Fat Loss Supplements - Essential Tips

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 04: Julie Sutcliffe rests in a pool after a exercise session at the NuYu Weight Loss Retreat on February 4, 2010 in the Hawkesbury Valley near Sydney, Australia. Nuyu is a live-in style retreat offering programs that run for up to 6 weeks addressing all aspects of healthy living including exercise, meal planning, emotional well being and boast a 80% success rate for long term weight management. The latest statistics from the Dietitians Association of Australia state that 62% - more than 13 million Australian adults - and 25% of Australian children are overweight or obese. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
If you want to lose weight safely, effectively and fast, you can use fat loss supplements. They can help in speeding up the process of metabolism and burn fat, which lets you lose weight fast. For many individuals, losing weight is quite difficult but you can do it successfully by using all natural supplements for fat loss in combination with a healthy diet and regular exercise.
It is important to note that weight loss is not only burning fat. It is very easy to put on additional weight by too much eating. While there are a number of techniques today that can help you lose weight fast, a permanent solution is what you really need - something that requires you to modify your lifestyle.
A successful weight loss method involves a sensible exercise and diet plan. It should still allow you to eat anything that you want, yet still lose those extra pounds. You have to choose a balanced weight loss plan in order to eliminate extra weight and that same time, maintain it.
When it comes to fat loss supplements, you can find various brands and products but all of them use the same ingredients because of their helpful fat burning properties.
Thermogenics
These are considered as the most famous supplements for fat burning. They work effectively by getting fat deposits in the body in order to metabolize while exercising. It is a process that happens at the cellular level, a reaction to a rise of internal body temperature, which results to more calories and fat burned.
Appetite suppressants
Basically, they lessen your appetite in order to lose weight. While there are still a lot of studies to be done in order to find out what ingredients have long-term effects, supplements that contain Hoodia are said to provide great benefits.
Fat blockers
These supplements for fat loss have chitosan, a fat absorber chemical that can help block fat even before it is completely digested and expel it from the body. While these concept may sound great, there is still little claims that can support its effectiveness. You will be able to burn those extra calories but you may also inhibit the body's absorption of essential minerals and vitamins.
Thyroid regulators
The thyroid is known to regulate the metabolism of the body and thyroid regulators can greatly help in increasing your body metabolism so that you can acquire more energy and burn calories more effectively.
Cortisol blockers
Cortisol is a hormone that is created by the adrenal glands. When under mental stress and high physical levels, this hormone has the ability to break muscle tissue and increase the fat levels indirectly.
These supplements are known to help in weight loss but still, you should be careful in taking them. Taking too much of anything can be dangerous so make sure not to depend on these supplements. In addition, never use them for a very long time. This is because of the fact that the body might no longer use its metabolism and eventually, it might be lethargic. This simply means that the moment you stop using supplements for burning fat, you will gain pounds since your body metabolism cannot function well anymore without the help from these fat burning supplements.

How to Deal With a Food Addiction

Dopamine Pathways. In the brain, dopamine plays an important role in the regulation of reward and movement. As part of the reward pathway, dopamine is manufactured in nerve cell bodies located within the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and is released in the nucleus accumbens and the prefrontal cortex. Its motor functions are linked to a separate pathway, with cell bodies in the substantia nigra that manufacture and release dopamine into the striatum. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)One of the first paragraphs on WebMD, when you search for food addiction is this: "Like addictive drugs, highly palatable foods trigger feel-good brain chemicals like dopamine. Once people experience the rush of dopamine from eating certain foods, they quickly feel the need to eat again."
This is a problem area for a lot of people, myself included.
An addiction is defined by Dictionary.com as: "the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma."
I don't know about the severe trauma bit for food addiction but, essentially, food can be like a drug, and if you're trying to lose weight or be healthy, food addictions can be a major hurdle.
What causes food addiction?
To boil it down, it's caused by the chemicals in your brain, when you do something pleasing, a hit of dopamine goes to your neurotransmitters telling your brain that whatever just happened felt good. Your brain likes dopamine so it wants to get as much as it can.
When food triggers a dopamine release it can be just as pleasant for your brain as something like nicotine or heroin. An addiction happens when you can no longer consciously control your desire for that dopamine in your brain. At that point, you'll do whatever you can to get that shot of feel good medicine in your head.
So what can be done about food addictions? Through experimentation on my part during my long journey of getting healthy I discovered that addictions can be overcome relatively easily given a short period of mental pain. Whether it's nicotine, coffee, sugar or salt, any addiction can be reigned in with a little work and, in most cases, a replacement shot of dopamine through some other activity.
It usually takes about three days to a week to rid yourself of an addiction but food addictions can be much harder because one has no choice but to eat to keep themselves healthy.
I'll be honest with you that as of this writing, I'm still working on finding a replacement shot of dopamine, as for the majority of my weight loss journey, I smoked cigarettes. Thankfully, I quit 4 months ago and have been a little lax with my weight loss regimen since then.
In my experience however, there are many things that can take the place of an addictive substance. My favorite is pride and it's one I've used many times in my journey.
How is that gonna work you ask? Well, I just know that at the end of a day of recording everything I eat and staying within a certain calorie limit, I look at my work for the day and I feel awesome. I feel proud that I was able to accomplish my goal for the day. That's what keeps me going.
In analyzing this pride method, it's easy to see how important goals are for accomplishing something and I can pretty much guarantee that goals can work in defeating an angry food addiction.
The key is to start small, just eat well for one meal, then build on it, two meals, three meals, one day, two days, a week. Eventually you've been recording and watching your calorie intake for a month and you've lost 10 lbs. Now how awesome does that feel? By that time you will have made yourself a new healthy habit that can only contribute to your well being.
Pride may not work for you and in that case I suggest something healthy with no calories, like a diet soda, a cup of coffee, a small walk around the neighborhood, a few minutes of meditation, or even working on something you want to accomplish or enjoy doing. Really anything that makes your brain feel good will do the job.
It certainly helps to distract yourself with whatever else you can think of that will make you feel awesome.
So lets summarize this, a food addiction is a nasty thing that demands dopamine (the feel good chemical) but with a little work (three days to a weeks worth) and a lot of feel good stuff building on feel good stuff and big goals building on small goals, we have ourselves a habit that makes living good feel good.
By the time you've built a healthy habit, you won't even be thinking about having desert or that extra beer at the end of dinner.
I've said before and I'll say again, nobody's perfect and if I can do it, you can too.

The Right Way to Increase Your Motivation to Lose Weight

US Navy 050203-N-4729H-005 Navy Delayed Entry Program recruit Brian Connelly of Norwood, Pa., shows the pants he wore before he lost 175 lbs over the period of a year to join the U.S. Navy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Fashion models were once pictured as women who ate almost nothing, keeping their bodies to little more than skin and bone. A model was not supposed to have any muscle because that was considered manly. With the right face and a tall figure, a young lady with enough motivation to lose weight could make a name for herself by punishing her body in that way, but the long term results of that type of nutritional neglect can be devastating.
Starvation is Not the Answer
Maintaining a youthful figure is much more about having a program of a balanced diet and regular exercise. Thankfully, more of the models of today ascribe to a healthy diet regime and even have nutritionists to guide them. Still many of the diet plans that flood the bookstores, internet, and airways are stuck in the dark ages of losing weight. They support magical diets that cheat the body into malnutrition with no regard for health.
These diets never work, and the reason they don't is because the body must be fed every day, no matter if the motivation to lose weight is there or not. People who diet in this unsafe manner find that as soon as they stop the diet, their bodies crave food so they overeat and gain the weight right back. Losing and gaining in this way can take years off a person's life.
The Common Sense Approach to Weight Loss
Fad diets make it impossible to develop a regular routine, which is an important aspect of maintaining your desired weight. Even when you have the motivation to lose weight, but go about doing so in the wrong way, you can't expect the best results.
Women who fear that exercising with weights will give them a manly figure don't understand that weight training can be for toning or bulking up, depending on the program.
Every living thing needs the support of diet and exercise to have improved quality of life. The two are meant to go together. The reason we gain weight is because we excess at the one and ignore the other, so common sense tells us that to reverse the process we must eat sensibly and exercise to tighten up flabby muscle.
If your motivation to lose weight is low, much of the reason is because you are including the wrong foods in your diet. You don't feel like exercising and your body doesn't respond well to unhealthy food. We know that losing weight and keeping it off is both mental and physical, and your mind and body both work better when you eat the foods that are right for you.
So, what are you going to do with your life? Do you want to continue to starve yourself to drop a few pounds and then gain them all back? Does it make sense to suffer and feel bad just to have temporary weight loss?
If you aspire to be thinner, that alone should be the motivation you need to lose weight. Go about the process in the right way; get slim and stay slim the healthy way.
The idea that your subconscious mind may be actively blocking your conscious efforts to lose weight can be hard to swallow at first. So in addition to revealing my top 4 secrets to effective weight loss, I have included in my free report "Visualization Secrets For Weight Loss Success" a section on how mastering your subconscious mind through visualization can make all the difference to your level of weight loss success.

How To Lose 10 Pounds In A Month and Save Money Doing It!

Crossfiit Bodybuilder on Paleo Diet - Non Vegetarian Primal FreetheAnimal Caveman Robb Wolf (Photo credit: Paleo-Caveman-Omnivore-LowCarb-Meat-Diet-Info)Do you want to know how to lose 10 pounds in a month and save money while you're doing it? The answer is healthy meal-replacements. You can get healthy meal replacements in any flavor you want for less than 2 dollars each. Eating these instead of spending 20 dollars on eating out every day saves you a lot of money and you lose weight very quickly.
The satisfying thing about meal replacements is that they actually work! If you seriously what to know how to lose 10 pounds in a month, then find a month's worth of healthy meal replacements in the flavor of your choice and get started with losing weight and saving money.
Meal replacements are now becoming popular with the advancement of technology. In the past, the replacements were nasty and most people wouldn't dare eating them. Thanks to this new age we live in, scientist have the ability to combine deliciousness with healthiness.
You see a meal-replacement simple replaces a meal. The replacement has all the nutrients your body needs on a daily basis. The hidden key on how to lose 10 pounds in a month by using meal replacements is taking two replacements a day.
I personally recommend taking one in the morning, one for lunch and then eating your normal but sizable supper. The replacements taste great and I always choose the shake-mix that taste like cake mix. It takes maybe two minutes to make and it's really helpful in situations where you are in a rush.
I'm not a big breakfast eater and a replacement gives me more nutrition in one shake than I could ever eat in one whole day. Plus it gives me a lot of energy for the big day ahead and I save a lot of money using them. There are many uses for the replacements and you can use them to stay fit if you're already in shape.
When you're already fit you can use replacements to supplement your meal. I'm already fit so I just use them for the healthy maintenance and nutritional value they provide. Though, I have watched hundreds of people use them to lose weight they are very effective, that's why I am sharing this advice with you now.
So, if you seriously want to know how to lose 10 pounds in a month, follow these directions and you will be well on your way to losing weight and saving money in the process.
If you want to transform your health using meal replacements and be in better shape than you've ever been in your entire life, click here to get started!

Never Too Late to Get Ready for Swimsuit Season

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 04: Angela Bavage exercises in a pool at the NuYu Weight Loss Retreat on February 4, 2010 in the Hawkesbury Valley near Sydney, Australia. Nuyu is a live-in style retreat offering programs that run for up to 6 weeks addressing all aspects of healthy living including exercise, meal planning, emotional well being and boast a 80% success rate for long term weight management. The latest statistics from the Dietitians Association of Australia state that 62% - more than 13 million Australian adults - and 25% of Australian children are overweight or obese. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
We all want an amazing body to show off at the pool or on the beach, but with swimsuits having popped up months ago in all the retail stores and spring break passing us by, we may think that it's just too late to do anything to improve our physique in time for summer. However, that's simply not correct. While you don't have time to lose 50 pounds, you've got plenty of time to lose 5 or 10 if you start right away! Let these three tips get you feeling more confident in your swimsuit.
Any Exercise Helps
If you live a sedentary lifestyle like the majority of Americans do, you aren't getting a lot of exercise in your day to day life. The good news is that every single bit of exercise you do can help add up to make you look better. Try taking a 30 minute walk or doing some strength training in the gym. If you don't have time for that, do some jumping jacks, planks, pushups, squats, or dead weight lifts for just a few minutes, perhaps while watching TV-commercial breaks are a great time to get your body moving. While you may not see powerful results right away, you will get your body to start changing for the better.
Cut Back on Drinking Calories
One of the biggest culprits of empty calories in our lives is what we drink. Sodas, sweet coffee drinks, and juice all contain an alarming number of calories per serving and they do nothing to fill us up. Those empty calories end up helping us to pack on the pounds, and that's the last thing we want when there's a bikini on the line! Instead, remove these caloric drinks from your life and replace them with water. If you're looking for the wake-me-up of caffeine, try doing some quick exercise, like jumping jacks or running in place, instead-scientists have proven that a little exercise is just as good at waking the body up as caffeine, and exercise, as we know, has negative calories.
Control Portion Sizes
Another way to cut back on your calories without depriving yourself of the foods you love is to cut down on your portion sizes. Restaurants give us plates that are far too full of food, sometimes even to the tune of a whole day's worth of calories, but our brains tell us that we should keep eating, even if we're full. Get the waiter to bring you a to-go box before you start eating your meal so that you can give yourself an appropriate portion and leave the rest for later. Alternatively, eat at home where you can easily control portion sizes by measuring or simply choosing a smaller plate or bowl. Smaller portion sizes will help you to decrease your waist and hips by decreasing the calories you consume.
If you have difficulty controlling your portion sizes, you might consider adding an all natural weight loss supplement with Hoodia to your weight loss plan. Hoodia has long been lauded as a natural appetite suppressant, and many of these weight loss supplements contain other ingredients to curb appetite and encourage your body to naturally lose weight. When combined with exercise and a sensible diet, a natural weight loss supplement may be the key to unlock your swimsuit skinny self.
M. Dwyer is the founder of Healthe Trim, a natural weight loss supplement clinically shown to promote weight loss. Healthe Trim combines natural ingredients such as Hoodia gordonii and green tea leaf extract in order to reduce food cravings and boost energy naturally.
Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert

Great Tips On Getting Rid Of Tummy Fat For Good

Rocky III (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Could tummy fat be stopping you from obtaining the figure of your dreams? Getting rid of that rubber dinghy around your waist is really hard to do, but we all have a dinghy so don't be embarrassed.
That brings me on nicely to how to reduce your tummy fat for good. I spent years training and training with what I thought was a really good routine. But for some reason no matter how hard I trained I just could not shift the fat around my waist. Rocky III was such a good film and gives you the eye of the tiger and I started boxing, but this again would not shift it. After a lot of head scratching, I decided to sit down and re evaluate what my training routine looked like.
I was just like everyone else really, doing some weights and lots of cardio. Pretty average really but probably the same as at least 60% of people. It really wasn't a surprise therefore that something was still wrong. I decided then that I would hire a personal trainer to look at my training routine, in the hope that he could highlight the problem of getting rid of my belly fat. I really was surprised by what he had to say. He weighed me and although I had reduced my weight overall. My body fat however just had not come down.
The came the good news, he wanted me to train five days a week and having two days off. He wanted to tire my muscle out so proposed doing primary exercises followed straight away by secondary exercises. The cardio also changed so that I was doing short bursts instead. My routine before however was running or the cross machine for twenty minutes. This really did push you to the absolute limits. Even after an intense session on the weights, I would then have to jump straight onto the rowing machine. I rowed for four minutes to start with, then he would throw the intensity up and make me do 1000m as fast as I possible could. I know that sounds really easy, but when you do it yourself it is really really hard.
Then I got straight onto the bike for six minutes. Then after the six minutes was up. It was time to step up the pace, doing fast sprints of seconds at a time, until I couldn't move my legs anymore. Afterwards my legs were like jelly, I felt like I was walking on the moon. I bet this something you can relate too as well.
Then after a few weeks I leaped on the scales again and carried out a full fitness test. The fitness test went well but my body fat had hardly moved at all. I had lost weight again but I just wasn't happy with this.
It was a case of going back to the drawing board again. I got myself really down at this point though, which I guess is to be expected. Motivation really is key in this environment and if your not seeing results, it is really hard to keep it up. I had also spent a lot of money and really felt like throwing in the towel. The trainer I had however was an ex army PT Officer, he didn't want me to pack in, so he suggested we look into my diet plan instead. I thought my diet was pretty good to be honest. I always cooked fresh food every day and thought I was healthy.
I did find that I really was not drinking enough fluids however. Tea was a problem and I was drinking too much of it, although I did have two sugars with every cup. My new meal plan then consisted of fresh veg and chicken all the time. Stayed on the training program I had just done and guess what happened. He he yes my tummy fat at last was going down eventually. The feeling was just out of this world, I very nearly even thought of giving him a hug. Maybe not the greatest of ideas however, seeing how he was ex army anyway. So finishing off with the morale to this story. If your going to do something, don't waste any time doing it.
Seek professional help from an expert. Then you will be able to avoid the frustration and keep your money in your pocket too. Then you can achieve your goals in a much more timely manner.
how to reduce tummy fast Man my abdominal fat was dreadful which was exactly why I absolutely found it necessary to do something about it. This chap was an ex armed forces athlete and boy did he work me really hard. By no means stop trying, with the right process, results are just around the corner.

A Weight Loss Success Story

A diet rich in soy and whey protein, found in products such as soy milk and low-fat yogurt, has been shown to reduce breast cancer incidence in rats. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)At 5'9" two-hundred and twenty-five pounds Tom (not his real name) thought of himself as slightly overweight but more stocky than fat. Sure he had a little beer belly, but at 58 years old, who doesn't. It wasn't like he wasn't active. He worked in the construction field and was either supervising or working on various remodels on a daily basis. As he went to see his doctor for a physical he expected a clean bill of health.
But he didn't get one. The doctor explained that he had several medical issues that he needed to address. He had high blood pressure, he had high cholesterol and his fasting glucose was dangerously elevated. He risked cardiovascular disease, a heart attack and type 2 diabetes. He would have to take high blood pressure medication, cholesterol lowering medications and he might have to take medications or even shots for diabetes. If the diabetes got worse he risked losing his vision and amputations from peripheral vascular disease. Tom asked the doctor if there was a way to avoid the medications and was told yes, lose weight.
A Weight Loss Plan
What happens next may seem obvious but it rarely happens when people are faced with potentially devastating news. He decided to do something about and he did do something about it. He didn't go on a famous diet or stick a feeding tube down his throat. He didn't take hormone shots or get an operation. He did four things. He paid attention to what he was eating and replaced higher calorie foods, such as a double cheeseburger with fries, with lower calorie alternatives such as grilled chicken without the bun and a side salad; he limited his drink calories; he reduced the size of his food portions; and on days he wasn't doing physical labor he exercised for at least thirty minutes.
Within six months he had lost 30 pounds and was within five pounds of his goal. He found that he had more energy and his joint pain had vanished. He revisited his doctor and was given a clean bill of health. He did not have to go on any medications and his fasting glucose was below pre-diabetic levels. One year later he is off of the medications and his blood tests are in the normal range.
Why did Tom succeed at Losing Weight and keeping it off?
Lots of people take the first step when receiving news of potential harm that they can avoid. They decide to do something about it. They read about it and they prepare to do something about it. They may even order the foods or log in to a weight loss site. Unfortunately, only a few people are able to successfully take the next step and follow through with their plans. Tom is one of those exceptions. But the question is why was Tom able to successfully lose weight and just as importantly keep it off when so few can?
I believe he was able to lose the weight because he kept things simple. He understood that to take off pounds he had to eat fewer calories than he burned and his four items all either lowered his calorie intake or increased his calorie burn. He reduced his calorie count by eating lower calorie foods, reducing the portions of the foods he ate, limiting his calories from drinks and exercising a little more. He did not try to become a vegetarian when he had been a meat and potatoes person for the past 58 years nor did he enter a marathon when he wasn't a runner. He stuck to items that were within his comfort zone.
And he was able to keep it off for the same reason. When he was near his weight loss goal he didn't have to make a drastic change in his eating habits. He could follow the four same steps that got him there to keep him there. If he had days that where his calorie input exceeded his calorie output, he didn't worry about it. He just made sure it didn't become a habit. In a nutshell, he became a lesser eating version of his former self.
Should you copy Tom's Weight Loss Plan?
I don't know. His success doesn't guarantee yours. But you have a better chance of losing pounds and keeping them off if your plan is easy to follow and is your weight maintenance plan is similar to your weight loss plan.
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How Can Grains and Fibers Help in Losing Weight?

High Fiber Cereal - now with TWIGS!!! (Photo credit: Chasqui (Luis Tamayo))
So, you just decided to go on a diet, and the first thing your dietician tells you is to increase your fiber intake through different methods. Whether adding more fibrous food to your diet, to giving you additives that has more fiber, your dietician made it a point to give you extra fibers which you can feel is essential. But have you ever wondered why fibers are an important ingredient in weight loss? Here is an explanation about the role of fibers in maintaining and lowering your body weight.
When you eat, the body breaks down the components to its most basic form, after which, they can be directly absorbed by the body. Now, most edible products are made of either simple or complex compounds. For example, when you consume sugar, it being a simple compound, gets absorbed to the body almost instantly. As a result, you get an immediate energy rush that courses through your body. This phenomenon is known as "sugar rush". It takes the body a very limited amount of energy to go through the entire process. However, the sugar that was released into the bloodstreams contained way more calories than the amount required to burn it. Result - the sugar gets stored in the body if it is not doing any further action for a while.
On the other hand, when you are eating complex food, like grains, nuts and fibers, it takes a considerable amount of work for the body to break them down. While simple compounds can absorb into the body's bloodstream quite easily, it is difficult for blood to absorb complex carbohydrates and fats unless it is broken down to its simplest forms. Fibrous food like steel-cut oats, whole wheat, and several types of vegetables contain high amount of fibers which actually helps the body into doing more work. So, a lot of doctors actively recommend different kinds of whole grains and fibers into their daily life. For example, you would find that brown rice is considered to be more beneficial for the body.
This is because, brown rice tends to be less processed and has got a lot of fibers in it that is broken down and removed when the brown rice is converted to white. So, eating brown rice is more beneficial for the body, and induces weight loss within a short period of time, as the body works more. Would you give it a try?

Learning Which Weight Loss Workouts Actually Work

My Weight Loss Coach (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Understanding which weight loss workouts actually work is the only way anyone can effectively lose weight will save you time, heartache and lots of frustration. The first step is to choose those that do work, from the list below, and actually do them. So many people want to lose weight but they don't because they only rely on diet, and when it comes to working out, they lose interest quickly and stop.
The best chance you have at losing a substantial amount of weight is to commit to a workout routine. To avoid weight gain, you simply cannot over-indulge. You must not eat more calories than you burn. Therefore, you can choose to starve, or enjoy food while exercising.
The best workouts that help lose weight are cardio exercises. Although you may prefer strength training or resistance training, which are also good, and important, the cardio ones will shed those extra pounds quicker.
Which workouts help lose weight quickly?
Running Brisk walking Aerobics Cross Training
In addition to that, you must improve your diet. Avoid eating out regularly, and avoid buying prepared foods which are found in the inner aisles of the grocery stores. Stick to the aisles around its perimeter, and start cooking. With the thousands of easy recipes available on the internet, there is no excuse any longer. Also, avoid sodas and packaged juices. Instead, quench your thirst with fruit and veggie juices you make with a juice extractor.
Food portions can also be a problem, even at home. So, to trick your own mind by buying smaller plates. Today's plates are often over-sized, and that can make you eat more. The less calories you consume, the less you have to work off. It is much easier to not consume too many calories, than it is to burn them off.
Simply put, and according to scientific calculations, you need to burn off 3500 calories just to lose one pound! So, if you combine your efforts, meaning exercising to lose about 300 calories in a workout, and reduce your caloric intake by 300 calories each day, you will achieve this goal in about 6 days.
It will take time to successfully lose this added weight you put on, just as it took time to put it on. Weight gain doesn't happen overnight, so you should not expect miracles when it comes to shedding those pounds. You will need to exercise about 3 hours each week, at minimum in order to reach those goals. Weight loss workouts really do work, but they work best when you eat right and less.
Is age catching up with you? Do you see the onset of wrinkles, drooping and sagging skin, and other signs that show your age? Anti-AgingMatters provides you with tips about anti-aging health, diet and beauty tips that will make you look and feel great. Don't delay... time is the only thing you can't get back.

Top Ten Ways to Alleviate Leptin Resistance

Close up of flowers of Eoudia lepta, Evodia lepta ....Chụp gần, hoa của cây Ba Chạc, Bí Bía .... (Photo credit: Vietnam Plants & America plants)In an earlier article, I discussed the hungry hormone leptin. Leptin is a hormone made by fat cells that signals your brain to tell it how much fat is in your body. If you don't have a lot of body fat, your leptin level is low, which boosts appetite, coaxing the body to accumulate more fat. But if you are already fat, the brain may be immune to the appetite-suppressing signals of leptin. This is a condition known as leptin resistance.
Being resistant to leptin means that your brain thinks you are starving when the reality is just the opposite. Dysfunctional leptin drives appetite and especially cravings for high calorie foods and junk foods. The brain is doing anything it can to prevent starvation.
Leptin dysfunction also causes lower metabolism and can lead to a host of other hormone problems like insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, low testosterone (in men) and thyroid problems.
How do you fix leptin resistance?
There aren't any medications to correct leptin resistance yet, but there is a lot you can do enhance the appetite-suppressing effect of leptin. Here are the top ten ways you can alleviate resistance to leptin.
1. Eat a balanced diet.
Eating a balanced diet means eating equal (or roughly equal) percentages of the three major nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins and fats. I recommend eating about forty percent carbohydrates, thirty percent protein and thirty percent fat.
2. Eat the right kind of carbohydrates, proteins and fat.
Simply eating a balanced diet is not enough. You can have a balanced diet eating unhealthy foods but that won't fix your leptin. You should avoid processed carbohydrates, especially those high in sugar and flour and eat more healthy carbohydrates like vegetables, fruits, whole grains and low fat dairy products. Eat low fat sources of proteins and avoid fatty cuts of meat. Eat healthy fats rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats like fish, olives, avocados and nuts.
3. Eat foods high in antioxidants.
Foods high in antioxidants like fresh vegetables and fruits alleviate resistance to leptin because they calm inflammation.
4. Eat green vegetables before 10 AM.
Make eating vegetables in the morning a daily habit. Think of it as taking a vitamin supplement. You can add vegetables to your breakfast, have them as a morning snack or just wolf them down in a couple of bites. Try doing this, it won't hurt you.
5. Eat consistently throughout the day
You need to avoid going long periods of time without eating. You should never skip meals, especially breakfast. It is best to eat every three to four hours while awake.
6. Move your body.
Exercise has a very power healing effect and leptin sensitivity is no exception. When it comes to exercise for leptin resistance there are two rules you must follow. 1) Do it. 2) Keep doing it. Consistency is a critical factor. I recommend exercising every day for one hour.
7. Drink enough water.
If you are dehydrated, you will have difficulty losing weight despite valiant efforts. You should drink two quarts of filtered water every day. Drinking cold water helps boost your metabolism in addition to helping leptin.
8. Get enough sleep.
Many people simply don't get enough sleep. You should aim for getting six to eight hours of quality sleep every night. Good quality sleep is necessary for leptin to work properly. Sleep deprivation and sleep disorders have been linked to leptin resistance, increased appetite, lower metabolism, diabetes and a host of other ailments.
9. Eat fish high in omega-3 fatty acids.
Omega-3 fatty acids, found in cold water fish, calm inflammation and alleviate leptin resistance. Shoot for 1000-4000 mg of omega-3 fatty acids daily. A four ounce serving of salmon contains about 2000 mg of omega-3 fatty acids. You can take supplements too, but make sure it is a high quality one.
10. Calm inflammation.
Having excess fat in the body is the most common source of inflammation. Fat cells make inflammatory chemicals known as cytokines which wreak havoc throughout the body. By reducing the amount of fat in your body, you will lower inflammation.