Welcome back! It’s been a really busy couple of weeks for me as I continue working on edits for my next book, published by Chronicle Books. And, as I navigate balancing motherhood and work (I’ll blog about that over on Green Mommy Blog this week), I had to cut back on blogging here a bit. Here we are though… part 8 of my Raw Food Weight Loss Series. Let’s get to it!
As you know, I’ve mentioned a few times that a key component (although not the only one) to losing weight easily is through watching your calorie intake. Here is a testimonial I received recently that I am excited to share…
Kristen,
Thank you so much for this segment! I just couldn’t fathom why I was not losing an ounce after eating raw for several months… I was beginning to thing there was something wrong with me. :)
As per your suggestion I started tracking my caloric intake (using caloriecount.com). After a little bit of math I discovered I was eating nearly 2x the calories I needed.
After I slashed the amount of food I consumed the weight just melted off in a week! I must have lost 10 pounds (if only I had a scale to confirm that!) and I felt no hunger pains at all. It was as if I had found the golden calorie number for my body, I could “feel” how many calories I was consuming related to my energy level. I felt perfectly equilibrated . Even if I ate my daily quotient before dinner time, I wouldnt be hungry for the rest of the day! Amazing.
Thank you so much, you are a wealth of knowledge!Stephie
Love love love that testimonial! Thanks, Stephie for sharing your success with us.
Moving on to metabolism boosters.
Metabolism Booster Tip #1 – The biggest and probably best way to boost your metabolism and accelerate shedding unwanted pounds is through exercise. It’s a fact of life and the sooner we embrace this the faster we lose weight and get our sexiest bods ever! One of the best ways to burn calories with exercise is to build some lean muscle. It makes you a calorie burning machine. For people who don’t have time to get to a gym, no worries. Drop to the floor and do some pushups. Then, do walking lunges around the house. That will be a great place to start. I do this myself when I’m short on time to workout.
I know… exercising is not everyone’s favorite way to pass time, but if you do it, you end up loving it in the long run. It’s just a matter of getting to that point which can seem daunting. The trick is to schedule your time for exercise and to commit to doing it for one week by choosing 5 days in that week to do it. Once you get to your third session, you start to get hooked. Once that happens, you start finding every which way to make sure you get your exercise in. You’ll fiercely protect your exercise time like it’s an appointment to get your screaming roots touched up at the salon. Ladies… you know what I mean!
So! Do that! Pick 5 days to exercise over the next week. Write the days in your calendar. I don’t care whether you’re going for a 45-minute walk or taking a spin class at the gym. Keep in mind that if you’re not used to exercising, take it easy and plan on walking for your exercise. It’s great for you. The point is… I want you to move your ass!
Even though you think you might not be able to fit it in your schedule, if you make it happen… like magic, you’ll suddenly feel like you have more time. Exercise is powerful in seemingly giving you more time in your day. Weird, huh? Well, it works! With exercise comes strength, energy, and confidence. These things help make you unstoppable and I believe you’ll find that you get more done in your day if you add exercise to it.
Speaking of exercise, what did I do at the gym yesterday? As I already noted, I’m really busy this week, but I still find time to exercise. I only had about a 1/2 hour to get in and get out, so I did an almost full body circuit of strength training (push ups, jumping squats, back rows, bench dips, walking lunges, side planks, plank steps, and I decided to skip biceps because when I carry Kamea around all day, my biceps get enough of a workout!). Between sets I did a minute of heart rate boosting activities such as this butt-kicking piece of equipment (a.k.a. Jacob’s Ladder). Have you ever tried this bad-boy? Talk about intense. (Turns out you can buy it on Amazon, but I think I’ll stick to using the one at my health club.)
Metabolism Booster Tip #2 – Ice Water Tip: I heard that drinking a gallon of ice water a day, can burn around 120 calories. Nice! Some worry this impedes digestion so you’ll have to see if it works for you. However, although I don’t get in a gallon of ice water, I do drink it upon waking, throughout the day between meals, and in the evening. Something to try because every little bit helps and I love finding ways to burn extra calories that don’t require much effort on my part. ;)
Similar Posts:
- Raw Food Weight Loss Series – Part 3 (Bonus Post) – Cumulative Calorie Burning
- Raw Food Weight Loss Series – Part 7 – Check Register Testimonial, Reader Question About Calories
- Raw Food Weight Loss Series – Part 5 – CALORIES
- Raw Food Weight Loss Series – Part 4 – Stress
- Raw Food Weight Loss Series – Part 6 – Are You REALLY Hungry?