What To Do To Boost Your Metabolism & Burn More Calories.

Our metabolism is responsible for converting all calories from the food and drinks that we consume into energy. A fast metabolism burns more calories. However, our metabolic rate is affected by our age, gender, and size.

Nevertheless, there are some ways that we can do to independently control our metabolic speed. Here are some things that we can do to boost our metabolism.

1- Sleep

Health researchers have discovered a connection between metabolism and sleep. Not getting enough sleep can seriously slow down metabolism. Lack of sleep leaves your system stressed out. This makes the body produce more cortisol, which triggers your appetite. Also, it throws the system’s hunger hormones out of whack, making you crave more and end up overeating. Hence, it is important to get enough rest.

2- Drink Green Tea

Considered a “super-food,” green tea not only contains antioxidants but it also speeds up your metabolism. Also, it is calorie-free, so there is no reason not to have a glass or two every day. To learn more about the benefits of green tea.

3- Do Higher-Intensity Workouts

Steady and slow workouts may not always be successful in the race. High intensity workouts, which include interval runs or quick intense exercises can help jump-start your metabolism, which keeps on burning calories even after the workout is over.

4- Do Not Skip Breakfast

Breakfast is important as it kick-starts your metabolism and keeps it working throughout the day. Hence, set your alarm clock and grab a bite before starting your day. If you do not have a morning appetite, try a small snack such as a protein shake. 

5- Hit the Weights

Weight lifting not only helps you build muscle but it also helps in speeding up your metabolic rate. Hence, pump some iron and make those dumbbells your new best friends.

6- Spice Up Your Food

Spices such as cayenne pepper contain capsaicin, which is known to help boost metabolism. Add a dash of spice to your food for a fiery kick and to speed up your digestion.

How To Protect Your Skin From Sun Damage.

Sunlight has been clinically tested to improve moods and increase your body’s vitamin D production and endorphin release. But while everyone wants a glowing tan, the sun can also seriously damage your skin if you don’t take precautions. Here’s some simple guidelines for capturing that perfect tan and not frying your skin:

• The most important factor when picking a sunscreen is to get one that has an SPF of 15 or higher and broad-spectrum protection. This means your skin will be protected from both UVA and UVB rays.

• Chemical-free physical sunblocks that contain ingredients like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide  reflect harmful rays without reacting with the skin. This means they don’t cause allergic reactions and don’t sting the eyes if they run due to swimming or sweating.

• Regularly exfoliating your skin removes the outer layer of dead cells and allows you to achieve a more even tan. However, this also causes your skin to burn more easily, so don’t scrub yourself right before tanning.

• Lips can chap as easily from sunburn as from exposure to cold and dry air, so make sure to use a lip balm with an SPF of 15 or higher.

• Sunscreen should be applied 20 minutes before you go out into the sun to allow the skin time to absorb it. After a half an hour outside, it should be applied again for maximum protection. Most sunscreens only last about two hours, so make sure to apply it regularly, especially if swimming or sweating heavily. Even “waterproof” brands lose their potency after an hour in the water.

• Sand and water can reflect up to 90 percent of the sun’s rays, so give your skin extra protection when at the beach. A stronger SPF is also recommended for higher altitudes, since the air is thinner and sun exposure more intense.

• Don’t forget to apply sunscreen to sensitive areas like the tops of your feet, backs of your ears and neck, and areas of the scalp and hairline if your hair is thin or thinning.

What Makes Squats Such a Fantastic Exercise? ( Burn More Fat).

Most of you know that I'm an avid exerciser, and an avid exercise proponent.

Suffice it to say, a varied workout routine of appropriate intensity is one of the smartest health moves you can make, and adding squats to your routine is a must.

What makes squats such a fantastic exercise?

1- Builds Muscle in Your Entire Body:

Squats obviously help to build your leg muscles (including your quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves), but they also create an anabolic environment, which promotes body-wide muscle building.

In fact, when done properly, squats are so intense that they trigger the release of testosterone and human growth hormone in your body, which are vital for muscle growth and will also help to improve muscle mass when you train other areas of your body aside from your legs.

So squats can actually help you improve both your upper and lower body strength.

2- Functional Exercise Makes Real-Life Activities Easier:

Functional exercises are those that help your body to perform real-life activities, as opposed to simply being able to operate pieces of gym equipment. Squats are one of the best functional exercises out there, as humans have been squatting since the hunter-gatherer days. When you perform squats, you build muscle and help your muscles work more efficiently, as well as promote mobility and balance. All of these benefits translate into your body moving more efficiently in the real world too

3- Burn More Fat:

One of the most time-efficient ways to burn more calories is actually to gain more muscle! For every pound of additional muscle you gain, your body will burn an additional 50-70 calories per day. So, if you gain 10 pounds of muscle, you will automatically burn 500-700 more calories per day than you did before.

4- Maintain Mobility and Balance:

Strong legs are crucial for staying mobile as you get older, and squats are phenomenal for increasing leg strength. They also work out your core, stabilizing muscles, which will help you to maintain balance, while also improving the communication between your brain and your muscle groups, which helps prevent falls – which is incidentally the #1 way to prevent bone fractures versus consuming mega-dose calcium supplements and bone drugs.

5- Prevent Injuries:

Most athletic injuries involve weak stabilizer muscles, ligaments and connective tissues, which squats help strengthen. They also help prevent injury by improving your flexibility (squats improve the range of motion in your ankles and hips) and balance, as noted above.

6- Boost Your Sports Performance -- Jump Higher and Run Faster:

Whether you're a weekend warrior or a mom who chases after a toddler, you'll be interested to know that studies have linked squatting strength with athletic ability.1 Specifically, squatting helped athletes run faster and jump higher, which is why this exercise is part of virtually every professional athlete's training program.

7- Tone Your Backside, Abs and Entire Body:

Few exercises work as many muscles as the squat, so it's an excellent multi-purpose activity useful for toning and tightening your behind, abs, and, of course, your legs. Furthermore, squats build your muscles, and these muscles participate in the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity, helping to protect you against obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

3 Exercises That Get Rid Of Cellulite And works Nearly Every Part Of Your lower body—butt, hips, And Thighs.

Because cellulite is simply fat, many people experts included have claimed that the only way to lose cellulite is to lose body fat. But the most current thinking on cellulite goes a layer deeper, to the muscle that ultimately gives fat its shape. "As women age, they lose muscle," says Wayne L. Westcott, PhD, Prevention advisor and fitness research director at Quincy College. "As that muscle layer becomes thinner, weaker, and less firm, that overlying fat layer now doesn’t have a stable base. The fat crinkles and wrinkles and goes in any direction because there’s not a solid, smooth foundation underneath it."

Each of this exercise works nearly every part of your lower body—butt, hips, and thighs. In fact, they’re so efficient that tagging on just one of the following exercises to your regular workout 3 to 4 times a week can transform your entire lower body. Unless otherwise noted, complete one to three sets of each exercise.


•Clockwork Lunge :

1. STAND with hands on your hips and feet hip-width apart.

2. TAKE a big step forward with your right foot and lower down until your right leg is bent 90° and your left knee is nearly touching the floor. Push back up to starting position.

3. TAKE a big step to the right with your right foot, bending the right knee and keeping the left leg straight. Return to the starting position.

4. TAKE a big step back with your right foot. Lower until left leg is bent 90° and right knee is almost touching the floor. Return to starting position.

REPEAT with the left foot, stepping to the front, then to the left side, then back. That’s one set. Do 15 sets.



 •Plié Squat With Alternating Heel Raise :

1. STAND with feet about 3 feet apart, toes pointed out.

2. LOWER down until thighs are nearly parallel to the floor. Push yourself back up to standing. That’s one rep. Do 15 reps.

3. REPEAT the same move, but raise the right heel as you lower down. Do 15 reps.

4. REPEAT the same move, but raise your left heel as you lower your body down. Do 15 reps.


• Alternating Abduction Squats  :

PLACE a weighted stability ball about one foot in front of you. (A Swiss ball works, too.)

1. RAISE your right leg and touch the top of the ball with your foot. Use your foot to swipe the ball to the right side, landing with your feet shoulder-width apart.

2. SQUAT: Bend at your knees and lower your body down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Push yourself back to standing.

REPEAT using left side

NOTE: If you don’t have a BOSU ball or Swiss ball, do the same motion but without the ball. Raise your knee up to about hip-height, swipe your leg out to the side, and land with feet shoulder-width apart.

4 Juices That Helps You Build Muscle Mass.

Fresh juice often gets a bad rap, mostly due to the fact that most are relatively high in sugar. But juice offers a whole lot of benefits.

For one, juicing doesn’t have to come from fruit – raw vegetables offer up a wide variety of antioxidants, phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals, and are full of fiber. Mixing vegetables and fruit can also help cut the glycemic load and reduce the amount of sugar you get from the juice. There is tons of research to support the benefits of juicing for increasing antioxidant load, protecting against the onset of disease, and helping speed the recovery process.

Wondering what juices are right for you? Try these four options to help heal muscles faster, enhance your workouts and get your muscles pumped!

•JUICE PICK #1: Pumped Up Beet Juice

Beetroot is considered one of the most nitrate-rich vegetables available. Nitrates help amplify the nitrate-nitrite pathway of NO production, which in turn increases vasodilation leading to better blood flow and oxygen delivery to muscles. Beetroot is also high in Betaine, which can help enhance exercise endurance.   Recent studies have shown that consuming 15 to 17 oz (2 cups) of beetroot juice resulted in enhanced endurance, reduced fatigue and improved power output.

Ingredients

1 cup Raspberries
1 small Orange, peeled and deseeded
1 small Beetroot, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp Ginger Root peeled
½ cup Cold Water

Juice orange and beetroot, then blend with remaining ingredients in a blender.

Nutrition Info: 166 Calories, 39 g Carbs, 4 g Protein, 1 g Fat

•JUICE PICK #2: Kick-Start Your Day Green Juice

Green nutrients like kale, collard greens and spinach not only provide a source of vitamins, minerals and fiber, they are also high in the anti-estrogen compound indole-3-carbinol. This compound has been shown to bind tightly to excess estrogen in the body and remove it safely, preventing re-sorption. Keeping estrogen low is important, and helps preserve a proper ratio of testosterone to estrogen in the body. Testosterone is essential for driving muscle-building processes.

Ingredients

1 cup Spinach
1 cup Kale
1 cup Water
1 cup Avocado chopped
1 cup Pineapple chopped
1 tbsp Fresh Mint chopped

Juice pineapple, and then blend the rest in a blender together.

Nutrition Info: 164 Calories, 34 g Carbs, 6 g Protein, 3 g Fat

•JUICE PICK #3: Post Workout Tropical Recovery Juice

It’s important to get the right nutrients after your workout to enhance the recovery process. Ingredients like coconut water and banana can help with electrolyte and carbohydrate replenishment. Citrus fruits can provide antioxidant vitamin C, which can protect against free radical damage and inflammation brought on by exercise. Lastly, nuts like cashews are high in selenium – a major co-factor in the antioxidant enzyme glutathionine peroxidase. If you want a protein boost, add your favorite protein powder to the mix for the ultimate post-workout smoothie.

Ingredients

1 small Orange
½ juice of one Lime
1 Banana
1 cup coconut water
1 tbsp cashew nut butter

Nutrition Info: 414 Calories, 65 g Carbs, 8 g Protein, 15 g of Fat

•JUICE PICK #4: Detox Your Liver Juice

Training and dieting routinely can overload your system, so it’s smart to give your system a clean out with a detox juice once in a while to help restore your liver function and keep your digestive tract functioning optimally. Try diuretic herbs like parsley and citrus fruit like lemon. Also try turmeric – although the taste might not be the most appealing, it has numerous benefits, including functioning as an effective anti-oxidant for reduction of inflammation.

Ingredients

1 tbsp Ginger Root peeled
½ juice of one Lemon
1 cup Pineapple
½ Banana
1 cup Mango
½ tsp ground turmeric
1 cup coconut water

Nutrition Info: 269 Calories, 70 g Carbs, 3 g Protein, 1 g Fat

How To Shed Belly Fat And Slim Down in 3 Weeks

Make it a daily habit to eat healthfully and exercise to slim down in three weeks. Changing how your body functions on the inside will make you look slimmer on the outside. Healthy foods supply the energy necessary to burn calories. As long as you burn more calories than you consume, the weight will start to fall off.

Step 1

Choose healthy foods instead of junk food, high-calorie, sugary, salty and fatty foods. Opt for choices such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products and lean meats. Throw away any unhealthy foods and stop buying fast food. Many people overeat because unhealthy food is available and accessible, not because of hunger, according to Dr. Phil McGraw, author of "The Ultimate Weight Solution." Overeating any type of food can cause weight gain.

Step 2

Be physically active as much as possible throughout the day. The more active you are, the more calories you will burn. Choose activities you enjoy to make it easier to exercise. For example, full-court basketball or cross-country skiing can burn more than 800 calories per hour, depending on your body weight, according to Health Status Internet Assessments. Be active several times a day. Run in the morning, play a sport during the afternoon and go hiking before dinner. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, 20 to 90 minutes of activity on most days of the week is recommended for weight loss.

Step 3

Burn 3,500 calories more than you consume daily to lose 1 pound per week. For example, cut 200 calories per day and burn 300 calories with physical activity. A larger caloric deficit will cause more weight loss and quickly make you slim. However, losing weight too fast is difficult to maintain, and the weight is often regained just as quickly. Small deficits lead to long-term weight loss, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.

Step 4

Incorporate two to three days of resistance training into your weight-loss plan. People with muscles burn more calories per day, even at rest. Use weight training, calisthenics, resistance tubing or any type of activity that causes overload to your muscles, according to "Fitness: Theory and Practice."

Step 5

Find ways to add activity into your daily routine. For example, park your car farther from the mall to increase your walking distance. Hand-wash your car instead of going to the car wash. Take the stairs instead of the elevator and stand whenever possible instead of sitting. Every bit of activity will burn more calories throughout the day, causing more weight loss.

Tips

• See your health care provider before starting a new weight loss plan.

Best Muscle Plan For Beginners Can Use To Build Muscle.

Men who want to start building muscle should know the right steps to take to get the results they want. Building muscle takes time, and men should not resort to taking unhealthy shortcuts in an attempt to achieve faster results. Here are a few of the safest and most effective ways beginners can use to build muscle:


1- Eat More:

Men who are not eating enough will have more trouble achieving bulk. Some men may even want to increase their calorie intake by an additional 500 calories each day in order to make sure they are getting the nutrition they need to build muscle. In order to grow muscle, you need to eat more – period.


2- Eat the Right Kinds of Foods:

Filling up on sugary edibles or foods containing large amounts of saturated fats will only increase a person’s body fat percentage. This does no good in building muscle. It is best to eat foods containing higher levels of calories from healthier sources such as protein and carbohydrates. Extra levels of protein should also be incorporated into a diet so that muscles can grow. Healthy supplements like a protein shake can also be incorporated into a diet in order to help muscles grow more effectively.

3- Exercise:

Exercising is one of the main components required to develop bigger and stronger muscles. Free weights and weight machines at a gym should be used regularly as part of a strength training regimen. Some fitness experts claim that doing too much cardio will only be counterproductive in building muscle, so it is best to limit cardio workouts to shorter durations if a person feels they need to still do these types of exercises.


5-  Rest Muscles

Some people may be surprised to learn that muscle growth actually occurs while muscles are at rest. Strength training exercises actually cause small tears in the muscle tissue as each muscle group is worked. Adequately resting muscles after a workout is required in order for these tears in the tissue to heal. Muscles get bigger and stronger as these tears heal. Muscles cannot get bigger and stronger if they are overworked and are not allowed to rest properly. It is best to alternate strength training exercises on certain days in order to work certain muscle groups while others are allowed to rest.