BUY YOUR CHIA SEEDS HERE
Chia Seeds And Metabolism
PART I METABOLISM SERIES

Your metabolism is how fast your body uses the food that you put in it, so the slower your metabolism, the more calories will be stored by your body as fat. If you are trying to lose weight the natural way, one of the most important things you must do is to boost your metabolism. One of the best known ways to achieve this is by eating metabolic-boosting food like chia seeds and increasing your activity levels daily. These two are sure to get your metabolism burning merrily all day. Here’s a list of 9 things you can do to help fire yourself up even more.

1. Always eat breakfast. If you skip breakfast your body will think that you are starving having not been fed for approximately 8-10 hours the night before, so it will slow down your metabolism to conserve calories. Incorporate chia in your breakfast, as eating a breakfast high in fibre and omega-3 essential fats is the best way to begin calorie burning that will last through the day. 

2. Eat chia for protein. Protein builds muscle. If you do not eat enough protein, your muscles will get sore, also you will store calories as fat because lack of protein makes your body slow down. Chia is a complete protein food and doesn’t come with animal saturated fats and a smorgasborg of cow drugs. 

3. Avoid sitting still for too long. You need to keep activity going throughout the day to keep your metabolism going at its optimum. So do short bursts of exercise several times a day -- take the stairs, get up and walk around regularly, flex your arms and legs, fidget, even chewing gum can generate enough activity in the muscles of your jaw to boost your metabolism. Working in an office? Go for a (very) brisk walk twice a day. Even 10-15 minutes zipping around the block twice a day will fire up your metabolism just as efficiently as a 45-minute medium-speed walk. 

4. Get out in the daylight. If you are indoors all day and do not see any natural light, physiological processes can be triggered in your body that makes it think that it should be sleeping and gaining weight. Spending the day indoors, to your metabolism, is the same is spending the day in the dark. 

5. Eat or drink chia before and after exercise. If you don’t give your body enough energy resources, it will get energy by breaking down muscle first rather than fat. Your metabolic rate will be at its highest after intense exercise, so if you eat or drink a bit of chia water within 45 minutes of finishing, this will allow your body to repair and replenish. 

6. Build muscle. If you can increase your muscle mass, this can actually raise your metabolic rate by several hundred calories a day. This is because it takes your body more calories per pound of lean muscle to maintain that muscle than it does to maintain any other kind of fibre in your body. 

7. Vary your exercise routine. When you challenge your muscles your metabolism increases, so it is important to keep changing things around so that your body does not get too used to doing the same things. Try to keep your body guessing short intense bursts of power walking, running, biking, boxing, kicking, swimming, jump rope, and so on, trying to vary your routine as much as possible. 

8. Eat more metabolic-boosting foods, or those that have “high thermic effect”. These are foods that burn fat quicker than others.  Chia is one such food, and so also are green tea, coffee (in moderation), capsicums, chicken and turkey breast, cider vinegar, and egg white. We will identify and discuss more of these foods in future issues. 

9. Cut your alcohol intake. Drinking lots of alcohol will slow down your metabolism over time. A glass or two a day is OK, but if you binge drink regularly at a weekend, your metabolism will suffer. By following this advice you will be able to boost your metabolism more effectively and help you on your way to achieving your goals to lose weight the natural way. 

This article is used with the permission of Gill Chandler. 

    BUY YOUR CHIA HERE