This is the time of year when everyone who has put on extra weight is trying to take it off. I wanted to give you a short list on some things that you might not be aware of.
- Your stomach takes around six weeks to shrink back to a normal size. You better believe that if you are overweight your stomach is larger than it is suppose to be. This is why when you start trimming the calories you start feeling HUNGRY! It is so important to eat smaller meals more frequently so your blood sugar does not get out of whack. Low blood sugar is created when your pancreas is triggered to secrete insulin into your bloodstream, this is when you start feeling a little nauseous and uneasy. I believe that if you hone in on your blood sugar bad moods and many arguments can be avoided with your significant other which will help you deal with the stress of being on a diet.
- Be kind to yourself: If you give into your indulgences, enjoy it and get right back on track. If you make this a positive situation then you will not beat yourself up about it. It is a marathon, not a sprint. Think about it, if you tell yourself you are a loser and out of control then you are giving yourself permission to eat whatever you want. This creates stress and then you start emotionally eating.
- You must eat breakfast and have a cold drink of water. Research shows that you will not be as hungry at the end of the day if you eat breakfast. (Again, stabilizes your Blood Sugar) Also a cold glass of water can rev up your metabolism by 25%. Add lemon to it and you have a liver detoxifier.
- Stretch Daily: Stretching not only reduces pain and increases flexibility it also grows muscle. That is why YOGA is so good for you. It also opens up the 12 meridians or channels in your body. These meridians correlate with specific organs and help make your healing mechanisms work at full steam. It is one of the best things you can do for yourself and if you have a computer just go to youtube and watch beginner videos on stretching. One of my favorites is www.elasticsteel.com
- If you sit down most of the day you turn your fat burning mechanism off. This mechanism is triggered when you are standing and is located in the quads (front of the legs). If you have to sit for a long time get up every 45 minutes for ten minutes, take a break and stretch or walk. This will keep you burning fat and will help you focus while you work. If you are on the couch for the whole day I think you know why you are overweight. Get up and move!
- Drinking Alcohol. If you are starting to weight train and then you go home and have a couple of cocktails then you are doing yourself a huge disservice! For starters it stops your body from burning fat. Strength training burns fat for up to 48 hours after the workout! In fact it destroys the hard work you just have done by stocking your fat cells with the calories that you just burned. It also lowers your blood sugar and triggers insulin into the system which actually seals the toxins that are in your fat cells. One adult beverage inhibits your sleep and can cause sleep apnea. If you wake up tired you are more likely to overeat and make bad food choices. You get the picture 🙂 Please read this part over and understand this. At the very least drink wine with your meals on the weekend and totally abstain during the week when you are working out. This is so important to follow and is the #1 reason why people can’t lose the weight.
- Drink water, tea or coffee instead of any fruit juice, soda or alcohol during the work week. This is the make it break it part of your diet. If you can keep it to beverages that rev up your metabolism instead of hindering it the pounds will melt off.
So there you have some good advice to help you with your New Years resolution. Look back at my past articles for weight training and aerobic training to really conquer your weight! Best, Dan