aslanbash

Have you been trying to lose body fat, but find it comes off at a snail's pace? Tired of losing a pound a month as you exercise and diet your brains out? If you're working out with efficiency and maintaining a slight caloric deficit, you can actually lose up to 1.5 pounds per week. That's a lot of fat loss in the course of one year.
However, even if you haven't been consistent, I have some metabolism-boosting tips that should help ignite some good, steady fat loss.

1. Increase your meal frequency: That's right, I want you to eat more often, but don't increase your total calories. For example, if you eat three times per day, break those three meals into five to six smaller meals and eat every three hours. Food can actually help burn body fat when it's used strategically. When you eat a large meal such as a big bowl of pasta, you raise your blood-sugar levels and the body increases its level of insulin. This only serves to make you fat! If you break your meals into smaller feedings it helps to control blood sugar -- this puts you in a better position to lose fat. If you're an eDiets member, you're already experiencing this great method through one of our many meal plans.

2. Break up your workout: Many people are pressed for time and the thought of exercise becomes another stress in their lives. With family responsibilities, work, financial pressures, etc., the thought of exercise is like a weight on their shoulders. However, research has proven that two short bouts of exercise per day will actually stimulate the metabolism more than one longer bout. Go for a brisk 15-minute walk first thing in the morning before work and then another one at lunch time. Do this five days per week and I know you'll see progress at the end of 30 days.

3. Eat breakfast: Although this is an obvious one to me, I'm always amazed at the amount of people who think they're doing the right thing by skipping breakfast. I always stress to my clients to think of the body from the inside-out. The human body's main goal is survival. If it senses any type of emergency, it will do everything in its power to keep you alive. If you sleep through the night and then deprive the body of food in the morning, what do you think the body is sensing at this point? That's right, it senses a potential famine and then holds onto stored body fat to keep you alive. I'm not exaggerating this point -- this is exactly what happens. Remember, calories from food represent heat. Use the heat to rev your metabolism.

4. Cycle calories: This is a technique I've used on several clients with amazing success. For three days, consume your minimum calorie requirement based on your height, weight and goals. Then, on day number four, increase your calories by an additional 400 (nutritious foods only). For example, if you're losing fat by consuming 1,200 calories per day, simply raise your calories to 1,600 on day number four. This technique can actually get the metabolism racing and stimulate additional fat loss. Just remember that the additional calories come from good sources of protein, carbohydrates and fats -- not pizza.

5. Drinks lots of water: Remember what I said about thinking of the body from the inside-out? Muscles and other tissues are made up of approximately 80-percent water. If you limit your water intake, the body will retain water and make you feel like the "queen or king of bloat." We all know how absolutely awful it feels to be bloated. It doesn't take much for this to happen -- the body only needs to be dehydrated by approximately 2 percent for this to take place. Drink .55 multiplied by your body weight in ounces of water per day. Staying hydrated will release some excess water trapped in the body and most likely reduce your weight by a few pounds.

6. Exercise in the morning: If you can fit it into your schedule, exercise in the morning. People who exercise consistently in the morning find that exercise at this time regulates their appetite all day long. They don't get as hungry and they start the day with a boost to the metabolism.

7. Perform cardio interval training: Cardio interval training is simply short bursts of high-intensity exercise combined with more moderate intensity within the same workout. Studies have shown that people who perform interval training twice a week (in addition to two other days of lower intensity cardio) lose twice as much weight as those who do just a moderate cardio workout. You can easily incorporate interval training into your workout by inserting a 45-second burst into your stationary bike workout every four to five minutes. You can also add a 45-second super brisk walk to your treadmill workout in the same timeframe. Your body will be working harder and will be forced to burn more calories. In addition, you won't need more than 25 total minutes for your workout. Try to get two additional days during the week of lower intensity cardio as well.

8. Boost your metabolism by reading instead of watching TV: Researchers at Memphis State University monitored 32 girls as they watched a half-hour television program. They found the metabolic rates dropped as much as 16-percent below resting metabolic rate. In other words, they burned fewer calories watching TV than they did just by reading!

9. Drink green tea: Green tea is a popular tea from Japan that has numerous health benefits, including weight loss. It's not 100 percent certain how green tea helps one to lose fat, but it appears to increase the amount of calories the body burns -- not necessarily because of the small amounts of caffeine it contains, but due to a compound abbreviated as EGCG. When purchasing green tea make sure the label states that the green tea used is standardized for caffeine and EGCG.

10. Practice hydrotherapy: This could have been placed in the "drink lots of water" section but deserves its own section due to its efficiency. First thing in the morning, drink 32 ounces of very cold water on an empty stomach. Don't eat breakfast for at least 30 minutes. The cold water will force your body to raise its core temperature, thereby stimulating your metabolism and excreting any excess water. You may find that you lose two pounds the first month you try this. If you want to take it a step further, do the same thing at lunch. Just make sure to wait the 30 minutes prior to eating. Remember though, if you're consuming excess calories each day, this tip won't work.

Try several of these easy-to-use tips and start getting your fat burning metabolism revved.
If you're looking for the ultimate solution, you can find it at eDiets with our results-oriented nutrition and workout programs, as well as through our ongoing commitment to member support.
. A drug-free competitive bodybuilder and winner of the prestigious WNBF (World Natural Bodybuilding Federation) Pro Card, Raphael Calzadilla is a veteran of the health-and-fitness industry. He specializes in a holistic approach to body transformation, nutrition programs and personal training. He earned his B.A. in communications from Southern Connecticut State University and is certified as a personal trainer with ACE and APEX. In addition, he successfully completed the RTS1 program based on biomechanics.

patricias213

Great Advice!

lulubelle80

I tried cutting back on my calories this week to try the four day low calories then to boost up to the higher calorie level. The first day it messed my blood sugar up so bad that I felt pretty terrible. Any suggestions on trying again and how I can help regulate my blood sugar levels?

Calamity Jane

Lulubelle, is the diet just calorie reduced or have you restricted carbs?

To help stabilize blood glucose (BG):

1.If you're diet is allowing you carbs,ensure that you're consuming medium to low glycemic carbs, these don't cause a rapid rise in BG (like high glycemic carbs). When you consume high glycemic carbs these cause BG to shoot up and the body responds by secreting insulin to help bring down BG.Problem is sometimes too much insulin is released by the body and BG drops to pre-meal levels and leaves you feeling like you want quit work for the day and go home for a nap. Here's a look at a basic glycemic index but you can probably find a more detailed food listing elsewhere.
2. Divide your meals and space them out evenly. If you're going for 1400cals/day and assuming that you're awake for 16hrs each day then have a 200cal meal/snack every 2-2.25hrs. This should help you quite a bit with regards to controlling BG.

This is a very good thread as the pointers listed are pretty much spot on. My only reservation is the six small meals per day for weight loss. I have a different take on this (note, my take on it with regard to BG control stays, just that for weight loss,human physiology works contrary to the six meals/day myth).

lulubelle80

Calamity Jane, here's what I tried eating the first day
Breakfast: 1 cup cornflakes (unsweetened of course), 1 c. skim milk
1/4 c. sunflower seeds

Lunch: 1 pint cherry tomatoes, 4 oz. lean turkey, 1 oz. skim mozzarella cheese

Snack: 1 c. blueberries blended w/ 1 c. skim milk

Dinner: 4 oz. talapia, 1 c. red potates, and a green salad

I know for my weight that 1200 cal. is not a lot and I'm sure that it did shock my body a good bit, but I just felt awful. I'm really trying to incorporate good carbs into my diet, not trying to cut them out completely. I'll check out the glycemic index to see what you're talking about.
If you have anymore info, insight, or just plain encouragement, I'm very accepting of all of it.
Thanks

divadeluxe11

I've lost some weight with other diet products and systems such as the WuLong Tea, Weightwatchers, Hoodia and Jenny Craig, but I stuck with none of them because the results were minimal and I often wondered if it was just my own dietary regimen and exercise habits which made the difference... which probably they did.

But I have never been happy with just changing my diet and adding more exercise to my life... I always need another product or system that somehow compliments my efforts.

So recently I tried another product called the One Week Diet System (edited)

Basically it compliments a sensible diet and a regular exercise schedule with a liquid cleanse/detox that you mix with water and drink twice a day. It doesn't taste disgusting at all... rather fruity. What this is supposed to do is cleanse your digestive tract, detoxify your body and reset your metabolism. It also acts as a replacements for one meal... which in my case is breakfast.

They claim average results of 7.5 pounds in just the first week. I've lost 4 pounds in the first week... which I guess varies from person to person... they say average so others might lose more and others like I did, might lose less. I'm also trying to lose the last couple of pounds to get just the right trimming to my body... and those are always the hardest to get off... and so far I'm happy.

However, I'd like to know if anybody else has tried it and how the product lives up to the claims in the consecutive weeks.