|
Articles |
|
|
Articles |
Weight management is a balancing act between taking in calories and burning them up. New research suggests that the way your body burns energy may be at least as important as how much you eat. Try these tips for keeping your body's idle speed high.
1. Quit Starving Yourself
When you deprive yourself of food, your body reacts protectively
against an ancient threat: famine. Your resting metabolic rate-the
calories you burn just to keep your body going-drops to a lower
level to conserve energy. Your body works harder to preserve the
food it gets by storing it as fat. That's why people who regularly
diet have higher percentages of body fat than non-dieters do.
Instead of counting calories, focus on cutting back on the fat
and sugar in your diet.
2. Get Exercise
Exercise helps you lose weight in several ways. It raises your
resting metabolic rate, thus offsetting the lowering effects of
dieting and helping you burn more calories even when at rest.
Strength training is especially important here, because it increases
the amount of muscle you have. And your body burns more fat to
meet the metabolic needs of all that high-energy muscle.
3. Exercise Longer
After 30 minutes of intensity exercise-walking, bowling, gardening-your
body begins to burn stored fat for energy. It also takes at least
30 minutes to burn more calories than your body can replace by
eating.
4. Exercise Large Muscle Groups
Choose high-energy exercise-such as walking, bicycling, cross
country skiing, swimming, step aerobics-that gives your arms and
legs a good workout.
5. Vary Your Workout
Your body gets efficient at doing the same exercise day after
day, and you burn fewer calories. Try alternating gym workouts
with outside activities. Or change your routine every six weeks.
You'll burn more energy-and you won't get as bored.
6. Eat a Good Breakfast
People who skip breakfast burn 5 percent fewer calories than those
who eat a healthy morning meal.
7. Avoid Alcohol and Smoking
Both inhibit the burning of abdominal fat. That's why drinkers
and smokers tend to be bigger around the waist than abstainers.
8. Resist PMS Cravings
The evidence is that women's bodies burn more calories between
ovulation and menstruation. That's why sugary snacks look so good
then. Don't starve yourself, but if you can resist the cravings
for high-energy foods, your body will burn fat stores for energy.
9. Eat Less Fat
Your body is very efficient at turning the fat you eat into body
fat. It takes a lot more energy to turn carbohydrates into fat.
That's why cutting back to less than 30 percent of your calories
from fat can help you reduce your body fat more than just cutting
total calories.
10. Eat Three Meals
Studies show that both frequent small snacks and one or two large
meals tend to lower your resting metabolic rate.
©1995 Parlay International