- AFP Relax - A new study suggests eating more fruits and vegetables for happiness
While its great to do a heart-thumping, lung-busting hard workout several times per week, did you know that the energy you expend during exercise accounts for only about 20-30% of your total energy use for the day?
The other 70-80% comes from the energy required to digest and absorb your food, and from what is called your basal metabolic rate (BMR) i.e. how much energy you use while simply resting.
So increasing energy use from these "other" places (BMR and food absorbtion) will slowly by surely help you get leaner.
Here are 20 things you can do...
- Drink cold water as it takes energy to heat up. Do so in between meals to avoid diluting your digestive enzymes
- Eat a big breakfast of protein and fat, e.g. bacon and eggs. Yes this is the opposite of what most people do. But most people aren't burning fat as fast as they would like to. For the same daily nutrient and calorie intake, those who eat more at breakfast tend to burn more fat.
- Increase water intake so that you have at least 5 clear urinations per day. This will make you go to the bathroom more, and also helps with hydration. Well hydrated bodies are more efficient.
- Go to the bathroom on a different floor than yours via the stairs
- Eat protein as often as you can, but choose healthy sources i.e. NOT processed nuggets. Protein takes up to 30% of its own calories for digestion.
- Choose some healthy saturated fats like coconut oil or butter. Apart from health benefits of these oils, saturated fats take a bit more energy to break down than other fats.
- Choose unrefined carbohydrates. Those like fruit or natural starches take more energy to break down than a sugar drink.
- Walk up to your flat on the way home
- Stand at a counter to eat during lunch
- Wash your car by yourself. Besides, with high car prices, a car is precious, and who could possibly care more about your car than you?!
- Set an alarm to remind you to get up and stretch once per hour at work (oops mine just went off)
- Sit on a stability ball while at your desk or home. It is less stable and will require more muscles to fire to keep you upright.
- Think on your feet. Especially if you need to form creative solutions or ideas, walk around to think. Not only does this increase energy expenditure, your brain functions better when there is more blood flow as there is during exercise. For more on this, read the excellent book "Brain Rules" by John Medina.
- Make your hobbies active ones. Even if its not a sport like tennis, even billiards is better than 700-episode Korean dramas.
- If you are going to watch 700 episodes of anything, do it while standing, pacing or marching in place
- On your way home, stop one bus stop early and take a short walk
- Get a free pedometer app like this one and try to hit a target number of steps each day. 10,000 is a common goal but you can start from where you are now and work upwards.
- NOTE: tips 18-30 relate to stress because increased stress, decreases energy expenditure and increases fat storage. Reduce stress by writing each night 3-5 things you are thankful for during the day. Life is not perfect and will never be, but we can always choose a thankful attitude.
- Reduce stress by sleeping earlier. Your facebook timeline will still be there in the morning
- Reduce stress by focusing on forming positive relationships with people around you. It has been said that the best way to get friends, is to be one. People with strong (not necessarily many) relationships tend to have lower stress hormone output.
Ok, 20 is a long list. Don't try them all at once. It can take 2-3 months to build up a habit that sticks with you for life. So how about trying 2-3 of these things this week and start the process.
Coach Jonathan Wong has a Doctorate of Science in Holistic Medicine, is a Certified Sports Nutritionist and is the author of "The Happy Body - Getting to the root of YOUR fitness, health and productivity". He is also the founder and CEO of Genesis Gym Singapore (tm), which aims to provide the best personal training and fitness services in Singapore. The views expressed are his own.
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