The benefits of increased metabolism include the ability to stay fit with lesser physical activity, lesser effort to do the activities, lesser chances of weight gain and the ability to enjoy most of your favourite foods.

Needless to say that metabolism of a person is influenced by his or her age, sex, gender, temperature, his or her built, family history, hormonal changes and more. His or hers metabolic rate may also see a decline due to the changes in his or her lifestyle.

Your metabolic rate refers to the rate the at which your body burns energy during physical activity and the rate at which it uses energy during the digestion of food. To make it easier, you can say that your metabolic rate is the rate at which the body burns up calories. Ironically, you metabolize certain amount of fat even when you sit idle.

Always be on the move to increase your metabolism:-

1. Swing your legs when you sit idly
2. Drum your fingers on your desk
3. Stand up and stretch a couple of times as you work
4. Move your head from side to side
5. Change your sitting position
6. Pace up and down the room
7. Clench and release your muscles (any muscles)
8. Tap your feet to the rhythm of music
9. Climb the stairs

But do this when people aren’t noticing!

According to experts, a few other changes in your lifestyle can affect your metabolic rate and burn calories.

• Eat breakfast
• Take more of lean protein
• Eat six small meals a day
• Include fish, dark green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, fruits and whole grains
• Drink recommended quantity of water without fail
• Do some aerobics regularly. They keep burning your fat for hours after you stop your work out.

   You are no more in your teens. You might have already realised that life is not about giggling and shopping but a colourful bunch of responsibilities. Your needs have changed and so too your outlook towards life. As your needs change, your lifestyle unfortunately changes too. This is the time you got to hit back to a healthy lifestyle with enough exercise and right food to prevent lifestyle diseases and chronic disorders.

   Managing weight is not a difficult thing at this age. It is an age where you need to increase your level of physical activity and consciously reduce the food intake and fat calories. 

Control Fats to Maintain Required Weight

Early twenties up to late thirties is not a good time to eat less and work more. You need a good pack of steady energy to keep yourself busy and active 24/7. So eat wise and lose weight as early as possible.

• Consume less oil. ‘Oil’ does include all kinds of saturated oils. Ideas for cooking with less oil is not limited. Grilling, baking, poaching and steaming work well! Using a half portion of onion can help your food not getting stuck to the non-stick cookware.
• Stick on to low-fat dairy products for the adults while giving the children full milk products. Three servings or 600 ml of dairy products per day is ideal.
• Restrict your fat intake, as far as possible, to polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. Vegetable oil, nuts, fish etc. are great sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. Only 35 per cent of your calories should come from fats.
• It is the golden rule to limit your trans fatty acid intake up to 10 per cent of your total daily calories.

Watch your Carbohydrates

• Ideally, you should consume 3 or more servings (1 serving = approximately 28g) of whole grains a day.
• Cultivate the habit of having salads in your children as well.
• Be liberal with fruits, veggies and whole grains. This will ensure the much required fibre for your body.
• Eat enough of starchy foods for a healthy brain and muscles.
• Go for artificial sweeteners.

Everything Else

• Consume alcohol in moderation. Be aware that even alcohol adds up to your calorie intake.
• Preferably, only less than 2,300mg of salt/sodium should be taken in a day. Count your pickles, salt in the foods and processed foods.
• Since potassium plays a major role in preventing high blood pressure, building muscle and regulating our heartbeat eat bananas, mushrooms, potatoes and sweet potatoes with skin, dairy foods, green leafy vegetables etc. You will need 4.7 grams of potassium a day.

1. Let me tell you that once you start with a physical activity work hard on it and never stop it. Though you may feel tired and disinterested in the beginning once you get going you will know the difference. Physical activity need not be the same everyday. For example, if you go to the gym regularly and one day you feel tired for cardio work outs take a stroll in the park instead. It may be less satisfying for the gym person you are but it serves the same purpose- burning fat. There is no harm in mixing up exercises. Having a wide range of quality exercises will sustain your interest and earnesty in exercising and will also tone up your body. Get a lap of swim today and bike tomorrow and meet your friends again at the gym on the next day.
2. Don’t give yourself a hard time. A mistake that many of us commit while getting physical activity is pushing things far enough to make ourselves hate it. You have a goal in our mind and we jog for an hour early in the morning. At the end of the day, you feel so stressed out and tired that on the next day you don’t even feel like walking to your car. Remember that you don’t need a long work out session to burn your fat. It is better to plan your day ahead with 3 or 4 sessions of exercise at different times. A small session of gym in the morning, some nice table tennis at lunch and perhaps a stroll in the night make you stay active all day with a great metabolism.
3. Weight training is an acknowledged way of maximizing weight loss. It will boost your metabolism and enable you to burn more calories in a faster rate. Get some friends to exercise with you or even better make friends with exercising people.

In addition to all this, do not forget to drink a lot of fluids and eat protein rich meals to speed up weight loss.

Technorati Tags: weight loss,weight training,cardio,gym,physical activity,regular exercise,walking,burn fat,swim

Metabolic Equivalent of Task is a thing you need to know about. One’s MET will depend upon one’s age and whether one is leading an active or sedentary lifestyle. MET is a unit used to estimate the amount of oxygen used by the body during physical activity i.e. the metabolic rate of the body.

There is no argument on calorie burning as a key to weight loss. When you work hard and exert yourself you burn more calories, consume more oxygen and see a higher MET level. The fitness levels range from 1.5 MET for the lowest exercise capacity up to 20 METs for the highest. When you are at rest your MET would be 1. Your moderate walking enables you to burn 3.5 to 7 kcal/min with a MET of 3-6. Any vigorous activity may have a higher MET of 6 and more.

So that means pushing beyond your comfort zone could make you burn calories. When you use an exercising equipment in a gym look for a MET setting. Try to reach your required MET as you work out. Challenge your body if you are physiologically fit for it. Remember to start at a lower intensity and work up from there. However, it is important to try slowly and not to overdo it. Since the MET of each person varies from another ask a fitness professional about yours.

Now that’s something to think about for the week ahead!

Ayurveda, the science of life, is an ancient medical practice native to India. Purification of the body being the foundation of Ayurveda, Panchakarma refers to the five treatment procedures used by this traditional system of medicine to purge the body of its toxins or ama.

Panchakarma has various types of treatments which not only aid weight loss but also help you to remain healthy and rejuvenated. Fat in the body necessarily mean an excess of toxins. Through Panchakarma you can detoxify your body and speed up fat loss.

The procedures of Vamana, Udwartana, Swedana and Basti are recommended for weight loss in obese people.  Vamana karma (therapeutic vomiting) is practised for kapha dosha (kapha constitution) people who have a heavy and obese body to clear their passages of toxins and waste materials. This is done through ghee (purified butter)treatment  and steam bath. Vamana Karma decreases the cholesterol and lipid levels in the body making weight loss a possibility. Udwartana (dry body massage) uses soft, fragrant powders derived from herbs for  massage. This helps in weight reduction, removal of cellulites, increases blood circulation and cleanses the skin. Garshan massage is another treatment that helps in weight loss. It also serves to oxygenate the cells and stimulate the removal of accumulated toxins and cellulites. For garshan, health practitioners use raw silk gloves to create friction of the skin while massage. A decoction of medicines given through enema is called Basti. Lekhana Basti helps is a strong enema that can eliminate toxins and accumulated wastes from the body and is recommended for people with obesity and atherosclerosis.

Panchakarma is a long procedure that is practised in 3 stages and it needs your time, patience and above all, belief.

The flowers and the buds of the plant form a known part of Chinese and Korean cuisine with their diuretic and antitumor properties. The leaves of the plant are store houses of vitamins (A, C and K) along with minerals like calcium, potassium, iron and manganese. They also contain fair amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fiber. A great stimulant to liver and kidneys, dandelion works as a general tonic for overall health.

Dandelion is a mild laxative that can purge your body from cholesterol and enhance your metabolism. Occasional use of dandelion in your diet can help elevate the rate of urination and thus detoxify your system. Not only for the bladder, dandelions are good for your spleen, pancreas, stomach and intestines as well. It further alleviates skin problems while also preventing gall stones.

Try dandelion tea as a remarkable substitute for coffee in the morning. By doing so you can stop your coffee cravings, prevent the side effects of caffeine and have an energetic morning. Remember, you can also flush away any excessive fat with a daily cup of dandelion tea.At least 4% of your urine is fat. So the more you urinate the more fat is thrown out from your body. Dandelion infusion taken after dinner is a great aid to digestive system. It also increases bile flow and in turn aid fat metabolism.

Diabetic patients can benefit with dandelion as dandelion increases urine and elimination of more sugar through urine. As it is a great aid to the kidneys, dandelion serves to avoid renal problems in diabetic patients. 

Dandelion leaves, roots or flowers are used for medicinal purposes. Plant a dandelion weed in your garden and use the fresh leaves for best results. Take 1 to 2 teaspoonful of dried leaves or tear 6 fresh leaves into strips before you put them into hot water. Leave for a few minutes, strain it and take the tea 3 times daily. Add honey or sweeteners according to your choice. Try dandelion greens in your salads as well.

Ask your doctor about making dandelion a part of your daily diet to achieve weight loss and good general health!

• Drink a lot of water and more of hot water. Sometimes you brain fools around making you feel hungry instead of thirsty. If you sip hot water it will curb your ‘hunger’ for water and make you fuller. Water also gets rid of toxins and excess calories.
• Eat smart and more of it. Low calorie foods are your saviours. Peppers, zucchini, celery and the lot are great for the start. They demand more energy for their digestion and you burn more calories without neglecting you general health. Do not forget to throw away starchy veggies like potatoes.
• Exercise in the morning as a must! Musicians practice as early as before sunrise. Meditation also works great if done at 4 AM in morning before the world wakes up. And so does physical work out. Rather than cuddling in the bed, get up and jump ahead in to the day. A few minutes of skipping, high knee lifts and the like can be highly rewarding.
• One of the easiest things you can do is to squeeze your butt as and when you can. Hold your muscles in for a few seconds and release. You can do this glute exercise even while working or doing your daily chores. Just watch your back, though!

• Genes and cells

Genes are the deciding factor for many of us. Fat genes are the culprit behind many of our obesity or weight gain. Some of us owe our fat to the fat cells which make us fat and heavy. Certain fat cells are fed by viruses like Adenoviruses which increase the risk of obesity.

• Mental Stress

We notice a weight gain when we have a tight schedule in the work place and don’t eat or sleep at the right time. Your routine necessarily changes your eating patterns and requirements. Scientists point out that tension and stress increase our desire for carbohydrate-rich foods which serve to appease the stress hormones.

• Lack of sleep

Weight loss encouraged when you sleep for around 7-8 hours a night. Lack of sleep affects your fullness and cause hormonal imbalances.

• Mom!

The lifestyle and health conditions your mother had while you were inside her womb can be a deciding factor of your health too. Fatty and unhealthy foods she may have had before conceiving you are found to have adverse effects on the developing baby’s health. Hence it is important for moms-to-be to eat and sleep healthy before they try to conceive.

Yet, there is no need for you to be disheartened. You can be fat and at the same time be fit. Lean and hungry looking people also fall prey to lifestyle diseases despite their having the right weight. Lean or fat, physical activity for half an hour a days, five times a week is ideal for good health.

Junk foods are the main culprits behind obesity and other health problems of the generation. Yet, what is life if we can’t enjoy our favorite burger or a slice of pizza?

But that is when colon cleansing or colon irrigation comes to help. It is a holistic practice by which you cleanse your colons literally to wash away the waste products and clogged toxic substances (Mucoid Plaque) which accumulate inside. It is believed to help weight loss and to improve digestion. Holistic approaches believe that bowel movements are the foundation for your health and hence importance of a clean bowel for a healthy body. But modern science does not really approve of this practice of colon cleansing for to help weight loss. Doctors do not recommend colon irrigation with instruments as this can increase the risk of infections and dehydration.

So, here is the good news. You can eat a diet that can cleanse your bowels! Regular exercise and a colon cleansing diet will ensure a healthy and natural weight loss. Fiber-rich foods and green vegetables hold the key to washing away the debris from the colon. Soluble and insoluble fiber (fruits, grains etc.) will prevent constipation and eliminate all unwanted deposits. Green foods with a high chlorophyll content like spirulina will detoxify your internal organs and improve the body’s healing process. Drinking adequate amount of water is also essential for proper bowel movements. This in turn will enable the nutrients and the oxygen to be absorbed well in to the body.

Ask your doctor about colon cleansing today itself!