Atkins Diet, calorie counting, grams of fat, portions of protein... Does losing weight and staying fit have to be so complicated?
Exercise & Eating the Right Foods Boosts Your Metabolism
Everyone knows that exercise is an excellent way to increase your metabolism and burn excess fat. What most people don't know is that you can also stay in shape by eating certain foods which help to burn away unwanted fat and ramp up your metabolism.
Taking advantage of the body-slimming side-effects of certain foods is all matter of balance; consuming a diet with the proper amounts of carbohydrate, protein and fat.
How Your Metabolism Works
Gaining a basic understanding of your metabolism and how your body uses food for fuel will allow you to navigate wisely through the endless stream of fad-diets toward healthy nutritional and lifestyle habits that work for you in the long term.
Step outside of yourself for a moment (away from judging how you look and what you just ate) and think of your body as a machine. A highly sophisticated group of inter-related systems with inputs and outputs that are balanced in their healthy state. When any one of our systems becomes imbalanced the entire human machine experiences stress and will eventually malfunction, which may result in greater susceptibility to injuries and (eventually) the development of disease.
Metabolism consists of all the chemical reactions in the body that are responsible for producing energy and growth.
Metabolism consists of two types of processes; anabolism and catabolism.
Storing Energy & Fat
Anabolic processes are those which build complex molecules from simpler ones for the storage of energy; in simple terms, anabolic processes promote the storage of fat (the human body's most efficient form of stored energy).
Releasing Energy by Burning Fat
Catabolic processes are those which break down complex molecules into simpler ones for the release and use of energy - in simple terms, catabolic processes help burn fat to provide your body with a source of accessible fuel.
On a macro scale, eating is anabolic and exercise is catabolic - the healthy body keeps both types of metabolic processes in balance.
The Importance of Blood Sugar
Blood sugar regulation is a critical factor when balancing our metabolic processes since sugar is the most accessible form of energy for immediate use by human body. Energy is used (calories are burned) for obvious large expenditures such as an hour at the gym, but energy is also required to perform all of our body's chemical reactions as well as maintenance, growth and repair.
In a healthy, balanced metabolism, energy introduced into the system equals energy expended, resulting in a steady weight and normal quantities of body fat. Your blood sugar (glucose) level is a critical factor in metabolic (and therefore weight) control, and will affect not only your energy levels, but also your appetite, cravings and general mood.
When You Take In More Energy Than You Burn You Gain Weight
Food is delicious, as well as socially and culturally significant, however when managing one's weight, it helps to think of food as energy. When you consume more energy (food) than your body expends, the excess energy is stored by anabolic processes as body fat.
Fat Will Not Be Burned When Blood Sugar Levels Are High
The body will not burn fat stores as long as blood sugar levels remain high; body fat is broken down by the body only as a last resort. But remember, we're striving for balance - having blood sugar levels that are too low is also very unhealthy and dangerous, as the body lacks sufficient energy to function properly, especially once fat stores have been depleted. Balancing blood sugar levels allows the body to burn up calories & use energy more effectively.
Fat-Burning Foods
What is so special about these fat-burning foods which are said to make our bodies work quicker and burn up fat?
Complex carbohydrates require your body to break them down (as opposed to simple sugar and refined foods), causing sugar to be released into the bloodstream more slowly, reducing spikes (and subsequent dips) in energy, and resulting in a longer-lasting source of energy. Foods high in fiber also help normalize blood sugar levels, since they cause your body to absorb less sugar.
15 Fat-Burning Foods:
- Almonds
- Apples
- Chick Peas
- Cottage Cheese
- Kidney Beans
- Lean Chicken
- Lentils
- Oranges
- Porridge, Oats & Oat Cakes
- Pumpernickel & Whole Grain Bread
- Soy Beans
- Sunflower Seeds
- Tuna
- Tofu
- Whole Grain Pasta
Eating these foods doesn't mean you can eat whatever you want; but as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle they will help you convert your body into a more efficient, more energetic machine!
