Increase Energy (and Lose Weight Too)

Increase exercise.  If you're almost totally sedentary, start with 15 minutes a day of walking.  If you're too busy before you go to work and too tired after you come home, then take a pair of walking shoes to work along with a healthy brown bag lunch.  Spend the first 15-30 minutes of your lunch period walking.  Then eat.   If you're in better shape than that, do whatever you enjoy most.  Exercise should be enjoyable, otherwise you won't continue.  If you feel you don't have time for anything, try jumping rope, or incorporate your exercise into something else you do, for example, if you work or live in a high rise building, take the stairs up and down. 

Increase Energy Tip #1. Don't eat after 7 pm. Give your body digestive relief every night. Do yourself the favor of having your last evening meal at or before 7 pm. If you abstain from eating between 7 pm and 7 am, you stop all digestive activity and your body goes to bed having fully digested the food it's been fed all day. This leaves no unburned calories in your system as you sleep, which would otherwise transform into fat while you sleep. Instead, going to bed with an empty stomach provides your body 12 full hours to cleanse its natural metabolic waste and dietary toxins, which accumulate in our fat cells, making them larger. If you must eat late at night, make it a healthy snack of raw vegetables and herb tea or some fresh fruit and a small amount of low fat yogurt. Dr. Joey Shulman says that if you do this practice alone, you can shed a few pounds in under a week.

Increase Energy Tip #2. Be a grazer. Eat three small but balanced meals each day, and one or two light, healthy snacks in between. This style of eating, which some call grazing, will keep you energized through the day and more importantly, will maintain a high metabolic rate (which is the rate at which we burn calories). Especially important is to eat breakfast. Medical studies suggest that those who skip breakfast tend to gain weight than those who eat a well-rounded, protein-rich breakfast every morning. Breakfast skippers are more likely to suffer food cravings to compensate for lack of nourishment. In addition, skipping breakfast (or having a fruit-only breakfast) will spark blood sugar imbalances, which in turn trigger insulin production, which in turn orders the body to store fat.

Increase Energy Tip #3. Go for the protein. Although his dieting methods are what you might call extreme, and very unhealthy if pursued long-term, Dr. Atkins definitely understood a central principle of weight loss. Nutrition and weight loss research continually points to protein as a master weight loss secret. Too little dietary protein has been associated with excess weight, and diets high in protein are among the most successful for relatively rapid weight loss. But it's important to note, too much protein has it's health risks, so we need to practice moderation when factoring protein into a weight loss diet. Dr. Barry Sears, who delighted many dieters with the Zone Diet, is a great voice of reason about using protein as as weight loss aid. His research and that of many others reveal that protein helps us lose weight for two fundamental reasons: 1) it balances blood sugar and insulin levels, which prevent the conversion of calories into fat and 2) it stimulates production a hormone called glucagon, which encourages the break down of body fat. Dr. Sears and Dr. Shulman agree that including a modest amount of protein in every meal is an excellent, long-term weight loss method. Ideal sources of protein include egg whites, chicken, turkey, salmon, tuna, tilapia, mahi mahi, sole (and other cold water fish), protein powder, soy foods and low-fat dairy products.

Increase Energy Tip #4. Not no-carb, but whole-grain. Carbohydrates have been villainized by dieters, who correctly understand that too many carbs, the wrong forms of carbs, and worse, too many of the wrong varieties of carbs, will unmercifully apply the pounds, fast. Having acknowledged that, carbs are not to be staved off altogether. Our body requires some amount of carbohydrate in our daily diet to provide our body with glucose, crucial for brain function and vitality. Weight loss research has noted that it is the type of carb we eat that causes weight loss or weight gain. The more complex the sugar molecules in the carbohydrate, the more slowly the sugars break down in the body, and the less of an insulin release they will trigger. (Insulin spikes are a precursor of weight gain). So, eat a limited amount of carbohydrate, with your protein, at every meal. Learn which carbohydrates are the best carbs: low in glycemic index (the rate at which a food produces insulin), high in whole grain. Whole grains, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, actually encourage weight loss, in particular, whole grain oatmeal. Other superb carbohydrate choices are whole grain breads (low gluten, no added sugar), whole grain pastas, brown rice, wild rice and other cooked whole grains like millet, quinoa and amaranth.

Increase Energy Tip #5. Cook your grains al dente. Don't fully cook, and especially, don't overcook your servings of whole grain pasta. Slightly undercooking your pasta retains more of its whole grain content, which will naturally lower its glycemic index. A lower glycemic index means that the carbohydrate molecules in the pasta break down more slowly in your stomach, secrete less sugar in your blood, activate less insulin, and store less fat. When you cook your pasta al dente, go for a slightly fibrous center. This also goes for potatoes and rice.

Increase Energy Tip #6. Avoid the foods that make you bloat. There are certain foods and consumables that produce gas in the intestinal track and create a bloated, swollen look. These foods include: beans, wheat, dairy, broccoli, spinach, saurkraut, popcorn, spicy foods, beer and alcohol, and carbonated drinks. Unfortunately, some of these foods are very good for you, and those you definitely should not forsake forever. (Broccoli is one of the "perfect" foods, and unless you have a lactose intolerance, a little dairy is a highly beneficial part of anyone's diet). That in mind, if you want a flat tummy fast, stay away from of these foods and beverages for at least a week. You will experience a shrinking waistline. The recent diet fad known as "The Flat Belly Diet" is almost completely predicated on this dietary principle.

Increase Energy Tip #7. Substitute, substitute, substitute. You don't have to deny yourself every fatty favorite. Instead, discover their healthy substitutions. Apart from low-fat choices you can find in the store (be sure they aren't loaded with sugar to compensate for flavor -- read the labels), there are many ways it is possible to enjoy a favorite food in waist-friendly way. For example, you can substitute mashed cauliflower for mashed potatoes. Instead of sour cream, choose low-fat yogurt. Instead of butter, opt for flax seed oil. If you love ice cream or sorbet, blend up a fruit and yogurt smoothie, and freeze pre-proportioned servings. In place of a sugar-sweetened fruit juice, blend up fresh fruit with water. Instead of potato chips, delight instead in some zucchini chips (slice thin, combine with olive oil and salt, then bake at 300 degrees until crisp. If you are a hopeless chocolate lover, get the dark chocolate and grate it over fruit or your a healthy low-calorie, low-fat treat. In place of chocolate pudding, make carob pudding with silk tofu, agave syrup or stevia and ground flax seeds. Get imaginative, experiment, and exchange your winning food substitutes with friends.

Increase Energy Tip #8. Veggies in the Raw. For a bit of quick weight loss, go on a four day raw food diet of fruits, vegetables and a small amount of soaked nuts and seeds (soaking makes the fat and protein more digestible). This will help you lose weight in a variety of ways. Your body will burn extra calories as it breaks down the raw fruits and vegetables. And because fruits and vegetables are low in calories, your body will take in fewer calories. A raw fruit and vegetable diet gives you an overall calorie loss, and no matter who you ask, weight loss and weight gain come down to one fundamental component: calorie intake and calorie burn.. In terms of weight loss and weight management, make a commitment to yourself that fresh fruits and vegetables make up approximately half of your regular food intake. Make roughly half of that raw fruits and vegetables. A report published by Tufts University observed that the more vegetables a person eats, the more thin they are throughout life, even in older years when weight gain is most common.

Increase Energy Tip #9. Drink more water and make it cold. Water is essential for healthy digestion of our food. Indigestion tends to swell the belly, making it pouchy and bloated. If you think you're not digesting your food properly, drink more water. An 8 oz. glass of water or green tea before each meal will reign in your appetite. In between meals, drink at least two more glasses of water, tea or watered-down fruit juice. If you drink your drink ice cold, you will burn an extra 50 - 70 calories a day due to the fact that the body has to work to heat the water to your body's temperature. One more tip: Dehydration can cause a false sense of hunger and food cravings. Very often, when we feel hungry, our body is really only thirsty. So try this: next time you are reaching for a snack, drink a glass of light fruit juice and see if you're still hungry in 20 minutes. For short and long term weight loss, aim to drink a total of 3 - 4 quarts of water each day. For extra calorie burn, make it cold, except for meal time. Acceptable options to plain water are unsweetened green tea or herb teas, and watered-down fruit juice.

Increase Energy Tip #10. Cleanse your body of toxins. Body detox and intestinal cleansing are great for long term and short term weight loss. Toxicity plays a fundamental role in weight loss, because of this little known fact: that our fat cells are the depository for unprocessed toxins that we ingest from our air, water and food. The more toxic waste that accumulates in our body, the larger our fat cells get. When you want to lose weight, short term or long term, a short but thorough cleansing body detox will do wonders. The best recipe for a gentle, thorough detox are fruits, vegetables and water. If you want to drop a dress size or two for a big event or a vacation to the beach, give yourself a 3 - 5 day fruit and vegetable detox cleanse. One of the best around is the lemon detox diet.