Activate Your Fat Burning Hormones

Flat Stomach Secrets for Women

2011-02-02T01:18:00.001-08:00

Could stress, lifestyle and allergies be keeping you from a flat tummy?

Although some women eat well, exercise regularly and maintain a good weight they still have trouble getting a flat stomach. A great article in the Australian newspaper's site of the Herald Sun highlights how no amount of sit-ups or ab-exercises can help if there is an underlying reason for a bloated tummy. The article is an edited extract from book by James Duigan called Clean and Lean: Flat Tummy Fast which is now available on Amazon.com

James walks through some underlying causes for not achieving a flat stomach but then also dives into detail on how to combat these causes. The usual culprits are stress, bad lifestyle, poor food and drink choices and even allergies. By identifying these culprits and learning how to deal with them in each case is not only going to get you into better shape but will help you avoid future chronic diseases which are exacerbated by stress and toxins.

His well researched advice is both cleansing to the body as it is to the soul. A great read available in hard-cover on Amazon.com

The Binge and The Bulge

2010-11-21T04:00:00.001-08:00

Have you hit a weight loss plateau, even though you seem to be doing all the right things?

Booze and the way it is consumed could a lot to do not achieving an ideal weight. People lead such busy lives now that they work hard and find the need to play hard. Binge drinking has reached epidemic proportions and apart from the health implications it helps maintain the bulge. It is not so much the high calorie content in alcohol which is instantly released into the bloodstream. It has a lot to do with the metabolism shutting down after such a shock to the system. The food choices we make after a binge are usually quite poor as well. Usually you can also write-off the next day when it comes to training or eating well, sometimes it takes 2 or more days to fully get back in the mood for training. We have all been there with polar bear.

So What to do?

I have for you a great quick read from Craig Ballantyne, the creator of Turbulence Training. Here are some good observations on Alcohol and Training. Personally, the years I struggled most with my weight were also the years I used to binge drink. I rarely drink any more and when out with friends I may have a glass or two with plenty of water in between. When I get home I try to make a nutritious snack before bed.

To find out more about the Turbulence Training method Click Here

Stimulate Fat Burning Hormones by Walking

2010-11-03T07:52:00.001-07:00

Walk and stimulate your Fat Burning Hormones

Just the though of exercise can make a procrastinator sink further into an armchair. "I have to go, and get changed, find those sneakers which are in a box somewhere, I actually have to tie up the laces, there will be more clothes to wash, I will break out into a sweat and then I will need to wash my hair. Besides look at the weather outside, I'll catch cold and have to take time of work, and I hate being sick. Look at the time it will be dark soon. And I think I have left the gym membership at work... or is it in the glove-box." I think we get the idea here.

Many people hear or read the word exercise and immediately images spring to mind of joggers, people sweating it out in a gym, aerobics instructors, and the exercise machine gathering dust in a back room somewhere with a pile of washing on it.

The humble art of walking

Walking is often overlooked as a form of exercise. You don't have to wear a silly outfit, or go out and buy the most expensive pear of sneakers to do this. As long as your footwear doesn't cause you blisters you can participate in this form of exercise. Now although a gentle stroll in the park is a good start, the idea should be to walk 3 to 5 times a week. You should walk briskly enough and long enough for you to break into a mild sweat. And that is it.

Increase your heart rate

This regular form of exercise increases the heart rate just enough to wake your fat burning hormones. Now bear in mind this is the bare minimum amount of exercise needed to keep your metabolism from being sluggish. Accompanied by a nutritious diet plan this form of exercise will result in fat loss. It is worth keeping in mind that no diet plan can be very effective without exercise. Walking will set you on your way. If you need to see quicker results you can keep walking for about 15 minutes after you break a sweat and so on. In time you will find that it will take longer to get to the level where you break a sweat. Once you have reached this level of exercise you can look into other activities. Most importantly however you need to keep it regular and spread out during the week.

Fat Burning Hormones looks at The Diet Solution Program

2010-10-26T05:19:00.001-07:00

As promised at the start of the month, I have got around to reviewing The Diet Solution Program. This program has got me very excited as it is consistent with all my research into fat burning hormones. The diet is all natural and does not include any supplements. It is not a diet as such in that it's not about sticking to a certain program for a length of time.

The Diet Solution Program introduces you to a way of life that eliminates dieting. The focus is on making the right everyday choices at the supermarket, at the market or wherever you get your groceries from. By doing this you fill your fridge and pantry with the correct foods, so even when you snack, you make good snack choices.

Isabel De Los Rios has devised this program. She is a nutrition specialist, so none of what she recommends is wacky in any way. It is not about starving or counting calories. She has designed the program to be easily incorporated into everyday life, even if that life is a hectic one. The shopping lists and meal plans are very realistic. Even though she encourages people to go organic, her program can also be followed without going organic. She has not only helped people that have weight problems with her nutritional advice, she also help people with disease that stems from poor diet.

Her program comes with my highest recommendation. As I was reading through it after years of researching, I couldn't believe how easily she explains all the concepts of losing weight and being healthy, which go hand in hand.

I recommend you check out my review which includes an link to her official website where you can watch the video.

Fat Burning Hormones looks at The Diet Solution Program.

The Testosterone Hormone and Zinc Absorption

2010-10-11T10:39:00.001-07:00

One of the most powerful fat burning hormones is Testosterone. In the adult it peaks at around the age of 25 and the production of it in the body drops off around 10% every 7 years after that. People with Zinc deficiencies produce even less testosterone. Now there are plenty of zinc supplements on the market but a healthy person who eats a balanced diet should not need to take any such supplementation to keep levels sufficient for a healthy body. New studies have found that the zinc found in foods is more readily absorbed by the body than most supplements.

So where do I get this zinc stuff?

Zinc can be found in red meat, oysters and shellfish are the highest sources of zinc, closely followed by eggs, and dairy. And if you are a vegetarian or vegan, not to worry, dried fruits and nuts are a rich source as well as pumpkin seeds, fresh vegetables and potatoes. Chickpeas are also a great source. One of my favourite salads is a chickpea salad with tomato, onions cut into it, a sprinkling of olive oil and oregano. Just soak the chickpeas overnight. Boil the chick peas for 15min, remove the froth that accumulates on top, then rinse with cold water. Yum! Any excess beans can be stored in the fridge in a container and some extra olive oil for up to a week, making them an ideal food for late night snacks.

Other Benefits

Apart from helping maintain healthy levels of testosterone, zinc also is an important factor in keeping the immune system robust, it helps keep stress levels low. People that have difficulty seeing at night are aided by increased zinc in their diet. Keeping you energy levels high is also another benefit of zinc rich foods.

So get some in ya!

Burn up to 20% More Fat with High Intensity Interval Training.

2010-10-09T11:34:00.001-07:00

Time to get of the couch and get the blood pumping. Dieting and eating all the right foods needs to be combined with exercise if you want to battle the bulge. This week we take a look at Intensity training.

High Intensity Interval Training helps you burn up to 20 more body fat than tradition cardio workouts. Instead of just jumping on the treadmill or going for a jog, the best way to get those fat burning hormones active and speed up your metabolism is interval training. If you are not sure what it's all about, a simple search on you tube will reveal plenty of videos on this topic. Here is Jim Stoppani (PhD, Senior Science Editor for Muscle & Fitness Magazine) explaining what its all about.

Also on YouTube you can check out the "body rock" series if you are stuck for ideas. With skipping rope or star jumps, you don't even have to leave the home, these are just some of the advantages. So if you have an internet connection there is no excuse. And if you dont train and you want to lose weight, start today.

The Diet Solution Program - Watch Video

2010-10-03T14:24:00.001-07:00

I have not been this excited about a diet program for a while. Its called The Diet Solution Program and it is Awesome. As I was watching the video on their site, I was thinking "This is everything I have been trying to explain about diets in a nutshell". All the principles of Fat Burning Hormones come together in this program. It is all natural, it takes the emphasis of dieting and puts the emphasis on eating the right things, and this is exactly what activating the metabolism is all about.

I will be including this program on our main site soon. Watch Here and see why I am so excited by this program.

The Thyroid Gland and Metabolism

2010-09-25T03:53:00.001-07:00

Thyroid function, among other things, secretes two types of hormones; hyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) both are fat burning hormones. A combination of eating foods rich in iodine and certain types of exercise are sufficient to stimulate the thyroid into producing these fat burning hormones. That said after an extended period of dieting, especially with low-carb diets, both hormone levels decrease and the metabolism can come to a halt. This is due to the brain’s pituitary gland which releases a third hormone which is aptly named the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH). THS is released when T4 and T3 levels become high, in other words during extended dieting and then we hit the weight loss plateau.

New diets like Cheat Your Way Thin account for the thyroid activity and introduce cheat meals, like fast food and pizzas. These types of meals break the extended dieting or fasting and reset the clock so to speak. For cheat meals to be effective however, they have to be introduced into the diet in the right way otherwise the brain’s pituitary gland catches on and releases more THS which has the effect of bringing the metabolism to a grinding halt. It does so for good reason as it needs to regulate other hormonal functions which are essential in the body – normal heart function in particular.

Traditional low carb diets don’t take this research into account and the weight comes back on quickly as soon as carbs are eventually reintroduced into the diet. So if you need to lose weight over an extended period of time, you are best to follow diets that take these factors into account.

Rest is the key to maximising your training

2010-09-13T08:26:00.001-07:00

Fat burning hormones are released in the body during training, but more importantly they can be kept turned on during rest periods. When you train, you should not fall into the trap of training for strength when your goal is fat loss. Yes bigger muscles mean you will burn more fat however, bigger muscles also happen when you are training for fat loss. The idea is to do more reps at less than your maximum strength with proper rest periods in between.

A recent article on Fox News is quite an interesting read. A lot of people spend a lot of their energy on dieting the right way without spending a thought on the proper way to exercise. With just a few tweaks and adjustments to your training routine you could be on your way to the body you dream of.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2010/08/24/rest-periods-defined/

Toxicity and Fat Burning

2010-09-01T02:32:00.001-07:00

One of the most frustrating things about weight loss is when you are doing all the right things and you still can't lose weight. You eat 5 to 6 healthy meals a day, you exercise regularly, your portion sizes are correct, and although you had good progress to begin with, you are facing stubborn fat that just won't go away. This is where the defences of the body are keeping you fat and it got to do with toxins.

When toxins ender the body, the liver tries to limit them from moving around in the blood where they can attack all your organs. As a defence, your body stores toxins in fat. Toxins bond with fat cells and are stored away when the liver is overwhelmed with toxin intake. This in turn interferes with the Leptin Hormone which sends the signal to the body to burn fat. Evidence of this is when people loose fat quickly they often get headaches, acne, rashes etc. this is because the toxins are being re-introduced into the body when the fat cells release the toxins as a result of weight loss.

Dr Pompa Explains this process on this video.

So if you are doing all the right things and still can not lose weight, its time to have a look at the role toxins play in the body, how to eliminate toxins from the body and how to reduce toxin intake in your food.

Traditional Diets just don't work any more

2010-08-27T11:20:00.001-07:00

Take a look at this article that appeared on Yahoo Shine on how the endocrine system produces hormones that regulate our system. People are eating less fat than they were 30 years ago and obesity levels have sky-rocketed. What is the role of toxins on this interesting fact.

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/loveyourbody/why-you-cant-lose-those-last-10-pounds-1964849/

This is a must read for anyone that is struggling to lose weight.

How do you activate your fat burning hormones?

2009-06-24T06:02:00.000-07:00

There are various factors involved in the daily regulation of hormones in our body. There are Fat Burning Hormones and Fat Storing Hormones at work. I will not attempt to list them one by one or explain how each one works as this could fill a book. What is important however to people that are looking at losing weight, is that these hormones can be affected by what we eat, how often we eat, how much we sleep, how we deal with stress and the kind of exercise we do. It is vital to get this right, and in particular by doing so you can activate your hormones to burn fat even during periods of rest. Activating Fat Burning Hormones has a positive affect on increasing our metabolism and this is key to any dietary or exercise regime designed to burn fat.

What foods to eat?

There are certain foods which are known to have a positive effect on our metabolism. The process is complex and involves the way the foods are broken down by our liver. White flower and certain grains for instance are broken down into their simplest form which is glucose and released very quickly into the bloodstream. In effect the flour and grains have the same effect as eating sugar. What results is a spike in energy levels. The spike lasts for about half an hour and once it has passed the body runs out of available energy from food. Soon we will feel tired, feel we have low energy and soon begin to feel hungry again. Worst of all the average American diet consists of 3 meals a day. This plays havoc on our metabolism as we get three spikes of energy over 12-16 waking hours. When the metabolism is stressed this way it enters 'starvation mode' this is when fat storing hormones come into play and deposit as much energy as they can in fat cells. For people to lose weight instead of store it, the opposite has to happen. A more comprehensive list of fat burning hormones foods can be found here.

How often should I eat?

By eating foods that produce are more constant flow of energy to the bloodstream the metabolism is not in standby mode and therefore it starts speeding up. Ideally instead of eating an average of 3 meals a day, you should be looking at eating 5-6 meals a day. Of course these meals need to be in smaller proportions to the usual 3 meals a day. Such a well balanced meal will consist of protein, carbohydrates and salad items. At first this idea seems a real shock to people, and even if they understand how important this is to promoting fat loss, how do you come up with 6 well balanced meals a day? Add to this that 2 to 3 of these meals will probably occur during work hours if you are to eat them evenly during your day. Well it is not easy changing your diet this drastically without some guidance. You could see a nutritionist or a dietician to set you a range of meal plans and discuss the kind of changes you would need to make. If you are otherwise inclined I strongly recommend that you check out the diet reviews on http://www.fatburninghormones.info/reviews.html in particular Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle and Fat Loss 4 Idiots. Both programs come with great meal plans for sticking to just such a diet that involves 5-6 meals per day. They are both affordable and a great read for anyone that is interested in losing weight fast.

Other factors to consider.

The most effective form of exercise to keep your fat burning hormones active when at rest or even while you sleep is high intensity interval workouts. Effectively, short bursts of vigorous energy expenditure are much more effective on the metabolic rate than long periods of exercise. For instance if you like to run, you are better off sprinting short lengths for about 20 minutes rather than jogging at a steady pace for 45min. This is because it takes the body about 30 minutes of jogging to enter the fat burning zone. It has been shown that interval training brings the body to the fat burning zone much quicker. The same goes for weights training and many other forms of exercise. A program that goes into these training methods is called Warp Speed Fat Loss. This program is co-written by a top trainer and top nutritionist and although it may seem expensive at just under one hundred dollars, and hour with one of these guys would cost you as much as three times that. So when you consider the collective hours that it took Mike Roussel and Alwyn Cosgrove to put this program on paper, you will find that it is $97 well spent. See here for a full review on Warp Speed Fat Loss.

The metabolism is incredibly more sensitive to positive or negative influence than people may realise. One such influence is stress. Stress can be mental or physical or both. When the body is under such stress, the liver is under a high load. Proper liver function is needed to produce a good balance of hormones in the blood. Most mental stress, such as pressure at work or a challenging lifestyle, cannot be avoided. Learning to cope with this kind of stress will help and advice should be sought from the appropriate channels.

On the other hand physical stress can be minimized to a great degree by making simple adjustments to your daily routine in most cases. One form of physical stress that people take for granted is a lack of rest and sleep. Modern lifestyles put to much pressure on our time and sleep is often sacrificed. This in turn puts a strain on the body and an extra load on a liver that is not given adequate rest. Alcohol and in particularly binge drinking is particularly stressful on the liver and this shuts down the metabolism, sometimes even for days. Getting adequate rest after exercise is also often overlooked and combined with a lack of sleep this can get you in a rut where you have little energy for almost anything.

I'd like to know more.

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