not healthy to drink icy water, bad for digestion, also, the brain freeze is not the best sensation, so don’t make it too cold). Drinking any other beverage adds calories or actually causes you to lose water. Especially caffeinated drinks.
2. Caffeine. The latest research has shown that caffeine is not as bad for us as we thought. It may even be beneficial in improving memory and repairing our livers. Drink green or black tea or coffee (not sugary soft-drinks, these are packed with calories). But if you drink coffee, please drink plenty of water. You don’t want your skin to look 80 when you’re 30.
3. Spice it up. Chili peppers and mustard seed contain capsaicin that helps your body burn more calories.
4. Never skip breakfast. Your mother always told you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Well, she was right. After several hours of being immobile our metabolism has slowed down  to a crawl. It will continue crawling if we don’t give it a jump start. And the best way to do that is to eat. Don’t tell me you don’t have time. Grab a fruit or a yogurt or a slice of bread and cheese or something.
5. Eat protein. It takes more energy to digest protein. And protein causes carbs to absorb slower, thus preventing insulin surges. Sorry, a fatty hunk of steak will just put more fat in your body. Instead, eat eggs, fish, chicken, lean meat, tofu or a combination of rice and legumes (which makes a complete protein).
6. Eat less but more often. If you eat a little every 3 to 4 hours your metabolism stays stoked continuously. If you see a skinny girl who tells you “I eat a lot, I never stop eating”. Chances are she’s a grazer. That’s her secret. You too can become a grazer. I’m not saying that you’ll become thin as a rail overnight; but you may loose some extra pounds over time.

As for exercise, it’s not easy to start; but once you get into some kind of routine it gets much easier. Don’t start with a 5 mile run. I admire the ambition, but you’ll just hurt yourself. Start small. Go for a 10 minute walk in the morning or in the evening after dinner. Better yet, get a friend to walk with you. Instead of sitting on your butt while watching TV, try to work on your butt by doing some squats and lunges. Time is what you make of it.

If you really want to lose weight with exercise, one of the best ways is doing interval workouts. Instead of walking or running at a steady pace, try doing 3 minutes moderate pace and then 3 minutes as fast as you can go. You can play with the times. The point is that you’re trying to trick your body. If you stay at a steady pace, at some point your body gets used to it, adjusts itself and burns less calories. If you keep changing pace, it has to adjust over and over again, thus burning a lot more.

Another way to burn more calories even while you’re resting is building muscle mass. The more muscle you have the higher your metabolism. So use weights or do resistance exercises like push-ups, sit ups, or pushing against a wall as hard as you can with your hands or feet. If you don’t like the sound of those there are many exercises you can try.

May this New Year be one of health, happiness, and especially, content with our bodies.

Source: Colino, Stacy. “Sneaky (and Fun!) Ways to Burn Fat Fast”; Cosmopolitan magazine, November 2008

Image Source:krezk

Tags: daily calorie intake, fat cells, goals, health, metabolism, overeating, workout

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