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The best and only way to once and for all conquer the challenge of weight management.
The building blocks of a metabolism-boosting dietary lifestyle consist of three things: proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Nothing new there. But what is new, at least compared to the misinformed notions of the '80s and '90s that sent us off on any number of low fat and low carb jags, only to discover we were doing more damage to our health than we were to our love handles, is the realisation that balance is more critical than deprivation. And, that quantity, quality and frequency were all equally rated players in the weight loss game. We now understand that the human body requires fairly specific amounts of protein, complex carbohydrates and essential fats (in the form of “good” oils) every day in order to optimise the metabolism, which is the best and only way to once and for all conquer the challenge of weight management.
Within each of the Big Three nutritional elements comes with specific guidelines to optimise the process of getting healthy and getting lean. Because all carbs and fats are not created equal, there are good guys that will get you there, and there are bad guys waiting to sabotage your goals. You need to know your way around this nutritional landscape in order to select the right foods for the metabolism-altering job you have in mind, and you need to consume them differently than ever before. At least, if you want your metabolism to shift into a higher gear.
The so-called experts are all over the map when it comes to bottoming out on the proportion of protein, carbohydrates (stick to complex carbs from grains and beans) and fats (the essential unsaturated kind, with a daily dose of the omega family of fats) we should strive for in our diets. Some say 40-30-30, others 40-40-10, still others 20-60-20. The point is there should be some semblance of balance, nobody other than the misinformed Dr. Atkins believes that any particular member of this nutritional triad should go away completely, or even participate minimally.
If your objective is to shift your metabolism into high gear, then you need to eat four to six smaller meals per day, rather than the three larger traditional meals that define our culture’s eating regimen. Each of these meals should deliver all three of the nutritional triad, and in a balance that approximates the 40-20-20 model, with liberal variance permitted for each element. When the meals are spaced from two to four hours apart, the body adapts to the new regimen in ways that lead toward easier weight control through an accelerated metabolism. Hunger ceases to be a problem, which means you’ll probably stop overeating and any cravings for “bad foods” should diminish. And because the digestive system is constantly in motion, the body burns more calories per day, which is the trigger and hallmark of a speeded up metabolism.
This will not only help you lose weight, it will change the way your body process and burns fat so that you will have fewer weight issues going forward. When you combine this diet regimen with a programme of exercise that increases your lean mass, which is the other primary strategy for metabolism-boosting, you’ll have created a veritable calorie-munching machine, one that will set you free from dieting forever.
Jim Robertson
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