Day 94: Need a Boost?

No, not the 3 pm double shot of espresso you had in your latte.  Does your metabolism [calorie burning machine] need a boost?  During a diet, you consume less calories and your body adjusts to make sure that you can work on the lower amount of calories.  This is why our metabolism may slow down mid-diet giving us the dreaded plateau.  [Yikes, I hate plateaus!]   Why not try some things to boost your metabolism back up!

Shape Magazine's article...good stuff!

Increase “Fat-Burning Foods”

There are a couple of items you can consume that can rev up your calorie/fat burning [from www.shape.com].

Capsaicin – This is a compound found in spicy peppers.  When your body breaks down capsaicin, it causes your body temperature to rise which burns calories.  You would probably need to take it in supplement form to reap the most benefits.

EGCG + Caffeine – EGCG and caffeine have been proven to increase your metabolism.  Oh yeah, it also has some other great perks too: major antioxidant action going on, can help clear up skin, and can help support cardiovascular health.  The best source is green tea or supplements.

There is actually a supplement by GNC called be-Energized that has both of these.  I used to take these in the mornings to get me through my early morning workouts.  BUT – make sure you don’t drink coffee after you take them.  It’s already got 200 mg of caffeine when you take 2.  I couldn’t give up my morning coffee, so I gave those up J  Maybe I’ll start taking them in the afternoons…[good idea, me!]

Monounsaturated Fats – The fats in foods rich in monounsaturated fats make the body expend more heat while breaking these down: olives, olive oil, peanuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts and avocados

Who wants guacamole?!?!

So here is something you can do that isn’t that hard.  Add in some of these monounsaturated fats into your diet.  Instead of eating a saturated fat like butter, switch to olive oil.  Instead of chowing on some pecans or walnuts, try a handful of peanuts or macadamia nuts.  Add some avocado to your salad.  You could ever spread some on a sandwich instead of mayo!  Just keep in mind that even though these are awesome foods, they pack quite a few calories. 

I’m going to try some of these to kick start my fat burn this week.  Let’s hope I have some good news to report on Friday!

BTW - I get an awesome newsletter each week from Shape.com.  That inspired this blog post today.  It's really nice to get this kind of thing in my inbox reminding me to make good choices!