7 Tips for Portion Control

Thursday, December 30, 2010

7 Tips for Portion Control

By Joe Wilkes
In the world of nutrition news, there was a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine that took a look at cookbook recipes over the last several decades (with emphasis on recipes in The Joy of Cooking). This study found that calorie counts per serving have gone up dramatically as authors have increased portion sizes to conform to new cultural norms. Where the 1936 edition of the kitchen classic averaged 268 calories per serving, the most recent edition in 2006 averaged 384 calories. The study theorized that lower costs of food and larger plate sizes are part of the reason for the increase, but nutritionist Marion Nestle says that mainly it's just a reflection of people becoming accustomed to eating more and more overall. What can we do to monitor and control portion sizes? Here are some ideas . . .
Small Food Portion—Cups of Water—Food Containers


  1. Downsize your plate. One issue the study pointed out is that the average plate size has grown over the years, and the amount of food served on those plates has kept pace with that increase. Instead of breaking out the big dinner plate, try eating your dinner off a salad or dessert plate. The smaller plate will make the amount of food look larger by proportion, a visual cue that will trick your brain into thinking you're eating more. Plus you can trade in your big dinner fork for a more petite salad fork, which will also help to slow down any shoveling behavior you might be tempted to engage in at the dinner table.
  2. Food ContainersDivide and conquer. When you're cooking more than one serving of something, immediately store the prospective leftovers in single-serving containers. By putting out the entire dish, you run the risk of not having any leftovers at the end of the meal. Depending on what the meal is, I divide my food onto two plates—one for that meal and one for lunch the next day. And as a side benefit, this can help you tighten your wallet while you tighten your waistline.
  3. Count it down. If you eat your reasonably sized portion of food in the dining room/living room/den/bedroom/bathroom, etc., and leave the leftovers in the kitchen, it will make this next step a lot easier. Here's the scenario: You've finished your first portion, and yet you still want more. This is far from atypical, especially if the big plate of leftovers is sitting in front of you, tempting you, calling to you—maybe just a half a spoonful or maybe just a pick at the serving platter with your fork (just the good parts, of course). That couldn't possibly have more calories, right? Wrong. The calories from the food you sneak in after you finish eating are as potent as the calories from the food you're served. The good news is that if you can hold off, you won't be hungry for long. 

    After you have a decent-sized portion of food, it takes your brain about 20 minutes to get the message from your stomach that you're full. So try this: Before you reach for seconds, glance at your wristwatch or the clock on the wall. Spend the next 20 minutes chatting with your dining companions, or if you're eating alone, check out the newspaper, read a magazine article, or play along with a round of Jeopardy on TV. Then, after 20 minutes, see if you're still starving for another bowl full of whatever. Chances are that your cravings will have disappeared. If they haven't, maybe you do still need a little more food to achieve satiety. Review what you ate before, and if the calorie count seems low, treat yourself to a little extra. Or, if the calorie count seems about right or high for a regular meal and you're still hungry, fill up on some low-cal veggies or have a big glass of water. Sometimes it's easy to confuse thirst with hunger.
  4. Small PortionsEmbrace your inner child. And we don't mean have candy for dinner . . . When you're on the road or out at a restaurant, don't be ashamed to look at the kids' menu. As the adult menu has been supersized to gluttonous proportions, the children's menu often has the most nutritious options. Check out Debbie Siebers' portion-control tips below, and you'll see that oftentimes the amount of food in a kids' meal is just the right amount for an adult watching his or her figure. Not to mention, if you play your cards right, there could be a free toy in it for you. Out of the mouths of babes . . .
  5. Sharing is good. And while we're getting lessons from the small set, how about sharing? If you're a foodie like me, the hardest part about eating out is passing up all the goodies you want to try on the menu. Instead of ordering too much for yourself, strategize with your fellow diners about how you can maximize the variety of the food instead of the quantity. Most restaurants will be more than happy to provide you with extra small plates so you can split dishes. And make sure you actually split them! Don't dine out with your friend who survives on a nibble here or there and split two dishes; you'll end up eating 80 percent of the food on the table while he or she makes do with a couple of forkfuls. In case you ever wondered how Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi keeps her model physique while judging up to 12 meals a week, the secret is that she doesn't eat everything. Also, when you're figuring out how to eat family-style, make sure that at least one of the dishes is a healthy salad, a non-cream-based soup, or a vegetable dish. That way you and your family can get full without getting fat.
  6. Food LabelLearn your weights and measurements. As anyone who's a regular reader of this newsletter knows, we're always going on and on about reading labels. And like the calorie, carb, protein, and fat numbers, the serving size is important. This is where the corporate food interests get you a lot of the time, by adjusting the serving size downward to make the nutritional numbers look a little better. As anyone who's recently spent a Saturday night alone with the TV can tell you, the estimate of four servings in a pint of Ben & Jerry's® or Häagen-Dazs® is wildly optimistic. Whereas the label would indicate a 300-calorie serving, keep in mind that the entire container has 1,200 calories. And since most of the containers taper downward, eating what appears to be half of the container can actually amount to two-thirds. 

    It's definitely too much of a hassle to weigh and measure everything you put in your body every day. Even the most anal-retentive people among us don't have the time to be hauling out the scale and measuring cups for every meal. But it's worth it to at least familiarize yourself with a few standard weights and measures. Try learning what an ounce, a gram, a tablespoon, etc., look like. That way you can at least eyeball how much you're eating. I've yet to meet the person who can make a typical bag of potato chips last for twelve servings.
  7. Give yourself a hand. For an easy guide to portion sizes, follow this guide from Slim in 6® creator Debbie Siebers.


Handy Portion-Control Guide

By Debbie Siebers, creator of Slim in 6®
To achieve weight loss—and maintain that healthy weight once you've achieved it—it's crucial to really understand what a portion is. Here's what may prove to be an indispensible tip: use your hand as a guideline for portion sizes. (If your hands happen to be extra-large or extra-small for your size, adjust accordingly.)
Palm = Proteins: Make protein portions the size of your palm. Protein is found in animal products, like fish, meats, and cottage cheese. Some veggie protein sources include legumes (beans, etc.), tofu, tempeh, and wheat glutens.
Thumb = Fats: Fats are important, but they're also very dense, so match fat portions to the size of your thumb. Good fat sources are avocados, olive oil, nuts, and seeds.
Fist = Fruits, Grains, etc.: Your bread, fruit, cereal, rice, and grain portions should be about equal to the size of your closed fist. Remember that it's always preferable to consume whole grains.
Hand = Veggies: Open your hand and spread your fingers as wide as you can. That's a good vegetable portion. Raw vegetables are loaded with fiber and nutrients, and they contain very few calories.

8 "Diet" Foods That Can Make You Fat

8 "Diet" Foods That Can Make You Fat

By Justine Holberg
A veggie wrap for lunch. A night out for sushi. And you're working out . . . but you're still not losing weight. What gives?
Sushi


Some "diet" foods may be your worst enemy. That's because they're tricking you into eating too many calories. So what are some of the worst offenders?
  1. Sushi: Fish wrapped in rice and seaweed. Not a diet food? Yep, that's right. It's not always as "light" as it seems. Some sushi has calorie levels so high it might just shock you. 

    Diet Shocker: One eight-piece serving of Philadelphia sushi roll is the caloric equivalent of 1 medium bagel with plain cream cheese—close to 500 calories. It's the cream cheese that gets you. And what about spicy tuna and other mayo-based rolls? They can contain as many as 450 calories and 11 grams of artery-clogging fat per serving. Eat too many of the "wrong" rolls and you're in Big Mac® calorie territory.
  2. WrapsWraps: You order the whole wheat veggie wrap thinking it'll put you on the skinny track. But is it actually the fat track? For some reason, wraps have been viewed as a healthy upgrade from a sandwich, but this isn't always the case. 

    Diet Shocker: The tortilla holding your wrap together can easily contain the same number of calories as four slices of bread, not to mention more carbs and twice as much fat. Many kinds of wraps you get at a deli have at least 300 calories. And that's just the tortilla, not the contents. You also have to factor in the fillings—and keep in mind that a wrap has more surface space to spread these calorie-boosting culprits:
    • Dressing
    • Cheese
    • Mayo
    All told, one healthy-seeming wrap can easily trick you into eating hundreds more calories than you planned.
  3. Granola: When you're having granola, you might think, "It's healthy. The fiber and all those little pieces of dried fruit are so good for me." Truth is, although it's got good stuff in it, it also packs in the calories. 

    Diet Shocker: A half-cup serving is what's often listed on the nutrition label of prepared granola. But who eats just half a cup? For most brands, there are more than 400 calories in a one-cup serving of granola. And when's the last time you actually measured? If you keep filling your cereal bowl with this stuff, it's no wonder you're not losing!
  4. MuffinsBran Muffins: The kinds sold at many bakeries today aren't the little 3-inch muffins Grandma used to bake. They're much, much bigger. And just because they're made with "healthy" bran doesn't mean they're a diet food, either. 

    Diet Shocker: The average bakery muffin can contain as many as 630 calories. You might be slightly better off with a bran muffin than, say, a banana or blueberry one because of bran's extra fiber, but most of them are still packed with sugar and butter. Eat one bran muffin from Dunkin' Donuts® and you'll be consuming 480 calories, 13 grams of fat, and 46 grams of sugar. OMG.
  5. Dried Fruit: The more fruit you eat the better, right? Not when it comes to the dried stuff. 

    Diet Shocker: You could boost your calorie count as much as four times (!) by choosing to eat the dried version of a fruit rather than its fresh counterpart. Check out these calorie comparisons based on a 100-gram (about 1 cup) serving:

  6. Fruit (about 1 cup)FreshDried
    Grapes70 calories(Raisins) 300 calories
    Apricots50 calories240 calories
    Bananas90 calories(Banana chips) 350 calories
    Plums45 calories(Prunes) 230 calories

  7. Pumpkins, Pumpkin Pie with Whipped CreamPumpkin-Flavored Baked Goods: Pumpkin is nutritious, but these baked goods can be a dieting disaster. Like bran, pumpkin has lots of stuff that's good for you. So if you see pumpkin on a baked-goods label, it's easy to think you're eating something that's lower in calories. Not the case, though: Pumpkin doesn't mean diet food. 

    Diet Shocker: Dunkin' Donuts strikes again. Their pumpkin muffin has 630 calories and 28 grams of fat. OMG again! Want to switch bakeries? It won't help much. A pumpkin muffin from Panera Bread® has 530 calories and 20 grams of fat, and the pumpkin scone at Starbucks® has 470 calories and lots of fat too—22 grams' worth. You might as well be eating pie with whipped cream!
  8. Olive Oil: It's a good fat and helps you burn fat. However, you don't need a lot of it to get the benefits. Two tablespoons a day can do the trick. And overdoing it can backfire. 

    Diet Shocker: Olive oil served with bread at a restaurant is heart-healthy, but high in calories. You can easily sop up a quarter of a cup. That's 478 calories, not including the bread. Or the rest of the meal you've ordered.
  9. Salad"Healthy" Salads: That's what some restaurants want you to believe in their "lite" section of the menu. It must be diet-friendly, right? Not always. 

    Diet Shocker: Listed under "Healthy Options" on the T.G.I. Friday's® menu, their pecan-crusted chicken salad, which contains mandarin oranges, dried cranberries, and celery, has 1,360 calories. Meanwhile, their cheeseburger and fries combo weighs in at 1,290 calories. Say it ain't so.
So what's a dieter to do in a world filled with "diet" traps?
Ask about nutrition and read food labels. After a while, you'll be a pro at it and enjoy the weight loss that comes with it. You won't even have to give up the foods you like. That's because you'll know how to work them into your food plan the right way.

Make it Count!! How to Stay Motivated in 2011!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Top 5 Ways To Stay Motivated In The New Year! by Shannon Clark

As the new year draw's closer, most of you will be making plans for what you'll be doing with your New Year's Resolutions. Perhaps this is the year you finally obtain that ripped physique that you've always dreamt of or maybe this is the year you finally take those first steps onto a fitness program that you've been meaning to do for so long, yet have put off time and time again.
Whatever your case may be, it's important to think about what you're going to do to maintain your consistency with your effort so you don't become just another one of those statistics of people who start off strong with their gym membership in January, only to find that as February rolls around, they've frequented the fast food drive-thru a whole lot more often than they've frequented the gym. It's a fact that's hard to deny; most people begin the new year in the gym and end the year feasting on goodies as the holiday season progresses along, vowing that next year will be different.
But will next year really be any different? Asking yourself this question now, before this coming new year even hits is the first thing you should be doing to guarantee your success.

Let's take a few moments and look at a few of the top methods that you can use this coming year to stay motivated to push onwards with your fitness goals. Remember, it doesn't matter what fitness level you're currently at, you're still going to struggle at some point or another to stay committed.
Those just starting out often think that the advanced trainees who already have wonderfully developed bodies must have something special about them where they just stay motivated no matter what, but don't be so quick to assume this. Even those who appear to be the most dedicated gym-goer still struggle at times to keep moving forward. It's just that those who plan for these motivational lulls and understand how to deal with them, don't let them push them off course. Instead of investing hours and hours into finding the absolute most perfect program for yourself, it might be worthwhile to invest half that time on learning some strategies to stick with whatever program it is you find. That is the real key to success.
Here's what you need to know.


1. Identify Obstacles In Advance


The very first thing that you should do to ensure that you stay on track as the year passes by is to make sure that you're anticipating any obstacles that may occur in advance. So many people simply wait for them to happen.


By the time the obstacle is occurring though, you're in full panic state and don't have a clue how to deal with it. Instead, before you even get going make a list of everything that could potentially come between you and your results. Whether it's diet related, workout related, or otherwise, write it down.


Once you have that down, then write down three solutions that you can use to overcome this problem.
Now that you have your solutions, you have an immediate way out. If the obstacle should arise, you simply implement your solution and maintain the course of the program.
Whether It's Diet Related, Workout Related, Or Otherwise, Write It Down
+ Click To Enlarge.
Whether It's Diet Related, Workout Related,
Or Otherwise, Write It Down.

When you take the time to develop this alternate action plan, then you really ever aren't 'falling' off the program at all. You're just taking a scenic detour along the way.
Framing it in this manner in your mind will be much less detrimental to your overall self-confidence in your ability to reach that goal and will keep you moving forwards.


2. Find Your Motivational Interrupters


Next, it's also important to identify any motivational interrupters as well. This could be one particular friend who always seems to have to visit a fast food location whenever you are visiting with each other or a volunteer activity you signed up for that always manages to be occurring at a time when you'd normally do your scheduled workout session.
By looking at whatever it is that can interrupt your motivation, you can then look at ways you can possibly overcome this, or perhaps in some cases, prioritize what's really important to you and move on from that interrupter.


It's important to understand that you will have to make some sacrifices in life if you hope to attain the body that you're going for and these sacrifices won't always be easy. At times you may feel torn - skip the gym and go out with your friends to the local pizza place for drinks and a Friday night dinner, or stay the course and miss out on the social action.


It's a hard decision to make and only you can decide for yourself what you'll do, but try and come to an agreement with yourself and stick to it. Don't always expect perfection from yourself as sometimes your progress will be interrupted and there will be nothing you can do about it, but at the same time, don't give yourself too much leeway either. If you do, you'll find you aren't moving forward with your resolutions as intended.
By Looking At Whatever It Is That Can Interrupt Your Motivation, You Can Then Look At Ways You Can Possibly Overcome This
+ Click To Enlarge.
By Looking At Whatever It Is That Can Interrupt Your Motivation, You Can Then Look At Ways You Can Possibly Overcome This.




3. Set Proper Mini And Long-Term Goals


Another key thing that must be in place if you're going to stick with your New Year's Resolutions this time around is to make sure that you set both long and short term goals.


So many people are fast to set their sights on that long term goal, which is great, but then forget to set mini goals that they'll strive for along the way.


When you're only focused on that long-term goal at the very end of the road, sometimes it's very easy to lose sight of it. If you happen to do this, that's when it'll be easier to take an alternate path - a path away from fitness altogether. If you set short-term goals that will help you move closer to that long term goal in the big picture, with each short-term goal that you reach, your motivational level will be pushed higher.
Reach enough short-term goals and pretty soon there will be no doubt in your mind that you're on your way to success.
When You're Only Focused On That Long-Term Goal At The Very End Of The Road, Sometimes It's Very Easy To Lose Sight Of It
+ Click To Enlarge.
When You're Only Focused On That Long-Term Goal At The Very End Of The Road, Sometimes It's Very Easy To Lose Sight Of It.

4. Focus On What You're Doing Right


Another thing that you should be doing come this new year is to make sure that you're also focusing on what you're doing right. Far too many people are quick to focus on all the things that they're doing wrong with their program and all this does is places them in a negative frame of mind.


While you still do definitely need to identify when you move away from the path you should be on as denial is no way to go about things, don't ever neglect what you are doing to help see success.


By bringing out all the positive changes that you're making you'll change your frame of mind and get yourself believing in your abilities a lot more.
Don't ever discount how strong this mental self-belief can be when it comes to realizing success. If you believe in yourself, the chances of your goal actually coming true increase ten-fold compared to if you're hung up on everything you're doing wrong.
Don't Ever Discount How Strong This Mental Self-Belief Can Be When It Comes To Realizing Success
+ Click To Enlarge.
Don't Ever Discount How Strong This Mental Self-Belief Can
Be When It Comes To Realizing Success.


5. Set More Than One Goal


Finally, make an effort to also set more than one goal as you go about your program plan. If you have a few goals set - say one that's related to body weight and body fat levels, and then another couple that are performance based goals, then if one goal happens to be not quite going as you had wanted, you won't feel so discouraged if the other is moving along nicely. The more goals you are working towards the greater chances that you will see success in one of them along the way, thus boosting your overall morale to stick with the program. Just be sure that the goals all support one another and aren't contradictory as then you'll just be working against yourself.


So keep all these points in mind as you move into the New Year. It's great to set a good New Year's Resolution and take out that gym membership in the first month of the year, but if you don't maintain that same level of motivation past that one-month mark, you're likely to find yourself making a very similar resolution come this time next year.



New Year! New You!

Okay guys, if your like me and your clothes are feeling tighter from all the Christmas treats? Dont fret!! Lets all start the new year with some Healthy Clean Eating & get back to some daily exercise!! BRING ON THOSE NATURAL ENDORPHINES!!

6 Top Fat Burning Foods!!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

If you want to achieve a certain measure of weight loss and keep it off for good, then it's important to put certain controls into play. Without an active plan to change your lifestyle, the goals you set forth just won't be attainable. For anyone trying to lose weight, regardless of the goal that is set, it always starts with food.As they say, you are what you eat. If you shovel unhealthy food into your mouth and live off of processed and refined goods that are loaded with calories, carbs and fat content then you're going to end up with all of that unnecessary garbage being stored as fat. In the end, you will become a walking example of what not to eat and how not to live. The good news for anyone that wants to lose weight is that the same is true for healthy foods and a certain measure of exercise.
The better you eat, and the more healthy your lifestyle, the more it will be reflected in your everyday appearance and overall wellness. It always comes back to the food we take in, because it's the food that - for so many people - controls how they live.
Most people don't understand how they woke up and suddenly found themselves overweight. They can't trace it to any measurable or quantifiable event because it's not something that happened overnight. It's something that has happened over the course of years as the result of abuse to the body. Those who substituted super foods for junk food are seeing the effects.






Without a diet centered on super foods, specifically 6 primary super foods that are helpful for everyone, people start to quickly see declining health, higher costs in healthcare (especially if there are more frequent visits), more money spent on clothing and a slew of psychological and emotional impairments such as depression anxiety and a sense of personal defeat.
Of course, this isn't to say that all food other than super foods is extremely bad for you. It's the poor food choices that happen repeatedly that cause the issue to creep up on people. Once super foods are sacrificed for junk food, it's that much easier to keep going back for the extremely tasty, high fat junk.
One cheeseburger isn't going to destroy your health, but one cheeseburger three times a week with a side of large fries, salt, ketchup and a coke will do it.
You don't need to completely eliminate bad food right away. Quitting cold turkey doesn't work for people, and that's not making a healthy change - that's a stressful change. Instead start with working the super foods back into your diet while controlling the portion size and frequency of other junk foods.
Start with these 6 fat burning super foods to get you back on track:



1: Soy Protein

Everything you do burns calories. By just existing, your body is constantly working. All the processes, digestion, circulation, thought, chemical creation, waste removal; these things take energy and that means calorie burn. Your body tears through hundreds of calories a day. That's why they tell people that on average, if you want to sustain your body you need to take in a minimum of approximately 2000 calories (this varies depending on your size, weight, gender etc.)



Of all the things that you eat, protein is at the top of the list in foods that require effort to digest - even more than common fats. While you're body and digestive system is working hard to process and digest the protein that you take in, it's throwing calories into the furnace. One of the best types of clean protein to promote healthy weight loss is any protein that is soy-based. While there is no real magic weight loss pill, the soybean comes pretty close.
For many who are serious about their weight loss, the most common addition to supplement the diet and fat burning foods is a good workout routine. It's important to remember that the more lean muscle your body has the more energy it takes to fuel those muscles, thus increasing metabolism. Protein is the life blood for muscle building. If you're working on a complete and balanced training routine then you should focus on building up that lean muscle.
By increasing the soy protein in your diet, you'll be fueling your muscles which will help you burn fat at a faster pace - plus you'll tone your body up as the fat comes off so that you have a more contoured physique.
Don't want to try stomaching things like Tofu? Shoot for organic grass fed meats and free-range poultry.



2: Whole Grains

It's not uncommon to hear that we should be taking whole grains. We see it in magazines and it's plastered all over packages at the store "100% Whole Grain!" It's a good to understand what a whole grain is and why it's beneficial if you want to know how it can help you - and why it's one of the top 6 fat burning super foods.
A grain is considered "whole" when all three of the part (bran, germ and endosperm) are present. Many people know that a variety of fruits and vegetables contain an abundance of phytochemicals and antioxidants but what surprises people is that whole grains are an even better source of all manner of key nutrients.
Believe it or not, but whole grains are one of the top sources for B vitamins,vitamin Emagnesiumiron and certainly fiber - which is beneficial in its own right for helping regulate bowels, hunger and metabolism.
So what are some of the most common whole grains that are easy to find and stomach?
Whole grains have a number of benefits that stack with their fat loss benefit, starting with their ability to reduce the risk of heart disease by decreasingcholesterol levels, blood pressure and even the potential for blood clots to form. Studies have proven over the years that individuals who consume more whole grains on a consistent basis weigh less than those who consume little to no whole grains as a part of their regular diet.



3: Grapefruit

The "Grapefruit diet" has been a topic of discussion for some time now, and people have been trying to discern the health benefit of grapefruit as part of a daily diet routine. Some believed the Vitamin C should be credited, others felt the fruit just naturally boosted metabolism. After a number of fad diets surfaced, research data finally surfaced that help us understand the benefits of grapefruit as a weight loss super food.
Grapefruit actually lowers the insulin levels in the body - not by a great degree, but by some. This slightly decreased insulin level prevents the body from storing as much sugar as fat. Those lower insulin levels also help curb appetite, as a high insulin level is what turns the brain on that it's time to bring some energy into the stomach.
Another added benefit here is that grapefruit is one of the many super foods that are high in fiber with very few calories (a half grapefruit is only about 40 calories, usually a little less). The amazing thing about grapefruit is that it's one of the well-known "negative calorie" foods - meaning it takes more calories to digest it than exist in the fruit.
The greatest benefit is found in eating fresh grapefruit, with the next best option being grapefruit juice (100%, not mixed form or artificially sweetened/flavored). Try to aim for a juice with a high amount of pulp. Pills and extracts available in nutritional stores just don't provide the same results, and generally cost more than just buying some grapefruit at the market.
While it's a great diet food, don't use this info as a means to jump into a grapefruit diet. The best plan is a well-balanced diet. Unbalanced diets can do more to harm your health than any real good. Try combining a half grapefruit with your breakfast and the other with your lunch a few days a week to get started.

4: Green Tea

There are actually a number of benefits to switching out sweetened coffee and other beverages with green tea, whether hot or cold. First and most important, green tea can help improve metabolism by as much as 4% in a 24 hour period. That might not seem like much but it becomes a regular part of your diet it has the potential to keep your metabolism in a higher gear throughout the day.
Another benefit is the caffeine content in green tea. While lower than a cup of coffee by volume, the small amount of caffeine still carries the same affect where the heart rate increases, thus elevating circulation and causing the heart to work just a little harder. This can improve calorie burn over the course of a day.
Green tea is also known to reduce appetite to some degree, varying from person to person. Supplements are available that are made from green tea extract but the primary benefit comes from freshly brewed tea or concentrated green tea drinks (such as Lipton natural green tea).
Green Tea Can Help Improve Metabolism By As Much As 4% In A 24 Hour Period.
+ Click To Enlarge.
Green Tea Can Help Improve Metabolism By
As Much As 4% In A 24 Hour Period.

5: Fish

This doesn't have anything to do with protein, even though fresh, environmentally raised fish is a great source of protein. This actually has to do with a hormone known as leptin within the body. Most people don't realize or think about the fact that everything our bodies do (including fat and energy storage) has to do with hormones or chemicals in the body. Studies have proven that leptin directly influences metabolism, deciding whether or not your body stores calories or burns them for fuel.
The best way to lower your leptin levels? Eat some fish.
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic studied two different tribes, one of which frequently ate fish as a part of their daily routine and another tribe that consumed very little (if any at all). Those members of the tribe that ate fish had leptin levels nearly 5 times lower than the levels found in the tribes that primarily lived off vegetables.
If you're not partial to the taste of fish, you should spend more time sampling the variety as there are numerous breeds and recipes to help you find a dish that you like, so stop fretting about sucking down tuna sandwiches.
The Best Way To Lower Your Leptin Levels?  Eat Some Fish.
+ Click To Enlarge.
The Best Way To Lower Your Leptin
Levels? Eat Some Fish.

6: Apples

Of course this goes beyond just apples but it's the best way to identify this group. Apples and other water-rich fruits can help make your diet plan far more effective as the pectin contained within the apples can limit how much fat your cells can absorb. A wide variety of fruits, especially little berries, contain a large number of antioxidants and soluble fiber to aid in digestion.
It's important to limit the intake of fruits because some fruits do have a high natural sugar count which can create insulin spikes in the body. The natural acids within fruits can also create intestinal upset if taken in large quantities.
Apples And Other Water-Rich Fruits Can Help Make Your Diet Plan Far More Effective.
+ Click To Enlarge.
Apples And Other Water-Rich Fruits Can Help
Make Your Diet Plan Far More Effective.

Conclusion

While this is just a starter list, and there are number of other super foods in the world that are great supplements to your diet, these 6 fat loss super foods can help you get on the right track to eating healthier with immediate improvement to the metabolism. It's common sense that in order to improve your health you'll need to eat better.
Think about the technological advances and the way foods are processed and refined to contain so many chemicals and fats to make them taste better and be more addictive to people. 2 or 3 decades ago, people didn't have access to the same foods that we so easily stuff ourselves with. Those people lived longer, healthier lives without problems stemming from obesity. Think about what they ate verse what we put on our plates everyday - it's clear that a change is necessary.
- THEME BY ECLAIR DESIGNS -