Energy AND Fat Loss? Read on…

What if I said you could do a few simple things every half hour to feel good, rev up your energy levels AND kick your metabolism into fat-burning mode?

Still not hooked? I know I can’t be the only one in blogworld that is finding the increased write-time not so good on the figure. Add fiction writing to that and…well, that’s why I’m researching subjects such as fats and fat loss!

Simply implementing a few changes to your hum-drum routine can reap huge benefits:

• Breathe. Deep-belly-breaths, 5 in a row.
• Stand up and stretch, get those kinks out.
• Sip on ice water (hear that inner engine revving? it’s burning calories at a higher rate now!).
• Lower the thermastat…cool temps make your body work to stay warm.
• Raise the shades/blinds. A brightly lit environment keeps that inner self humming.

I mentioned Flip the Switch by Robert K. Cooper, PhD yesterday in my post about fats. According to Dr. Cooper, we are living life in hibernation mode. We slump. We yawn. We starve our lungs for oxygen and our bodies for water. We collapse at night in front of our TVs or computers.

“The typical American lifestyle seem to encourage inertia. Driving instead of walking, sitting instead of standing. Desk jobs instead of physical labor.” ~Robert K. Cooper, PhD, Flip the Switch

He brings up the fact that most of our ancestors (just look up some black and white photos) stayed fit without the aid of special diets or memberships to the local gym. The only fast food they ate probably occurred once a year at the county fair. Imagine shaking rugs instead of vacuuming them. Using a laundry tub and elbow grease instead of your man Maytag. Stairs instead of elevators/escalators.

The great thing when you think about it, is that these short bursts of activity throughout the day were all they needed to keep their metabolism revved up, and they stayed fit as a result.

Here’s more from Flip the Switch on the subject,

“They slept deeply in cool bedrooms with the windows open, played physical games instead of computer games, used their inventive minds instead of sitting while a media center beamed passive programming at them. I also suspect, very strongly, that they laughed (far more often than most of us do today) at life’s simple wonders and don’t-miss-it-moments.”

So Flip the Switch is all about flipping the switch of your Meta-stat (metabolism’s thermastat) from hibernation mode to full-speed-calorie-burning-mode. What I really like about the book beyond the author’s easy reading style, is he breaks up these switch-flip-triggers into manageable chapters that make so much sense you find yourself breathing deeply or stretching and immediately feeling the difference. He also devotes time to explaining the various hormones at work in our bodies and how to use them to our benefit. He even has a recipe section, courtesy of his wife Leslie.

Tomorrow, I’m going to post more in depth as to what some of these triggers are and why they’re important. Meanwhile, seriously think about getting this book.

And go have a glass of ice water, or iced green tea with a twist of lemon or lime…right after you drop ten on the office floor!