If you find yourself wondering why you are not losing weight even though you are getting some exercise and eating less, it probably has something to do with your metabolism. Contrary to popular belief, you can affect your metabolism with how you eat and how you move. It has been said that your metabolism can be thought of as a fire. You can’t start a fire by throwing a big log in and lighting a match to it. You need to use kindling and paper at first and add to in stages to work up to a larger fire. If you consider that principle in terms of your metabolism, if you don’t eat all day and then eat a large dinner you want have the fire burning enough to burn the food into energy. That’s why nutritionists suggest you eat small meals throughout the day. Eating small meals allows the body to consume the food and turn it into energy. Eating large meals will inevitably turn a large portion of the food into stored fat.
Another factor for maintaining a healthy metabolism is what you consume. If you consume foods that are a good energy source and use up the food source, you will keep you metabolism flame burning. So a small meal of fruit and some movement (i.e. walking, stretching, sit ups, etc.) between that meal and your next meal is ideal. The next meal could be veggies and chicken and then again some form of movement. The combination of healthy foods in small doses, and some exercise throughout the day will ensure a good fire and weight loss.
Unfortunately a large portion the North American diet consists of refined carbohydrates, such as pasta, white rice and bread. Keep in mind, if you are going to eat these carbohydrates, you need to burn them off, or they will turn into stored fat. Carbs are a great source of energy, but you need to balance your intake with an equal amount of exercise. Protein is essential for weight loss and a healthy metabolism, as it is the building block for muscle development and repair. Your metabolism fire will burn bright with a high protein diet consisting of small meals throughout the day and exercise and movement throughout the day. This combination will promote lean muscle mass in the body, which needs a great deal of energy to maintain – so you can be assured that the foods you are ingesting are being burned and not being stored as fat.
Along side small meals and exercise, you may want to consider thermogenics. Thermogenics are a supplement that speed up your metabolism and promote faster weight loss. To learn more about these supplements visit AstroNutrition.com or click here.
