How to boost your metabolic rate and burn those fats

1. Build Muscle Mass. Strength training builds lean muscle tissue, which burns more calories at work or at rest, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The more lean muscle you have, the faster your metabolism will be. How do you start strength training? I'll explain in my next few articles on how to start a basic strength training.
   
2. Do Not Skip Meals or Drastically Reduce Your Caloric Intake. If your body senses that food is in short supply, it will slow your metabolism to conserve energy. Over time, the result is that when you do eat (even if you consume the same foods as always) your body will be slower to use the calories as fuel, thus creating a backlog of unwanted pounds. A good strategy is to cut your caloric intake by no more than 500 calories per day and never less than 1200 calories total each day. Once you determine your goal for calorie consumption, divide those calories into 6 different small meals/snacks through out the day.
   
3. Increase the Amount of Protein in your Diet. Most researchers agree that protein helps to stabilize the secretion of insulin into your blood stream, a process that can affect metabolism. The average person would benefit from protein intake at a minimum of 70 grams or higher each day.
   
4. Aerobic Workout 3 Days a Week. Even though exercise doesn't affect your Resting Metabolic Rate, the extra calories you burn could add up to an additional 1-2 pounds of weight loss per month.
   
5. Increase Movement in Daily Lifestyle. The more you move, the more you burn! You can actually make a significant addition to the number of calories you burn each day by relatively minor changes in lifestyle. This can be as simple as taking the stairs instead of the elevator; park a distance from the mall or office; window-shop with your best friend rather than sit over coffee; do a little gardening or clean house while you talk on the phone. Making these types of changes for just 20 minutes of your day will cause you to burn an additional 100 calories per day or an additional pound per month. Making more of these changes can help you burn as much as an additional 1,000 calories per day!
   
6. Go For an Evening Walk. Although exercising any time is good for you, evening activity may be particularly beneficial. Many people's metabolism slows down toward the end of the day. Thirty minutes of aerobic activity before dinner increases your metabolic rate and may keep it elevated for another two or three hours. What that means for you: those dinner calories have less of a chance to take up permanent residence on your hips!
   
7. Get Adequate Sleep. As funny as it sounds, sleep deprivation may make you fat and not just because you're susceptible to cases of the late-night munchies. According to researchers at the University of Chicago, women who got less than four hours of sleep per night had a slower metabolism than those who slept for a full eight hours.

Before and After - George Nolly

Pilot George Nolly’s life was on auto-pilot. He wasn’t taking a hands-on approach to his health, weight or diet. One day he looked at himself and realized how much his travel-packed schedule had taken a toll on his weight. He needed to gain control, but didn’t know how.
Fifty-nine-year-old Nolly vowed to take control of his spiraling weight gain. After 12 weeks, he had lost 24 pounds of fat and gained 15 pounds of lean muscle.

"My biggest achievement is regaining my passion," George says. "I have exponentially improved the way I look and feel."

Four years later, George is in excellent shape and is helping others by producing videos and writing magazine articles that offer tips on living a healthy lifestyle while traveling.

Before and After - Mariah Yu

Mariah was preparing for her upcoming wedding and just felt down about her overall physical condition, so Mariah and her fiancé accepted the Challenge. "Once I saw that the program was really working it pushed me to work hard each week," Mariah says. "I lost 21 pounds and three dress sizes, and I’m in the best shape that I have ever been in, and I’m more positive about my future than I could ever imagine. I have truly been transformed both inside and out, and I feel like my positive energy now shows in everything I do."

Not only has Mariah continued to keep the weight off for two years but she continues to improve daily. Mariah plans on reaching all of her life and fitnes goals in the years to come.

Before and After - Dr. Jeffry Life

Dr. Jeffry Life makes his living diagnosing patients. But when he diagnosed himself, he didn’t like what he saw.

He was overweight, had aching muscles and had become a borderline diabetic. His diet was a mess, eating only one or two big meals per day and consuming many calories after 9 p.m.

Dr. Life felt his life was out of control and knew he was a poor role model to his family and patients. It was time for a change. He took a chance with and vowed to make good nutrition and regular exercise a part of his life. And he saw results. Dr. Life dropped his body fat from 28 percent to 10 percent. He also developed a lifelong commitment to fitness, keeping his same weight and shape for the next six years and counting.

"Not only have I been able to maintain my level of fitness with the program, but the changes have given me the motivation to refocus my life and career," Dr. Life says. "I have gone from fat, aging, tired and poorly motivated to lean, strong, energized and highly motivated with an incredible zest for life and love. If I can do this in my 60s, I truly believe anybody can do it."

Before and After - Porter Freeman

Before his transformation, Porter Freeman’s health was on a downward slide. He managed a night club and his diet consisted of beer and pizza.

"The Challenge changed my life and maybe saved it too," said Freeman. "I was headed downhill in a big way. I managed night clubs and was drinking beer and eating junk food night after night. I was an unhealthy 240-pound, out-of-shape old guy."

Freeman decided to trade in the junk food and beer for a weight lifting belt and better nutrition. His hard work paid off. He shed 50 pounds of fat. Seven years later, Porter is in the best shape of his life and is releasing a book on his experience.

"Now when I look in the mirror I can’t believe it," said Freeman. "I feel like standing on top of Mount Everest and screaming `Look at what I was, and look at me now! You can do it too!’."

Grandma and Grandpa Bodybuilders

Brenda Kelly at 50
Diet strategy: I eat a clean diet about 85% of the time. I try not to have more than two cheat meals in a row. I eat a lot of protein and complex carbs.




Lynn Renauld at 51


Grandpa's age between 53 to 58

Robby Robinson 62 years young

Anti-aging strategy: Four herbs, saw palmetto, milk thistle, dandelion and hawthorn powder.

Lipo 6 first day report

I have taken 2 vege cap of lipo 6, 30 minutes before breakfast as instructed on the label today. I felt the heart beating a bit racy one hour after taking it but don't feel much energy difference as reported by many reviews. I have taken ephedrine before, so I am used to some jittery feelings.

I also felt many times the unplanned 'rising to the occasion' !!, like most men do after waking up from bed. This is probably due to the effect of yohimbe inside the capsule.

I don't feel hungry as usual during lunch time as Lipo 6 also act as an appetite suppressant. Let's see whether my weight goes down in a month's time.

Progress today 9 March 2009

I managed to deep squat 3x5x65 kilos and deadlift 1x5x80 kilos today. It is a new frontier for me but my overhead press and bench press are lagging behind. Need to work harder on those two exercises as the progress are hitting the brickwall.

Lipo 6 Fat Burner by Nutrex

There are many rave reviews on the fat burner Lipo 6 by Nutrex. So today i bought 2 bottles, i.e 120 caps for Rm 150 and 240 caps for Rm 260. You can read some of the reviews at:

here

here

I'll give my feedbacks after using it later on. I ordered the Hydroxycut Hardcore but when i checked the labels, it contains alcohol among other things so i had to replace it with another Lipo 6. Lipo 6 uses vege cap and are suitable for vegetarians.

Valentina Chepiga 46 years young

Some Asians might feel female bodybuilders as obnoxious, distasteful, ghastly and repulsive
but in western countries they are as popular as the male bodybuilders. Still, you have to admire their years of hard work and perseverance in the gym to become a muscular Amazonian. Females muscles are hard to come by as their testosterone levels are very low compared to males, so they need to work longer in the gym.

Valentina Chepiga is 46 years young and a IFBB professional female bodybuilder.

Progress picture 2 (taken 6.3.09)

Two months after the stronglift program.
Deep Squat 3x5x62.5 Kilo
Overhead press 5x5x40 Kilo
Deadlift 3x5x75 Kilo
Bench Press 5x5x60 Kilo
Push-ups until failure

5x5x60 Kilo denotes 5 sets of 5 repetitions of 60 Kilos weight. Warm up sets are not included.

Motivation

I have posted photos of Clarence Bass, Frank Zane, Jack Lalanne, Larry Scott, etc etc to show that you can still have a nice body and healthy even in your ripe old age. Those guys are 60, 70 and even 90 years old, but they are still fighting fit. Of course it does not come easy, as they have been training and eating right for the the last 50 years.

You don't have to be haggard, unhealthy and frail when you are over 50. God may have pre-determined when we will kick the bucket, but until the time comes, we will go on ,with the dreaded diabetes, stroke, heart attack, etc etc off our back.

Even 90 year olds improved muscle strength by 174% after 8 weeks of weight training according to researchers at Tufts University.

When you are over 50, age itself is motivational. You can't just rest , let nature takes it's course, and be frail. If you do that, you'll go downhill pretty fast. If you stay even, everybody else is going downhill so fast, you will look and feel better! Ha Ha.

The pictures are a motivation of some sort. If they can do it, why can't we? I'll post more motivational pictures soon. So keep pumping, no matter what your age.

Banishing those ugly spare tires!!! - part 3

In part 2, i explained that you need to cut down 500 calories a day. If your weight have stagnated over the years, that means calories in is equal to calories out. By reducing 500 calories from your normal diet a day, in seven days you would have reduced 3,500 calories less. 3,500 calories is equivalent to one pound (about half a kilo) of fat loss. Reducing a pound a week is the healthy way to diet and in one month you would have lost 4 pounds of fat. In theory the calculations are nice and perfect but in real life, the reductions are much less. Still, do not lose hope as a small reduction every month is better than nothing and eventually you will feel the difference. Your trousers will feel loose, your belt will come down a notch and your friends will comment on your new trim look.

But what if you want the weight to go down faster? Some tried the Atkins diet, zero carbohydrate and taking foods containing protein and fats only. No rice, fruits or vegetable, only meat, chicken and certain fish. The weight will come down fast but most are water loss. This diet is not natural, as you will always crave for the carbohydrate that you are used to, and you will feel miserable all the time. Ultimately I am sure they will forsake the diet soon enough.

Recent findings show that all these diets Atkins, South beach, cabbage soup, Anabolic and other 1001 names, will give the dieters the same result. It is all based on calories in and calories out.

Some friends complained that their weight doesn't go down even though they exercise every day. I would suggest they watch their diet after their daily exercise as one tend to eat much more after a session of profuse sweating. Normally an hour of moderate exercise will only burn 200 t0 300 calories but intake of food after exercise is usually more than that. In theory you would gain weight!

Table below shows the calories burn during different activities
Calories Expended During Certain Activities:

ACTIVITY*	Calories expended in 30 minutes Male (175 lbs)	Calories expended in 30 minutes Female (135 lbs)
Biking 12-13.9 mph (moderate effort)	334	258
Circuit Training	334	258
Stretching, hatha yoga	167	129
Dancing - general	188	145
Dancing - ballet, modern	251	193
House Cleaning - vigorous (mop, wash car)	188	145
House Cleaning - light (dusting, vacuuming)	104	81
Playing w/ kids moderate - walk/run	167	129
Gardening	209	161
Mowing lawn - Hand mower	251	193
Running - 6 mph	418	322
Jogging	292	225
Basketball - Game	334	258
Children's Games	209	161
Football	334	258
Frisbee	125	97
Horseback Riding	167	129
Skating	292	225
Soccer	292	225
Softball/Baseball	209	161
Tennis	292	225
Hiking	251	193
Walking - 4 mph, level surface	167	129
Walking - leisure	146	113
Canoeing/Rowing - moderate	292	225
Kayaking	209	161
Swimming laps freestyle - moderate	334

So if you consume a bar of chocolate and a glass of teh tarik, (total about 500 calories), you need to swim moderately for one hour or walk two hours nonstop to even out the calories!

To fast track your weight loss, you have to make your body more efficient in burning fat. As explained earlier, the metabolic rate goes down as you get older. So how do you primed your metabolic rate to run using turbo mode? I'll explain in part 4. Stay tune.

Clarence Bass at 70 years young

At 45

at 54

At 60

At 65

At 70

His greatest fame, probably comes from his ability to maintain his body fat at a very low level. Body composition tests have on numerous occasions measured his body fat at 3% or lower, when the average man his age has a body fat level 25% or higher and world-class male marathon runners usually carry 5 or 6 percent fat.

Diet

The word "diet" has a negative connotation. It conjures up thoughts of hunger and deprivation. Diets don't work very well, because they make people unhappy. That's why I never diet. I follow an eating style. I believe the key to permanent body fat control is eating satisfaction. There's no need to eat foods you don't like - I never do - and there's no need to ever leave the table feeling hungry.

That doesn't mean there's no discipline involved. There is. It takes effort and planning to eat the sensible, no-hunger way. Still, master my style of eating, and you can look forward to a lifetime of eating satisfaction - and leanness.

The secret lies not in how much you eat, but what you eat. If you eat the right things you can almost eat as much as you want and still lose fat; it's actually hard to overeat. What happens is you become full and satisfied before you take in more calories than you burn.

My eating style is low in fat (not too low), high in natural carbohydrates (carbs, the right kind, are not fattening) and near vegetarian (small amounts of meat and fish). Still there's plenty of good quality protein for the hardest training athlete. All the macro- and micro-nutrients are there. It's healthy, balanced - and satisfying.

Finally, I almost never count calories. You won't have to either, once you master the "Ripped" style of eating.

Exercise

I started exercising regularly when I was about 13 - and never stopped. So, it should come as no surprise that, as in the case of diet, I look on exercise as a lifestyle. I believe your body tends to mirror your lifestyle. That's nature's way. The body seems to sense that an active person needs to be lean and, conversely, that a sedentary person does not.

In the same vein, I am convinced that exercise gets more important, rather than less, as you get older. Therefore, I take a long-term approach to exercise, an approach designed to keep you training - and improving - year after year.

I admit to being a "muscle head." Weight training has always been my first love. But I recognize that one cannot be totally fit without aerobic exercise. As a result I follow a balanced exercise program: strength and endurance. A dual approach, weights and aerobics, is not only the route to total fitness, it's also the best way to become lean and stay lean. In my books, you'll find all the details - they're fascinating, I believe - on the specific and distinct roles weights and aerobics play in becoming lean and totally fit.

Enjoyment, believe it or not, is the key ingredient in any really successful exercise plan. That doesn't mean the program must be easy. To the contrary, productive exercise is often brutally hard. What it does mean is that the regimen must be satisfying.

In my view exercise satisfaction comes mainly from two things: variety and goals. Both the body and the mind respond best to a varied exercise approach. You'll find plenty of variety, change, in the workouts I recommend. You'll never be bored. What's more, variation is essential to long-term progress.

Goals, realistic goals, are equally important, because they keep you motivated. Nothing is more satisfying than to set an exercise goal or target, work hard, and then achieve that goal. But a goal achieved is a goal lost, so you must continually challenge yourself with new goals. That's why I recommend - and follow - a goal-oriented training approach.

Finally, I don't have all day to spend in the gym. I have a life outside the gym, and I know you do as well. Fortunately, that's never been a problem, because in my opinion best results come from short, hard and infrequent training. Believe it or not, that applies to both weights and aerobics.

My progress pic 1 (taken 1.2.09)

A self potrait taken using my Sony Ericsson P1. I am 50 and I workout alone with simple free weights. For safety reasons, I am using a Smith Machine for Bench press. As I have no spotter, a Smith Machine (only Rm1600) is important to bench press safely heavy weights. I am benching 60 kilos now.

This picture was taken after one month on stronglift program. It is brutal and energy sapping. At the moment I am squatting 50 kilos, dead lifting 55 kilos, stand pressing (military press) 30 kilos and bench pressing 50 kilos after 2 months.

In the background you can see a chinning bar. My target is to do 10 chins with ease. Hopefully i can do it in a few months, insyallah.

Banishing those ugly spare tires!!! - part 2

Everybody want to have a flat tummy. Remember when we were teenagers, we can eat as much as we want, and still maintain a size 28 0r 30 jeans. With our flat tummy then, swaying our hips to the tune of Tina Charles was fun. But now, expect a dose of Ponstan and Voltaren if we swing our belly too vigorously!. Our metabolic rate was in turbo mode and running overtime  during our teenage years and whatever we eat turns into energy and burned off. As we get older, our metabolic rate is running on old diesel powered engine version Euro 1, i.e very sluggish and inefficient. That is the order of nature but you can still make the most of it's sluggishness.

Having a potbelly is not something natural that you must have when you turn 40 or 50. Personally to me, it is karma punishment because we did not take care of our body all these years. But still you can get rid of it. What you need is some simple exercise, proper dieting and WILL POWER. All these are easily said than done.

I won't go into detail the sciences of how to calculate your resting metabolic rate. Suffice to say, if you are living a sedentary lifestyle in which 90% of us are, your basal metabolic rate (metabolic rate when you are not doing anything and the number of calories per day your body burns) is around 2000 calories

If your goal is to lose weight by burning off excess body fat, aim to eat 500 fewer calories per day than your daily caloric needs, and maintain or increase your exercise activity.

Do not go below 1200 calories per day unless you are on a medically supervised weight loss program or after consultation with your doctor.

So to lose weight healthily, try to eat 500 fewer calories per day. You might ask how much is 500 calories? Well, to put this into perspective, a glass of teh tarik is about 150 calories and a can of coke is about 140 calories. A piece of bread is about 80 calories and one hard boiled egg is about 110 calories. To lose weight you need to have a deficit account, so to speak. Calorie in must be less than calorie out i.e less food and more activities, so that the body burn fat for fuel.

Check out Kevin Zahri's website: http://cekodok.com on our local food calories, etc, etc.

So start reducing your 500 calories a day. A simple rule of thumb is to cut half of whatever quantity of food that you eat everyday. If you are taking a full plate of rice, then take half a plate. If you are taking two roti canai, then take a single piece. In the long run, the weight will surely drop. You need the turn on your will power and ISTIQAMA.

You cannot spot reduce the fat around your belly. Even if you do 1000 sit-ups a day, the fat will not melt away and probably you will get a bad back. So don't waste your money buying those sit-up machines that promise to burn the fat in your tummy. The only thing that will burn is your hard earned money.

Part 3, i will write on how to fast track your weight loss. Tune in soon.

Larry Scott 70 years young

Larry Scott at the prime age of 70

Lee Apperson 50 years young

Lee Apperson 50, with wife Jennifer Mitchell 46 and son 20. He trained with high intensity and low volume and run two miles every morning

Bill Pearl at 72 years young

I train different body parts 3 times a week and drink lots of water for optimum health. I will try to never let my age become a part of anything i do. If a person ask me how old i am, I'll tell him. But i don't go around broadcasting that I am 72 years old.

I surround myself with people who have positive thoughts. I never let my age interfere with my training. As I've grown older, I pick exercise that are easier on my skeletal structure because I don't want to hurt myself.

I recommend that people get some type of diet that is comfortable for them to stay on. Don't deviate and don't use radical weight loss product. I take lots of protein and get it most from cheese and eggs, but i don't take milk.

My life philosophy is to give more than you take.