Halloween may come only once a year, but pumpkins seeds, like diamonds, are forever. They've been called one of nature's almost perfect foods. One ounce contains 5gms of protein and 5gms of fiber. They supply carbs, amino acids,unsaturated fats, many of the B vitamins, some C,D,E,K and important minerals zinc, calcium, potassium and phosphorous. Sprinkle some over a salad or yogurt or just eat some as snack.
PROTEIN
Protein is harder for the body to digest than fats or carbs and as such uses more energy.
There is someting called TEF or Thermogenic effect of food. Simply put, TEF is a measure of energy needed by your body to digest food.
The TEF of protein is roughly 25%, meaning that 25% of the calories of each gram of protein is burned off via digestion or during the digestive process.
The TEF of carbs is around 5%, fats about 2%. Are you getting the picture yet?
Eating raises your metabolism or, another way of saying it, increases your metabolic rate. Thus, several small meals (Not those big put-on-the-feed bag ones.) increase and keep your burn rate steady thougout the day.
Knowledge comes, lernt wisdom lingers.
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Don't eat often or at all if you want to slow down or stop your metabolism.
Skip breakfast if you want to slow down your metabolism. It won't help you lose weight, contrary to what you might think.
Small frequent meals (300-400 calories each) stops hunger pangs.
BMR
Metabolism is simply about how much energy one uses or how many calories one's body burns per day. Basil metabolism rate or BMR is a way to measure those calories; in this case, while at rest.
Your body burns energy all day long, at rest or with activity. It takes energy to breathe, pump your heart, regulate body temperature, digest food, etc.
BMR is a simple formula for calculatng those calories or the energy required. It's not that complicated.
Genes for sure play an important role for everyone in all this, but genes are not the be-all-end-all. Choices you make matter. You can alter your metabolism with proper exercise and proper nutrition (more on that later).
Ramp up your BMR by eating lean, good protein.
CARBOHYDRATES
Carbohydrates are not your enemy. They can be, but it depends on your choices.
There are good carbs and not so good cards, slow-acting and fast-acting carbs.
Just substitute disgested for acting, as in slow-digested and fast-digested and you're half way home.
Fast-digested carbs get into the system quickly; slow-digested take longer and last longer.
Fast digested carbs usually, though not always, have a high glycemic index(more on that later) while slow digested carbs have a low glycemic index score.
Carb give you energy for your workouts and also help control your levels of muscle and liver glycogen, two important sources of energy that aid recovery.
Glycogen is simply a storage form of glucose and a primary fuel for muscles and the brain.
Carbs get converted in the body to either liver or muscle glycogen. Any excess that can't find a home in the muscles and liver gets converted to something most of us don't want, fat.
Pyrodoxine, Vitamin B6, aids in breaking down glycogen and helps prevent damage to arteries where plaques form owing to the breakdown of proteins in the system sometimes seen in high-protein diets.
The energy you get from carbs works fine with either high-intensity or long, slow activities like long runs.
Without perseverance talent is a barren bed.
Welsh Proverb
Carbs don't make one fat. They can if abused or chosen poorly. Think veggies and fruits here, not cakes and pies.
Cakes and pies and other snack foods are usually fast-acting and loaded with sugars like table sugar or sucrose.
Let's be clear. If it ends in -ose, it's a sugar. Dextrose, lactose, glucose, fructose, maltose are all sugars. Learn to read labels.
Eat some good carbs roughly 30-90 minutes before a workout.
If you fail to eat something before a workout, be sure to drink a protein shake with some carbs in it.
When you workout you break or tear down your muscles. Eating some carbs beforehand spikes insulin production and insulin affects protein synthesis, helping to prevent the breakdown of muscle.
j.z.plato
SNACKING
Nearly everyone knows what a snack is, some piece of food you quickly grab between meals to wolf down.
It's called snacking for a reason and it's pretty difficult to come up with a term with more negative baggage in the nutritional world. For years people trying to lose weight have been called out for snacking between meals. It was a no-no.
A few years ago when I was doing some serious internal medicine, I frequqently referred patients, over-weight and otherwise, for nutritional counseling to dieticians.Now let me state clearly my point here is not to pick an argument with dieticians; they serve a useful and important function. But almost invariably the patients at their next visit would relate how they had been bawled out by the dietician for snacking between meals.
To be sure, there is such a thing as good and bad snacks. But overall snacking is another example of an activity that's gotten a bad reputation. If you're trying to lose weight, you're trying to rev up your metabolism. If you're trying to make weight for a fight, you're trying to do the same thing. On the other hand, if you're trying to add weight for an event, snacking still has a role.
So here's a tip: snack between meals to keep your metabolism accelerated. Choose your snacks wisely, keeping calories between 200 and 400 per snack if you're man and slightly less if you're a female. Good choices are an apple or an orange or banana or a cupful of grapes or a good protein bar. But you need to read your labels on protein bars carefully because not all are created the same. Many are loaded with hidden sugars and unhealthy fats.
Another tip: the snack can be either all carbohydrates or protein or a mixture. Something like a cup of cottage cheese or yogurt or some apple slices dipped in pure peanut butter fit the mixture bill. And don't forget chilled water; it helps rev up the metabolism.*
PEPPER TIME
From green to orange to red to yellow, that's the color spectrum of bell peppers. Loaded with vitamins--more than twice the amount of vitamin C in an orange--bell peppers make an excellent addition to your omelets, sauces and salads.*
jzp
