While medical science has failed to substantiate the grapefruit or celery diets, it has known for a very long time that these foods are good inclusions in a healthy diet. They also tend to be rather low in calories. Celery is even quite high in fiber, which can help reinforce the body to burn more calories during it’s digestion.

So, what does this mean to you if you’re looking to boost your metabolism? It’s fairly simple. Celery and grapefruit alone won’t really help you kick start your calorie-burning machine, but it would be smart to include them in an overall program.

Before you rush out and buy every grapefruit at your local grocery store, stop, breathe and put an emphasis on that “overall program.” The best way to really tweak your metabolism is to consider your health all the time. To really make it work as you’d like, or closer to it, you need to:

Eat smarter.

While it’s impossible to change your metabolism, it is feasible to massage it a bit. This can be achieved by eating smarter. Consider more frequent, smaller portions throughout the day. Little meals every four to six hours can really help here. By all means include grapefruit, celery and other super foods, but don’t forget that “healthy” means healthy balance.

Move.

This four-letter word goes a long way when metabolic boosting is desired. To really kick-start your metabolism, you have to move. Get up, exercise, clean the house, garden, play with the kids – just do something! The more you move, the harder your metabolism has to work.

Build muscle.

The more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll burn on a daily basis. Building lean muscle mass is key to boosting metabolism. This doesn’t mean you need to make yourself look like a weight lifter, but toning and shaping up can very much help you along toward your goal.

Boosting metabolism with “super foods” is possible, but not in the way many diet plans tout. Eating nothing but a certain fruit, vegetable or meat will end up hurting you in the long run. Consider a smarter path by looking at the overall, big picture. There is something to super foods, but they alone will not give you the results you desire.

]]> http://fat-loss-tips.com/blog/a-closer-look-at-fat-burning-foods/feed/ 0 http://fat-loss-tips.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-diet-you-won%e2%80%99t-give-up-on/ http://fat-loss-tips.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-diet-you-won%e2%80%99t-give-up-on/#comments Mon, 03 Sep 2007 18:33:00 +0000 Sandy http://fat-loss-tips.com/blog/?p=95 Are you fighting the diet battle again this year, worried that once again, your willpower will leave you unarmed and you’ll quit before you achieve your goals?

Whether you’re a first time dieter or one who has been going around and around the track for years, you’ll be happy to know that it is possible to pick a diet plan and stick to it until you get to the weight you want to be.

The first tip is to try to choose a diet plan that’s not too strict for you. You know the kind – some have special limits on carbs, protein, or anything that’s the color white. The ones who lose weight long-term have to learn to live in a world where nothing is off-limits, but moderation is key.

Other diets have plans where you’re supposed to start and stop again and again until the weight comes off. This can get tedious and send you on extreme highs and lows emotionally and physically as your body is forced to adjust to the new circumstances.

Instead, try to find a plan that shows you how to eat healthy for a lifetime. If you know it’s okay to sometimes have a special treat, or indulge in a glass of wine, then you won’t have to go from one end of the spectrum to the other – you’ll be on a balanced course that’s safe for your body and easy on your emotions.

Fasting and binging (even on healthy foods) is a sure way to develop poor eating habits and it can confuse your body because it’s being given mixed messages. One minute you’re devouring pound after pound of fresh fruit and vegetables, lean protein, and carbs – and the next you’re surviving on nothing but hot water with honey and red pepper mixed in.

Before you choose any diet, evaluate it for a lifetime plan. Could you exist without ever eating another morsel of sugar again in this lifetime? Could you turn away bread at every meal for the next thirty years?

Some diets make it seem like their rigid plan is one you could adhere to forever, but caving in could cause you to regain more weight if you get discouraged and give up for good. No diet plan is 100% comfortable when you’re used to being able to eat with freedom from careful consideration.

Still, there are many plans that offer sensible ways to eat where you never have to leave an entire food group off of your plate. Don’t follow a fad – instead, follow your heart and make up your mind to you feel comfortable implementing into your life.

]]> http://fat-loss-tips.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-diet-you-won%e2%80%99t-give-up-on/feed/ 0 http://fat-loss-tips.com/blog/think-yourself-thin/ http://fat-loss-tips.com/blog/think-yourself-thin/#comments Wed, 11 Jul 2007 21:37:00 +0000 Sandy http://fat-loss-tips.com/blog/?p=92 Think Your Way Thin

Can you really just by thinking about it? Well studies have shown that athletes can improve their game through the technique of visualizing the correct sequence of muscle movements. During the process of visualization it seems that even though the muscles don’t move, the brain sends electrical impulses that mimic the impulses sent when the action is physically carried through. That is practicing by thinking about it.

People who want to are often their own worst enemy. Looking in the mirror they chide themselves for their flabby thighs or stomach over hanging the belt. They don’t see that they’ve lost weight, they just see how much more weight they should lose. This mind set just re-enforces their poor self image. Then when a caramel swirl cookie beckons, they figure why not, they’re fat and flabby anyway.

Want to know a better thought process? Think of your body the way you want it to be. If you have a picture of your former thinner self, use it as a guideline. That’s the real you. Whenever you’re tempted by a double chocolate brownie think of the thin you.

You can use your mind to control your eating habits. If you’re tempted to eat, just delay gratification for 15 minutes. In most cases when the time has passed, so has the craving.

Visualization can be used as a substitute for eating. Think of a place where you feel safe and happy. Perhaps it’s the beach with the waves rhythmically pounding the shore, the sand underfoot, and the sun glistening off the water. Smell the salt air and feel the cool breeze ruffling your hair. When you feel an eating binge coming on, close your eyes and picture your safe place. You are turning your attention away from the momentary satisfaction of eating, to the longer term satisfaction of losing weight, by focusing on a pleasant memory.

Remind yourself you are in control of your food, not the other way around. Give yourself permission to have whatever you want. Deprivation as a diet doesn’t work. It’s like when someone says DON’T think of a pink elephant, the first thing you think of is — the pink elephant. If you tell yourself: I can’t have pizza, I can’t have pizza, I can’t have pizza, the more you’ll want the pizza. Give yourself permission to have the pizza, but just a small taste. Thank about what you like best about the pizza. Savor the crispy crust, the tang of the tomato sauce and the flavor of the cheese, then stop eating. You’ve had the taste of pizza, you don’t have to eat the entire portion.

Use the barter system. There are times when you want a forbidden food so much it’s almost painful. Decide in advance an exercise you will do for a certain length of time in exchange for allowing yourself the forbidden food. It could be walking for 30 minutes, 100 tummy crunches, or riding a stationary bike for 15 minutes. When you have just got to have that cappuccino mocha, do the exchange first before you have the mocha. Don’t’ say ‘well I’ll have mocha and when I get home tonight I’ll walk for 30 minutes,’ that doesn’t work. The trick is that you have to do the exercise first. A lot of time it’s just not convenient to exercise. For example: you might be at the office. Exercising works to decrease your appetite so when you finish you might not even want that mocha. And if you do have the mocha, you’ve worked off a lot of the calories with the exercise.

You don’t have to radically change your lifestyle or your eating habits to lose weight. Small changes in your daily routine can add up to major changes on the scale.

We all know that drinking water is good for you, but can it also help you take off the pounds? Yes if it’s ice water. If you drink an 8 ounce glass of ice cold water, your body burns up 25 calories to get its temperature back to normal. If you drink only 4 glasses of ice water a day, you’ll lose 12 pounds in a year.

Exercise in the morning, not at night. There is evidence that exercise raises your metabolism about 10% for 4 to 6 hours afterwards. If you exercise at night, a portion of the time your metabolism increases is when you’re sleeping. That’s when you burn the least amount of energy. Change your exercise to the morning and that 10% increase will burn off more energy.

Have a cup of soup before dinner. Soup takes longer to eat and fills you up before you get to the main course. Stick with the broth based soups and away from cream soups.

Where ever you drive, park your car at the far end of the parking lot. You will be amazed at the extra walking that squeezes into your day. Extra walking means more calories burned. Of course stay safe, if you’re in a dark neighborhood park close to your destination and under lights.

Take the stairs if you only need to go up a few flights.

Eat a salad 15 minutes before your dinner. It’s takes about 20 minutes for your tummy to signal your brain that it’s full and has had enough food. If you can kick start the timer by having a nice green salad first, you’ll feel fuller faster.

When you eat out, eat half of what’s on your plate: half of the appetizer, half of the salad, half of the entrée, half of desert. Odds are you’ll be just as satisfied and you’ll have cut the calories in half. If you eat out once a day like most people do, you can drop a couple of pounds a week with just this one change.

If you want something to snack on, drink a glass of water. Sometimes the urge to put something in our mouths isn’t hunger but boredom.

Exchange your potato chips, corn chips and other fried snacks for pretzels. The fat content in pretzels is far lower than the other snacks. And you still get the crunch.

Don’t drink fruit juice, eat the whole fruit instead.

Exchange one fatty item in your diet for a nonfat item. For example instead of whole milk use skim milk; instead of regular mayonnaise use nonfat, instead of full fat cream cheese use nonfat.