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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

I'm Getting Revved Up!

I recently attended an interesting class at Ingredients.  The class was called “Rev Up Your Metabolism”.   I decided I could definitely use a bit of ‘revving’ so I checked it out.

It was taught by Sarah-Jane Bedwell, a registered dietitian (http://www.nashvillenutritionexpert.com/ ) from Nashville. Her web site also has a link to her blog which is full of good ideas and suggestions. As a dietitian she focused on ways to “be healthy” rather than “lose weight”. Her philosophy is if you are eating correctly and are not sedentary you will be at your correct weight. And if you are a bit “fluffy”… yes, you’re going to have to be moving more to get to ‘correct’ than you would to ‘maintain’.

She went over her top 8 ways to NATURALLY speed up your metabolism:

1. Eat breakfast within one hour of getting up … it wakes up your metabolism.


2. Eat more frequently (within a 1200 calorie range). Eating something every 4-ish hours keeps your body in “burn” mode.


3. Do cardio and resistance exercise, alternating days.


4. Get plenty of sleep… at least 7 hours. Bananas and walnuts contain compounds that will help you sleep. Don’t watch TV or be on the computer for an hour before bedtime.


5. Use caffeine in moderation… but you don’t have to have more than 1-2 cups of coffee/tea to do it.


6. Eat spicy foods. They increase the body’s release of certain hormones, which in turn stimulate the metabolism.


7. Drink green tea, at least 2 cups a day. It can be either hot or iced.


8. Move more. Park farther from the door, take the steps, even standing while you are on the phone burns more calories than sitting and yakking! Basically… get off your buns and just do it!

Then she went over some recipes that are examples of changes one could make to eat healthier without feeling deprived.

 
Fresh Guacamole.  Avocadoes are a great source of monounsaturated fat, potassium, magnesium and a whole bunch of other things. 

Three Bean and Beef Chili.  A small amount of lean beef in your diet is a good thing, as it is needed to build muscle (yes, I know there are other sources of protein… I like beef).  The bulk of this chili is its beans, and we all know we don’t get enough fiber in our diets.

Moist Mocha Cake.  Life is good!  Dark chocolate is absolutely loaded with antioxidants… even more so than tea, wine or blueberries.  You need to eat chocolate that is 70% or more cocoa to get the most benefits. 

Ginger Green Iced Tea. Some studies have shown that people who drink about 24 oz of green tea each day burn an extra 70-100 calories.

I’m going to incorporate these tips into my life and see how they work for me.

3 comments:

  1. Well I can certainly see what I'm doing to slow my metabolism down! Thanks for sharing this great info, Teri!

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  2. That sounds like a fun class, Teri. I hope you had fun during it.

    I don't really buy into "follow this rulebook for this result!" thinking, simply because the answers are pretty simple: don't overdue treats, don't sit on your bum all the time, instead move around and don't have your life revolving around food.

    Also, drink water because it's just a good idea. Lastly, if it's fried it's automatically in the "treat" category and should only be eaten occasionally (with great gusto!)

    That's my terribly complex approach to food. Works well for me.

    I hope you and yours are doing well!

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  3. Hi Teri! Just now found this blog about the class!! Thanks so much for featuring me! The pictures are GREAT too! :)

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