Speeding up my metabolism!

When I started my "weight loss program", my metabolism was really slow. This might come as a surprise to you, but the amount of food I ate everyday was minimal. Almost all the food I ate at the time was really bad, as I already said in my previous post.

For the past few months I had similar problems. I did not eat a lot and even though I gained on muscle mass my weight loss progress was getting close to zero.

Few weeks ago I started to drink green tea for breakfast. It did not take long before I began to notice changes to my metabolism. I ate more and more and believe it or not, I started to see big changes in the structure of my body. There was more difference in two weeks than in the past six months.

These days, you could say I eat like a pig. But not in the bad way! I eat large amounts of healthy food. I am hungry all the time! And here we come to the most important part of this process. At the start, it might be hard to believe, but the most IMPORTANT part of healthy diet is this simple quote my friend told me at the start of my diet "Eat more, and you will lose more weight". I bet, that your mind is blown right now. Since most people think that if they eat less, they will lose more weight. But that is not true at all. If you do not eat enough, your body will go into state of so called "hibernation". It will go into state of conservation and metabolism will slow down as a side effect, since your body will think you are starving. That is why you should never do that and trust any diet, that wants you to starve!

Always eat more, and your metabolism will be faster. But do not eat unhealthy food or this advice will go down the drain.

Effects of Green tea

1.) Green tea contains compounds that can improve your health!

Green tea is more than just green liquid. Many of the bioactive compounds in the tea leaves do make it into the final drink, which large amounts of important nutrients.It is loaded with polyphenols like flavonoids and catechins, which function as powerful antioxidants. These substances can reduce the formation of free radicals in the body, protecting cells and molecules from damage. These free radicals are known to play a role in aging and all sorts of diseases.

One of the more powerful compounds in green tea is the antioxidant Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG), which has been studied to treat various diseases and may be one of the main reasons green tea has such powerful medicinal properties.

Green tea also has small amounts of minerals that are important for health. Try to choose a higher quality brand of green tea, because some of the lower quality brands can contain excessive levels of fluoride.

That being said, even if you choose a lower quality brand, the benefits still far outweigh any risk.

Bottom Line: Green tea contains less caffeine than coffee, but enough to produce and effect. It also contains the amino acid L-theanine, which can work synergistically with caffeine to improve brain function

2.) Green Tea increases fat burning and improves physical performance!

If you look at the ingredients list for any fat burning supplement, chances are that green tea will be on there. This is because green tea has been shown to increase fat burning and boost the metabolic rate, in human controlled trials.

In one study in 10 healthy men, green tea increased energy expenditure by 4%. Another study showed that fat oxidation was increased by 17%, indicating that green tea may selectively increase the burning of fat. However, I would like to point out that some studies on green tea do not show any increase in metabolism, so the effects may depend on the individual. Caffeine itself has also been shown to improve physical performance by mobilizing fatty acids from the fat tissues and making them available for use as energy.

In two separate review studies, caffeine has been shown to increase physical performance by 11-12%, on average.

Bottom line: Green tea has been shown to boost the metabolic rate and increase fat burning in the short term, although not all the studies agree.

3.) Antioxidants in Green Tea may lower your risk of various types of cancer

Cancer is caused by uncontrolled growth of cells. It is one of the world’s leading causes of death. It is well known that oxidative damage contributes to the development of cancer and that antioxidants can have a protective effect. Green tea is an excellent source of powerful antioxidants, so it makes perfect sense that it could reduce your risk of cancer, which it appears to do:

Breast cancer: A meta-analysis of observational studies found that women who drank the most green tea had a 22% lower risk of developing breast cancer, the most common cancer in women.

Prostate cancer: One study found that men drinking green tea had a 48% lower risk of developing prostate cancer, which is the most common cancer in men.

Colorectal cancer: A study of 69,710 Chinese women found that green tea drinkers had a 57% lower risk of colorectal cancer.

Multiple other observational studies show that green tea drinkers are significantly less likely to get various types of cancer. It is important to keep in mind that it may be a bad idea to put milk in your tea, because it can reduce the antioxidant value. 

4.) Green Tea may lower your risk of type II Diabetes!

Type II diabetes is a disease that has reached epidemic proportions in the past few decades and now afflicts about 300 million people worldwide. This disease involves having elevated blood sugar levels in the context of insulin resistance or an inability to produce insulin. Studies show that green tea can improve insulin sensitivity and reduce blood sugar levels. One study in Japanese individuals found that those who drank the most green tea had a 42% lower risk of developing type II diabetes.

According to a review of 7 studies with a total of 286,701 individuals, green tea drinkers had an 18% lower risk of becoming diabetic.

Bottom Line: Some controlled trials show that green tea can cause mild reductions in blood sugar levels. It may also lower the risk of developing type II diabetes in the long term.

5.) Green tea can help you lose weight and lower your risk of becoming obese!

Given that green tea can boost the metabolic rate in the short term, it makes sense that it could help you lose weight. Several studies show that green tea leads to decreases in body fat, especially in the abdominal area.One of these studies was a randomized controlled trial in 240 men and women that went on for 12 weeks. In this study, the green tea group had significant decreases in body fat percentage, body weight, waist circumference and abdominal fat.

However, some studies do not show a statistically significant increases in weight loss with green tea, so this needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

Bottom Line: Some studies show that green tea leads to increased weight loss. It is particularly effective at reducing the dangerous abdominal fat!

If you want to feel better or maybe lose some weight, try it out! You will not regret it!

Starting with fitness

Few months ago, I started to workout in Fitness. Since I have had a weight problem for most of my life and nothing helped with my weight loss, I contacted a friend, who is a fitness trainer.

He gave me guide lines about what I should and should not eat.

The first problem I had, was that I ate to much bread. Basically I ate to much of everything related to carbohydrates. That probably made my body cringe every time. But even if I tried to level the amounts of carbohydrates I still needed to eat more proteins and vegetables.

The second problem was, that my daily exercise was virtually non-existent. Literally only thing I ever did, day after day, was school work and playing video games. That had to stop. I contacted a friend of mine, and started training with him. The process was, and still is painfully slow, but my body has begun to change. I can clearly see the difference in my physique, as well as in my physical strength. Even more, I feel healthier than I ever was before

I was not used to being around other people, and that was my biggest problem. Becomeing someone else and getting used to it was the hardest part. But I had to get comfortable with the uncomfortable, and there was my key to success, at least that is what I hope.

I suggest, that you watch the following video. It was linked to me by a friend, and I think everyone can find at least a part of himself in it :).