Metabolism – you’ve probably heard of it and may know that it can affect your weight, but do you really know what it is?
Well, basically it’s the rate at which your body burns calories.
We all have chemical & physical processes which occur in the body in order to sustain life – this process actually provides the energy we require for digestion, breathing, tissue repair, laughing or any activity. This process is Metabolism. We need to eat to provide our bodies with nutrients to be broken down & provide energy and also build new cells.
We all have a different Metabolism, but this is affected by a variety of things, like

• heredity,  some naturally have a higher rate
• gender, guys tend to burn more calories than girls
• age, after your mid 30′s, your rate will drop
• body size, taller people normally have a higher rate than shorter people
• diet / nutrition
• overall health & activity

So how do we increase our Metabolism???  We can’t do much about our genetics, gender, age or height but what we can do is look at our diet and activity level!

FOOD types…. some foods will help to speed up your Metabolism as they are low in calories but use more calories for the body to break them down, for example,

• broccoli
• asparagus
• cauliflower
• celery
• zuccini
• protein rich foods (lean meat, chicken)

…also drinks which are high in anti-oxidants are beneficial like choosing green tea over coffee (which contains 100′s of chemicals!)

Spicy foods can also increase your heart rate ( and metabolism), so try to include chilli peppers, green pepper, jalapeno into your diet, but be careful going to say Mexican restaurants about what else you eat with the chillies!

Foods such as cereals, oatmeal & wholegrains contain complex carbohydrates, which will stabilise your blood sugar levels, much like the Chronium in IsoWhey does, and so helps reduced sugar cravings.

Finally Fish, try salmon, tuna or sardines, they contain the omega 3 fatty acids which may help to lower levels of the hormone Leptin & help with weight loss.

But, it is not just what you eat, but when you eat it! So, do not miss breakfast -it kickstarts your metabolism, it is literally breaking your fast from the night before, if you miss it your body will go into ‘starvation mode’ & try to store more fat to survive!

Eat regularly, at least every 3-4 hours to keep your metabolism stimulated and keep the body working, and keep the portions small.

Oh, one more thing I almost forgot – Water, Water, Water!!!