As the spring rolls into summer, we are ready to hit the road again. Food on the road can be a dangerous thing for the weak. Most highways and freeways offer fast foods, microwave items, junk food galore and lets not forget the endless choices of soft drinks! Not to mention, eating junk food for a couple of days can leave you feeling fatigued and grouchy, as well as give you a stomach ache. With a bit of planning and willpower, you can steer your way around the junk food and maintain your healthy lifestyle while on a long road trip.
To increase your metabolism, starving yourself or skipping meals is not the way to go in order to lose weight and experience long term weight loss. When you skip meals or starve yourself, you simply slow your metabolism down. To boost your metabolism, you will need to eat three meals a day as well as an afternoon snack. You will need to eat breakfast, lunch, a snack in the afternoon and dinner with no exceptions, on a daily basis.
Motivation can precede action, but motivation also follows action. How you spend that first hour will induce the corresponding level of motivation in you, which you can then use to good effect. If you want a highly productive fast-tempo day, make that first hour as such — get up and go straight to work on your #1 project. If you want a peaceful day, make that first hour peaceful — meditate, read, go for a walk, take a relaxing bath. If you want a lazy day, be lazy that first hour — sleep in, watch TV, have a leisurely breakfast. If you want a day lost to trivialities, spend that first hour on trivialities — check email, visit online forums, read the news, get chatty with others.
I’m contemplating this predicament when the phone rings. My wife, in England, is about to go to bed. Here in Kyoto I’ve just got up. It’s not surprising everything feels topsy-turvy, after eating breakfast at what my body believes to be suppertime.
The second step is to make sure you’re getting enough water into your body. Most people drink too much soda and coffee but not enough water. The reason water is so important is because a lot of the time your body thinks it’s hungry but in reality it’s thirsty. Just by giving your body a glass of water you could cure your hunger cravings for a couple of hours. Water is also important because it doesn’t contain any calories. Compare that to a can of soda that may contain 100 calories. If you drink just 2 cans per day you now have a lot of extra you have to burn off. Water is a great source to give you a boost in energy too.
Cut down on the salt – even people who don’t sprinkle salt over their plate can still be getting too much salt. Many soups, BreastFast cereals, breads and sauces have already got lots of salt added. Salt raises blood pressure and high blood pressure increases your chances of having a stroke or heart disease.
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better way to burn fat, lose weight, sculpt your body and stay in shape longer. To the astonishment of all your family and friends, take the first step towards losing weight and learn to keep it off longer.
This whole exercise has been a timely reminder for me to be open to new ideas and to be willing to change. Because I was willing to change I feel better and I do not have to live with that stubborn fat after all. Maybe you do not have to live with yours either.