After
a cardiovascular workout wait a half hour, and then have a high quality
protein meal or snack like a LEAN Shake. If it's time for a meal, have
something like a spinach salad and some grilled chicken breast. Or if
it's breakfast have eggs or yogurt and fruit. The reason you want to
wait for a half hour after your exercise is to keep your body in the fat
burning mode connected to your exercise. If you wait more than an hour
you'll start to slow down your metabolism because your body goes into
starvation, fat-storage mode.
After
a weight-bearing workout you'll want a different approach… you'll want
your calories to be absorbed rapidly. Why? Because after a resistance
workout, you have about an hour to get nutrients in to help repair your
damaged muscles. If you miss feeding your muscles during this hour,
their ability to repair themselves and grow stronger will drop off
dramatically.
After
an intense workout, your stomach and digestive tract won't function as
efficiently as it will later. It takes a lot of blood flow to do its
job. If you've just exercised, a lot of your blood is still in your
muscles. That's why the best post workout meal on
weight-bearing-exercise days is a protein shake like LEAN and a starchy
carbohydrate like a banana. The banana your easily-digested carb, and
with the shake they are both absorbed quickly. Have your fast-release
post workout meal within 15 to 30 minutes of your intense weight
training session.
When
you'll start adjusting your timing for these fitness meals, you'll feel
your clothes starting to fit better within a few weeks. A healthy
fitness lifestyle is the only true fountain of youth. Train hard and eat
wisely and you can expect success.
ACTION STEPS:
1. Stock up on plenty of LEAN Shakes for your post exercise meals.
2.
Prepare a shopping list so you always have the right kinds of meals
available after your exercise, even when you need to work out at an
unexpected time during the day.
In
2010, the average family in America spent a little over 9 percent of
their income on food. That's 5.5 percent eating at home and 3.9 percent
eating out. In the 1960s that percentage was 17 percent. In 1930 it was
24 percent. People in most other countries now spend more than 18
percent of their income on food.
Cheaper
food may seem like a great benefit, but while we save a few dollars on
our meals, we're paying far more in our health. Michael Pollan, author
of The Omnivore's Dilemma said it well:
"Cheap
food is an illusion. There is no such thing as cheap food. The real
cost of the food is paid somewhere. And if it isn't paid at the cash
register, it's charged to the environment or to the public purse in the
form of subsidies. And it's charged to your health." You either pay
a little more now for quality, healthy food or you pay later. In terms
of healthy food, you get what you pay for in health and energy.
Why are Americans so fat and sick?
It's
the quality of the food. For many fresh produce is hard to find but
processed food is everywhere. If you eat mostly $1 burgers and
super-size soda, your food may be cheap, but your health care expenses
will far exceed what you save because cheap food is the recipe for
obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
Farm
subsidies bring you high-fructose corn syrup in sodas and most cheap
fast food, animal factories, monoculture, and a host of other
contributors to our unhealthful contemporary diet.
Heart
disease is a direct result of a poor diet. Heart disease costs
Americans $189.4 billion every year and by 2030 that is expected to
triple. ("Americans Eat the Cheapest Food in the World, But What is It
Really Costing?" www.mercola.com April 14, 2012.)
When you spend more on healthy food, you're investing wisely in your most valuable asset…
More
and more Americans are starting to demand more healthy foods. That
means a little time in the kitchen and searching for restaurants that
serve quality foods. It also means a change in mindset, and that can be
challenging.
People with a healthy mindset see empty, processed foods
as…
• Excess calories that will hurt your body and contribute to obesity
• A mixture of chemicals and artificial flavors that could have side effects and lead to disease
• A waste of money
• An increase in health care
• Definitely not something to feed children, whose bodies are developing
Knowing that you're only putting only healthy food into your body may cost a little more, but then again it might not. And what it saves you in your overall health and energy is immeasurable.
ACTION STEPS:
1. Instead of buying expensive cereal boxes, opt for breakfasts built on foods like eggs, fresh vegetables, raw fruit and yogurt.
2. Prepare meals at home instead of eating out.
3.
Learn how your grandmother fed the family in generations past like
using chicken to make stock for a pot of soup and extending a Sunday
roast to use for weekday dinners. She made hearty stews from inexpensive
cuts of meat, leftovers and so forth.
4. You can save by shopping once a week and planning a week's meals at a time.
5.
Preparing meals once a week and having them ready for lunches and
ready-to-heat-and-serve meals each evening can also save you time and
money.
6. Eating a lunch prepared at home will typically be healthier and save you money.
Visit:
http://www.xyngular.com/lrivera
http://www.leonardo-rivera.com
Start Today!
While
it is true that your risk of being obese is 2.5 times greater if you
have double copies of a particular gene, it's also true that good
nutrition and regular exercise habits definitely neutralize the effects
of these genes. The most critical habit to adjust is what you eat. And
that's where Xyngular helps.
Researchers
have discovered over and over that exercise lowers the effect of the
risky gene, but a more recent study focuses on the effect of the gene
related to food habits. The FTO gene that appears to be responsible for
weight gain, is common in many people. The study reveals that 17 percent
of people have double copies, meaning that they received it from both
of their parents. Then 40 percent have a single copy of this gene.
These
FTO genes act on the part of the brain that determines appetite and
satiety. But we are not slaves to these genes. It's a myth that obesity
is caused by them. In a breakthrough discovery, scientists concluded
that genetic pre-disposition to obesity is completely preventable with
proper nutrition, especially in early childhood. The key to reversing
this predisposition is the appetite-controlling hormone leptin that Dr.
Mercola speaks so much about (www.mercola.com, September 29, 2009).
The skinny on fat
Many
people believe that a strict low-fat diet is the best way to lose
weight, but there are an increasing number of studies that are showing
that low-carb diets like we suggest in the IGNITE™ system are more
effective for weight loss. Here's why.
Your
cells can most easily get fuel from either sugar or fat. But your body
first burns all the sugar it can find before it starts burning fat. So
if you eat a plate of pasta (which immediately becomes sugar in your
body) along with a little olive oil and meatballs (fat and protein).
Your body has to first take care of the pasta, and whatever can't be
burned away immediately will be stored as fat. The fat in the olive oil
and meatballs is also stored as fat.
The
more carbs you eat, the more your cells get used to burning sugar as
their favorite fuel. You begin to crave it more than fat.
Dr.
Ron Rosedale tells us that, "People get fat not so much because they eat
fat, but because their bodies have forgotten how to burn it, and
because of poor hormonal communication" (www.mercola.com September 29,
2009).
Yes,
there's more to the story of appetite regulation than simply having an
FTO gene acting on your hypothalamus, as you read about in weight-loss
articles.
Your
appetite is in large part governed by the hormone leptin. By following
the IGNITE program, you put your body into fat-burning mode by
controlling the leptin and allowing your body to rest from producing so
much insulin.
How leptin regulates your weight
If
you, like most Americans, eat lots of sugar, bread, baked goods,
crackers, cookies and other carbs; your body won't be able to handle all
that excessive sugar, so it will keep turning it into more and more fat
to get it out of the bloodstream.
For
awhile, you'll just keep gaining weight, but then your fat stores will
begin filling up and when there nowhere else to store the extra sugar,
it starts overloading your blood stream causing leptin resistance. This
means that your body actually forgets how to burn fat properly.
The
solution isn't a low-fat diet, but rather less carbs and sugar, natural
products that help with satiety and more protein… and even some healthy
fats to help reduce the cravings. But the key is healthy fats like olive
oil, avocados, nuts and seeds; not trans fats or highly processed fats
found in most vegetable oils, chips and greasy foods. And, of course,
one of the most important ways to reset your body on fat-burning mode is
exercise… a sensible, moderate and consistent program of stretching,
aerobic and weight-bearing exercise.
ACTION STEPS:
1.
Take another look at the IGNITE plan and see how you're following it
for basic weight maintenance. If you're eating too many carbs in the
evening, make concrete plans to change it.
2.
Go through your pantry and check out the types of fat you find. Make
any necessary changes so you're getting plenty of healthy fats. Your
brain and your body will thank you.
3. Make sure your exercise program includes (1) stretching, (2) aerobic and (3) weight bearing routines 4 to 8 times a week.
Visit:
http://www.xyngular.com/lrivera
http://www.leonardo-rivera.com
Start Today!
Being
overweight and trying again and again to lose those extra pounds
produces so many anxieties and crazy ways of thinking that too many
people have given up. Since most of the anxiety associated with being
overweight early in our lives is emotional, and we meet so much failure
from dieting, we rarely think about the health benefits we may be
missing some day far in the future. That is until our feelings of being
trapped are set. Because significant weight loss requires real patience
and commitment, many people give up when it doesn't all come off in one
extremely difficult diet. Maybe it's time to start thinking about the
amazing incremental health benefits of weight loss and make them the
real reason for doing Xyngular® on an ongoing basis, a few pounds every
week.
Health impact
Even
small reductions in weight can make a huge impact on our health. We
don't have to look like an aerobic instructor to feel significantly
better and have remarkably better health. Research has shown that even a
small amount of weight loss of… say 5 percent to 10 percent weight loss
(kept off) is going to produce surprising health benefits in future
years.
More
than half of the adult population in America is overweight. Many
overweight or obese people believe that only a huge and dramatic
reduction in body weight can produce noticeable health benefits. But
research reveals that losing even a small amount of weight can produce
benefits and that can be significant enough reason to keep persistently
losing weight safely on Xyngular products.
Economic benefits
If
better health is not enough, you may be interested to learn that
research shows that there are significant economic benefits linked to
losing weight as well. According to research in the October 1999
American Journal of Public Health, people who lost 10% of total body
weight, and kept it off, saved about $5,200 in medical expenses
throughout their life. This is money spent on treating such things as
hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and many other obesity-related
problems ("Even Modest Weight Loss Is Good for Your Health."
www.mercola.com, January 2, 2008).
ACTION STEPS:
1.
Instead of only measuring your weight loss success in inches and pounds
lost, start noticing the health benefits you get from your weight loss.
Write them in your journal. Share them on Facebook. They can be more
compelling to some people than the dramatic before-and-after photos.
2.
If you've lost only a little weight on Xyngular so far, imagine the
economic benefits you'll receive when you don't have to pay all the
doctor and pharmacy bills for hypertension, acid reflux, diabetes,
arthritis, etc. Look around your family and ask about the expenses of
those who are overweight.
Visit:
http://www.xyngular.com/lrivera http://www.leonardo-rivera.comStart Today!
New research suggests that overweight women can exercise longer with better results if they cool the palms of their hands while they exercise. A 12-week trial showed that overweight women using a hand cooling device increased their exercising heart rate from 136 to 154 beats per minute; lost 2 inches off their waist, and lowered their blood pressure from 139/84 to 124/70. A non-cooling group experienced no substantial differences in any of these measurements even though they did the same amount of exercise.
As we move into warmer months of the year and we begin more exercise out of doors, you may want to consider the results of this interesting research. Fat tissue is a highly effective insulator. This makes people who are overweight get too hot while they exercise and actually reduce the effectiveness of their exercise.
Professional athletes sometimes use hand-held cooling devices to lower their temperature during exercise. That prompted researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine to test a hand-cooling device on overweight women to help them with overheating and fatigue while they exercised. According to MSN Health,
"[Researchers] assigned the women to one of two groups: both held the cooling device in their palms, but only one group had cool water (60.8 degrees Fahrenheit) running through the device... The cooling group shaved more than five minutes off their time for the 1.5 mile treadmill test... Their exercising heart rate went up, too, 136 beats per minute to 154 beats per minute — a good thing. The cooling group also took more than two inches off their waist by end of the 12-week study. … Their blood pressure also went down, from 139/84 to 124/70. (Below 120/80 is the goal.) In contrast, the comparison group didn't show any substantial differences in any of the measures…" (MSN Health March 13, 2012)
The connection between staying cool and raising your metabolism
Dr. Joseph Mercola recently wrote about another research finding that helps explain why our metabolism speeds up when we're exposed to cold. The study showed that brown fat is activated by cold temperatures. In the study, "men burned more calories when cooled, and lost white fat, the kind that causes obesity" ("This Simple Hand Trick Helped Participants Melt Away Flab" www.mercola.com March 30 2012. Also Journal of Clinical Investigation 2012 Feb 1;122(2):486-9). This supported findings from previous research, which also found that cold temperatures can increase activity in your brown fat regions. In fact, cold-induced glucose uptake was increased by a factor of 15!
Other researchers found that brown fat actually behaves more like muscle than fat so. So whatever can be done to isolate and decrease white fat while maintaining brown fat, that would contribute to weight loss. (www.webmd.com/diet/news/20080820/brown-fat-new-key-to-weight-loss). Evidently exercising in cooler temperatures help this to happen.
Tim Ferriss, author of The Four-Hour Body, claims we can increase our fat burning by lowering the temperatures of our body. "… He saw people's metabolism boost by 20 percent in environments as mild as 60 degrees." (LiveStrong June 6, 2011) Ferris' theory is that when you cool your body, you're basically forcing it to burn many more calories by activating your brown fat.
Dr. Mercola suggested that we ease into Ferris' techniques by simply having more ice water, using ice packs to cool our muscles, and taking cooler showers.
ACTION STEPS:
1. Take advantage of cool weather this spring to try exercising in temperatures around 60 degrees. See if it makes a difference in how long and how intensely you are able exercise.
2. Try a wet towel, ice pack or other cooling device as you exercise.
3.Drink ice water, take cool showers and simply turn the temperature down a little to see how it helps speed up your metabolism and increases the effectiveness of your exercise.
Visit:
http://www.xyngular.com/lrivera
http://www.leonardo-rivera.com
Start Today!
Do you need another reason to break your addiction to sodas? We've got seven that you may not have considered, and they're not pleasant.
Soda's Bitter Side Effects
You've undoubtedly heard and read plenty of reasons why soda isn't good for you. It's all sugar water with empty nutrition. It encourages obesity and diabetes. Here are seven other troubling facts you may not know about.
#1. You get fat in strange places
Danish research recently showed that non-diet soda leads to an excessive amount of fat buildup around the liver and skeletal muscles, which contributes to insulin resistance and diabetes. The research showed that drinking a regular soda daily for six months resulted in a 132 to 142 percent increase in liver fat and a 117 to 221 percent rise in skeletal fat. Researchers also saw an 11 percent increase in cholesterol, compared with those who drank water or milk.
#2. Diet-soda paunch
It's no surprise that sugar in sodas cause weight gain, but did you know that even diet soda packs on the weight. Research at the University of Texas Health Science Center was conducted with 475 adults for 10 years. Those who drank diet soda regularly had a striking 70 percent increase in waist circumference over the 10 years compared with those who drank no soda. But those who had more than two diet sodas a day saw a whopping 500 percent waist expansion! Evidence from a different study by the same researchers on mice suggested that the cause was the aspartame, which elevated blood glucose levels and quickly converted the excess to body fat.
#3. Caramel color causes cancer
In 2011, the Center for Science in the Public Interest formally petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to ban the chemical caramel colors containing 2-methylimidazole and 4-methylimidazole used to give Coke, Pepsi and other colas their deep brown color. Research has found that they cause cancer in animals, an unnecessary threat since the coloring is only cosmetic. California has a strict Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to be cancer causing. It claims that only 16 mcg per person per day of 4-methylimidazole will pose a cancer threat. Most colas, both diet and regular, contain 200 mcg in a 20-ounce bottle.
#4. Faster aging
All colas contain phosphoric acid, both diet and regular. It's that weak acid that gives colas a tangy flavor and extends their shelf life. Phosphates are found in many whole foods like meat, dairy and nuts. But too much can lead to kidney and heart conditions, osteoporosis and muscle loss. One study in a 2010 issue of the FASEB Journal suggests that it could accelerate aging. This is especially disturbing because soda manufacturers have been raising the levels of phosphoric acid in sodas the past few decades.
#5. Municipal water pollution
The artificial sweeteners from diet sodas don't break down in our bodies, nor do wastewater-treatment plants filter them out before they get into our waterways. In 2009, Swiss researchers found levels of acesulfame K, sucralose, and saccharin, principally from diet sodas in their rivers, lakes and municipal water. A recent test of 19 U.S. municipal water districts showed artificial sweeteners in every one. Researchers have found that artificial sweeteners in rivers and lakes interfere with the feeding habits of some important aquatic organisms on which healthy ecosystems depend.
#6. Mountain Dew brain
Dentists have labeled a mouth full of cavities from high sugar levels "Mountain Dew Mouth." But "Mountain Dew Brain" may be the next association because of brominated vegetable oil, or BVO. It's an industrial chemical used as a flame retardant in plastics. It's also used in other citrus-based sodas and sports drinks. It's known to cause memory loss and nerve disorders when taken in large quantities. Researchers suspect that it builds up in body fat, causing possible behavioral problems, infertility and damage to heart muscles over time.
#7. Dead waterfowl
On the Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, you'll find the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," a huge collection of plastic debris where soda caps, soda can netting, and other plastic garbage floats near the surface of the water. Birds, sea turtles and other wildlife mistake the debris for food, which they can't digest. Ultimately, the plastic makes them starve to death. Thousands of animals, fish and waterfowl die this way every year.
ACTION STEPS:
1. Eliminate sodas from your pantry. Set an example for your family and friends.
2. Circle the reasons to stop drinking sodas that are most compelling to you and could be good reasons for those you care about to stop. Share these reasons.
3. When you're offered a soda, think of the reason you read here that is most disgusting to you.
Visit:
http://www.xyngular.com/lrivera
http://www.leonardo-rivera.com
Start Today!
Most people start drifting off at about 2:00 in the afternoon. Here's how it happens. They binged on foodless foods and lifeless drinks before bed and then had trouble getting out of bed in the morning.
Then they either skipped breakfast entirely or grabbed something empty like a bowl of carb-heavy cereal or a donut and coffee for breakfast.
About 10 a.m. they felt a craving for coffee or a Coke and a donut. Later they might have gone to the vending machine for a candy bar.
At noon they were off for more foodless fast food and lifeless drinks.
The only exercise they had was walking from the kitchen out the door to the garage and from the parking garage into the office.
Should it be any surprise that they would begin yawning at 2:00 with all those habits? What if you were to try this?
Don't eat a huge meal or lots of lifeless snacks before bed so you're digesting food all night at the same time as your body's trying to recover from a long day. If you're hungry at night, try a LEAN shake.
Wake up and have your XYNG™. Allow enough time for a little exercise and a healthy Xyngular® LEAN Shake or a high-protein breakfast like an omelette.
Walk around the block a couple of times before you get in your car to drive to work. At work keep a handy high-protein snack in your desk drawer to use whenever you feel the least bit hungry. If you're not too hungry at lunch, you'll eat fewer calories—what about a salad with grilled chicken breast?
Then try to yawn at 2:00 p.m. It won't happen. You'll get more done. What you do will be done better.
It's only a matter of choices, isn't it?
ACTION STEPS:
1. Create your own "anti-yawn" regimen and try it out. Post your results on Facebook.
2. Check your shopping lists, desk drawers, and pantry for empty calories that sabotage your weight-loss efforts. Stock up on plenty of great foods that support your weight-loss, anti-exhaustion efforts.
Visit:
http://www.xyngular.com/lrivera
http://www.leonardo-rivera.com
Start Today!
One of the secrets of healthy weight control is having lots of healthy snacks within easy reach. Here are 30 choices from the simple and the basic to the creative and unusual for parties and family fun.
- Colorful raw vegetables. Try unique and interesting varieties like jicama, avocados, raw fennel, raw sticks or slices of yam, summer squash, cherry tomatoes, snow peas, etc.
- Freeze yogurt for a yogurt popsicle
- Apples, pears, bananas, oranges, mangos, figs, berries, and other interesting fruit with a Greek yogurt fruit dip
- 1 medium piece of fruit (peach, orange or nectarine) sliced.
- Dried fruit like prunes, dates, figs, and raisins mixed with nuts
- Nuts and seeds of all kinds (watch the salt)
- A low-fat string cheese wrapped with a slice of lean turkey
- A carb-controlled, high fiber tortilla spread with hummus or avocado
- A lettuce wrap with chicken, turkey, or ham
- A frozen banana, grapes, berries, or other fruit mixed with nuts
- Non-fat cottage cheese with fresh raw fruit
- Hard boiled eggs
- Smoothies with LEAN™ and XypStix™
- Try all the flavors of hummus for veggie dips
- Celery spread with peanut butter
- Baked whole-grain crackers topped with hummus, peanut butter, and veggie bites
- Try no-calorie carbonated drinks like seltzer, sparkling water, and club soda mixed with lemon juice and stevia or XypStix™.
- Deli ham or turkey wrapped around a sweet pickle or dill pickle slice.
- Blend non-fat cottage cheese & lemon pepper for a quick veggie dip.
- Blend plain low-fat Greek yogurt with a scoop of LEAN for a light pudding.
Add fresh fruit & nuts.
- Crunchy freeze dried fruits: try berries, apples, pineapple, and bananas.
- Enjoy spiced, roasted pumpkin seeds
- A tin of tuna or salmon with Dijon mustard in a pocket of whole grain pita bread
- Drained canned artichoke hearts with capers and olive oil. Eat with toothpicks
- Wrap smoked salmon in lettuce leaves
- Toss air-popped popcorn with olive oil, a little hot sauce and some crumbled blue cheese
- Whip up Xyngular Super Fruit Global Blend™ with kefir and cocoa powder
- Stuff figs and dates with almonds or hazel nuts
- Stir chopped fresh pineapple into salsa and season with ground cumin
- Spray air popped popcorn with olive oil and dust with buttermilk powder, celery salt and dill.
ACTION STEPS:
1. Keep a file of these snacks ideas near where you write your shopping list. Make sure you have your favorite fixings always on the list so you won't be tempted to shop for the unhealthy ones.
2. Share this list with family members. Get them to circle ideas they'd like to try or old favorites they'd like to have on hand more often or in greater variety.
Visit:
http://www.xyngular.com/lrivera
http://www.leonardo-rivera.com
Start Today!
