Cinde Carr is a life-long resident of San Pedro and owner of Hairline Studio. But many of you know her as a Personal Fitness Coach and an active participant in the Revlon Walks for Cancer. Over the years, she has walked thousands of miles and raised and donated thousands of dollars to Cancer Research. Please enjoy and use the information in her article on Metabolism to help you understand your own body’s energy levels.

What is Metabolism?

When we eat, food is converted into energy. The term “metabolism” refers to the way — not the speed – that your body processes and uses the food you eat. Rather than “faster” or “slower” metabolism, it’s most accurate to describe metabolism as efficient or functional versus inefficient or dysfunctional.

Metabolism is made up of several components:

• Basal metabolism – From 60 to 65 percent of calories you eat daily are spent keeping you alive and providing basic energy for life support. If you were to lay in bed all day, you would still need these calories to support basic body functions.
• Physical activity – 25 percent of your calories go to movement and physical activity.
• Thermic effect of food – About 10 percent of calories are spent processing the food you eat. For example, if you eat 2000 calories a day, you should be burning 200 calories a day simply eating and digesting your food.
• To lose weight, you have to reduce calories taken in, increase calories expended, or do both.  Surprisingly, many overweight people — and thyroid patients in particular — do not take in any more calories than people of average weight, and can sustain or even gain weight at lower calorie levels. If you fit into this category, your basal metabolism is lower, your physical activity may be reduced, and/or the thermic effect of food you eat is blunted. The end result: you don’t burn as many calories as someone of a similar weight with a functional metabolism.  For you, losing weight requires that you change the output side of the metabolism equation — you need to boost your metabolism and make it more efficient.

Metabolism Connection

If you have undiagnosed hypothyroidism, or your condition is not adequately treated by your doctor, almost anything you do to raise your metabolism on the output side may fail. So the first, essential step is to get a thyroid test. And if you have been tested and are being treated, you need to make sure your treatment is optimized — including the proper drug and dosage, as well as supplements to support thyroid function.

Increase Your Basal Metabolism

Metabolism is somewhat a function of genetics, but you can increase basal metabolism by building muscle. Muscle cells are up to eight times more metabolically active than fat cells, and muscle burns more calories than fat. Adding weight-bearing or resistance exercise – such as weightlifting or exercise bands — is one of the only ways to increase basal metabolism. An efficient metabolism also requires the smooth running of many complex body processes that rely on sufficient antioxidant vitamins such as vitamin C and the B vitamins. Supplements to correct any deficiencies are therefore important.

Finally, dehydration can contribute to an inefficient metabolism, by affecting body temperature. When you are dehydrated, your body temperature drops slightly, and causes your body to store fat as a way to help raise or maintain the temperature. Making sure you drink enough liquids, preferably at least 64 ounces of water per day, to avoid this metabolic pitfall.

Increase Physical Activity

Aerobic exercise that increases the heart rate can raise metabolism while you’re exercising. Some experts believe that aerobic exercise also boosts resting metabolism for several hours, as muscles burn calories to recover and repair themselves.

Increase the Thermic Effect of Food Resting metabolic rate typically increases as much as two to three times more after eating proteins versus carbohydrates and fats. Complex, high-fiber carbohydrates — like high-fiber vegetables and cereals, however — burn more calories than simple carbohydrates. You can increase the thermic effect on metabolism by focusing on quality protein, high-fiber fruits and vegetables, with an occasional high-fiber grain.

I hope you enjoyed this article and if you have an article that you would like placed on my blog, please contact me at kim@kromasnutrition.com

 

I am asked quite often by my nutrition patients if I could write out a grocery list that could be taken to the store.  It is always a good idea to make a list so that you can stay focused on what you need. You want to stick with basics.  Avoid lots of thick sauces.  Saute tomatoes and onions and other vegetables with your meats as a substitute for heavy sauces. Put these over a bed of rice and add your own spices.   Of course you need to substitute the fruits and vegetables that you like. It takes the guess work out and may eliminate poor choices.

Grocery shopping should be a fun, well-thought out event.  You are feeding yourself and your family. You want the best, nutritious food that you can get.  Make this a family event and have everyone pick out the good foods that they will eat.

Try avoid buying any boxed food for three months. Just give it a try and see how you feel.

I think that is a great idea, so here goes:

RULES:

• Always start in the fresh food and shop on the outer walls first. Most of the processed foods are in the middle of  the store.  Not all, but most.
• In the fresh section, buy only what you will use within the next few days.
• Your store should become your friend.
• Choose different vegetables each week.  They each hold their own nutrients that you need. Variety is the best.
• The number of people that are in your family will determine how much you will buy.

LIST- always take a list with you!!

1.    6 fresh vegetables and 6 fresh fruits.

broccoli                                                              apples

carrots                                                                 peach

onions                                                                 grapes

celery                                                                   oranges

cucumber                                                            lemons

 

spinach                                                                watermelon

2.  Dairy  Section

real butter               tofu                 yogurts               cottage cheese              hummus

3.   Breads:  Buy Gluten-Free  if you are Gluten Sensitive

Gluten- Free Bread        Ezekiel Bread        Pastas       Rice

4.  Meats -  buy 1 red meat for the week and make the rest chicken and fish

Nitrate Free, Organic or Farm Fresh

Tuna packed in Water

5.  Spices: these are a great way to add flavor to your food

Kosher Salt      Black Pepper       Lemon Pepper      Basil       Oregano       Curry       Turmeric         Garlic Powder

6. Oils and Vinegars

Sesame Oil       Olives Oil         Rice Vinegar         Balsamic Vinegar

Squeeze a little bit of oil and some oranges on your salad for a new salad dressing

7. Snacks:

Nut Butters      Nuts        Olives        Granola           Fruit        Japanese Nori (crunchy and salty)   Baby Carrots

8. Drinks:

Water with lemons, oranges and cucumbers is very refreshing and tasty.

Buy drinks with only 100% fresh juice and be sure to dilute by 1/2 with water.

I don’t think that we need milk, so try almond milks or other non-dairy milks as a snack.

Kefir is a delicious snack drink.

Your main liquid should be water.

These are just basic ideas on what you can choose at the grocery store.  You have to make your own choices.  Don’t forget to make out your list of categories before you go. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me by phone or email.

To your health,

Kim Kromas, DC, PhD