This is an article I read some time ago whilst in Canada and felt it was worth sharing;
The Winter Months are coming, and most of us will gain weight unless we have a strategy.
Blame the fact that most mammals gain weight over the winter due to colder temperatures or less daylight. The question remains, how do we avoid fattening up over the winter? Most attribute it to a lowering of metabolism; if so, how can we increase our metabolic rate in the winter months to minimize fat gain?
Metabolism is a combination of physical and chemical processes that are responsible for regulating and maintaining your body health. All of the nutrients responsible for these processes come from your diet. Your metabolic rate is the amount of calories you expend every day.
Three factors determine your total metabolic rate. The Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the rate your body uses energy for vital body processes. The rate you burn energy during physical activity and the rate you use energy during digestion of food are the two other factors factors involved in your total metabollic rate.
Research has proven that in order to either lose fat mass or maintain your current state, your metabolic rate and calorie expenditure should be equal or more than the amount of daily calories you consume. If you accomplish several days of this negative imbalance, it is likely that you will lose body fat.
The notion of consuming certain foods that increase metabolism has some validity. Research has shown that chili peppers and spicy foods increases metabolism, but only slightly and only for a short period of time. Even green tea has been investigated, but researchers concluded that normal amounts would have no effect on losing fat mass. There are no foods that have been scientifically proven to increase your metabolic rate enough to shed unwanted pounds.
The entire process of eating food in general does increase metabolism. Therefore, eating frequently but small amounts is more advantageous than eating two or three larger meals per day. Furthermore, protein requires about twenty-five percent more energy to digest when compared to most carbohydrates and could be part of the explanation why high protein diets tend to have better weight loss results. However, there are some carbohydrates that are termed as negative-calorie foods. These foods use more calories to digest than the calories the foods actually contain! For instance, a 25 calorie piece of broccoli (100grams) requires 80 calories to digest, resulting in a net loss of fifty-five calories. In fact, a large number of foods combine low calories, delicious taste, and excellent negative calorie properties. Some of these natural foods are asparagus, apples, beets, berries, brocolli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chillies, cucumber, garlic, lettuce, grapefruit, lemons, mangos, onions, oranges, papayas, pineapples, spinach, turnips, zucchini, to name a few.
Of course, exercise must be mentioned as a major factor that will increase metabolism. Specifically, the higher the intensity and the amount of time spent at high intensity, the greater the metabolic rate will be elevated and the longer it will remain high. Simply monitor your heart rate after an easy sixty minute run, versus a ten kilometre running race, pushing your physiological limits.
Resistance training also increases metabolic activity and is responsible for maintaining and gaining muscle mass.Muscle tissue burns calories at rest. Even when not formally exercising, activating muscles by fidgeting, walking around, or wiggling your toes and fingers while watching TV increases your metabolic rate. So always keep moving!
The science is clear on how to ward off unwanted fat. Bottom line; you must focus on low calorie foods, eat them often in the day, but ensure that adequate protein and essential fats are consumed. Couple this eating strategy with regular exercise, pushing the intensity, and you have the formula to stay trim over the winter.
This article was originally published in IMPACT Magazine in February 2008 and written by Calvin Zaryski.
0 comments:
Post a Comment