15 ways to max your metabolism

Original article is from here :

Even before you start exercising, you can use plenty of tricks to eliminate visceral fat, improve your flab-burning metabolic process, and start losing weight fast. 

Don't diet! The Men's Health Diet isn't about eating less, it's about eating more -- more nutrition-dense food -- to crowd out the empty calories and keep you full all day. That's important, because restricting food will kill your metabolism. It makes your body think, "I'm starving here!" And your body responds by slowing your metabolic rate in order to hold on to existing energy stores. What's worse, if the food shortage (meaning your crash diet) continues, you'll begin burning muscle tissue, which just gives your enemy, visceral fat, a greater advantage. Your metabolism drops even more, and fat goes on to claim even more territory.

Go to bed earlier A study in Finland looked at sets of identical twins and discovered that of each set of siblings, the twin who slept less and was under more stress had more visceral fat.


Eat more protein Your body needs protein to maintain lean muscle. In a 2006 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, "The Underappreciated Role of Muscle in Health and Disease," researchers argued that the present recommended daily allowance of protein, 0.36 grams per pound of body weight, was established using obsolete data and is woefully inadequate for an individual doing resistance training. Researchers now recommend an amount between 0.8 and 1 gram per pound of body weight. Add a serving, like 3 ounces of lean meat, 2 tablespoons of nuts, or 8 ounces of low-fat yogurt, to every meal and snack. Plus, research showed that protein can up post-meal calorie burn by as much as 35 percent.

Go organic when you can Canadian researchers reported that dieters with the most organochlorines (pollutants from pesticides, which are stored in fat cells) experienced a greater than normal dip in metabolism as they lost weight, perhaps because the toxins interfere with the energy-burning process. In other words, pesticides make it harder to lose pounds. Other research hints that pesticides can trigger weight gain. Of course, it's not always easy to find—or to afford—a whole bunch of organic produce. So you need to know when organic counts, and when it's not that important. Organic onions, avocados, grapefruit? Not necessary. But choose organic when buying celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, nectarines, bell peppers, spinach, kale or collard greens, cherries, potatoes, and imported grapes; they tend to have the highest levels of pesticides. A simple rule of thumb: If you can eat the skin, go organic.

Get up, stand up Whether you sit or stand at work may play as big a role in your health and your waistline as your fitness routine. In one study researchers discovered that inactivity (4 hours or more) causes a near shutdown in an enzyme that controls fat and cholesterol metabolism. To keep this enzyme active and increase your fat burning, break up long periods of downtime by standing up—for example, while talking on the phone.


Drink cold water German researchers found that drinking 6 cups of cold water a day (that's 48 ounces) can raise resting metabolism by about 50 calories daily—enough to shed 5 pounds in a year. The increase may come from the work it takes to heat the water to body temperature. Though the extra calories you burn drinking a single glass don't amount to much, making it a habit can add up to pounds lost with essentially zero additional effort.

Eat the heat It turns out that capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their mouth-searing quality, can also fire up your metabolism. Eating about 1 tablespoon of chopped red or green chilies boosts your body's production of heat and the activity of your sympathetic nervous system (responsible for our fight-or-flight response), according to a study published in the Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology. The result: a temporary metabolism spike of about 23 percent. Stock up on chilies to add to meals, and keep a jar of red pepper flakes on hand for topping pizzas, pastas, and stir-fries.

Rev up in the morning Eating breakfast jump-starts metabolism and keeps energy high all day. It's no accident that those who skip this meal are 4 1/2 times as likely to be obese. And the heartier your first meal is, the better. In one study published by the American Journal of Epidemiology, volunteers who got 22 to 55 percent of their total calories at breakfast gained only 1.7 pounds on average over 4 years. Those who ate zero to 11 percent of their calories in the morning gained nearly 3 pounds.

Drink coffee or tea Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, so your daily java jolt can rev your metabolism 5 to 8 percent—about 98 to 174 calories a day. A cup of brewed tea can raise your metabolism by 12 percent, according to one Japanese study. Researchers believe the antioxidant catechins in tea provide the boost.

Fight fat with fiber Fiber can rev your fat burn by as much as 30 percent. Studies find that those who eat the most fiber gain the least weight over time. Aim for about 25 g a day—the amount in about three servings each of fruits and vegetables.

Eat iron-rich foods Iron is essential for carrying the oxygen your muscles need to burn fat. Unless you restock your store, you run the risk of low energy and a sagging metabolism. Shellfish, lean meats, beans, fortified cereals, and spinach are excellent sources. (But it's not always a good idea to take a supplement. Too much iron has been linked to a greater risk of heart disease in men. Get this essential mineral in natural doses from real foods.)

Get more D Vitamin D is essential for preserving metabolism-revving muscle tissue. Unfortunately, researchers estimate that a measly 20 percent of Americans take in enough through their diet. Get 90 percent of your recommended daily value (400 IU) in a 3.5-ounce serving of salmon. Other good sources: tuna, fortified milk and cereals, and eggs.


Drink milk There's some evidence that calcium deficiency may slow metabolism. Research shows that consuming calcium in dairy foods such as fat-free milk and low-fat yogurt may also reduce fat absorption from other foods.

Eat watermelon The amino acid arginine, abundant in watermelon, might promote weight loss, according to a new study in the Journal of Nutrition. Researchers supplemented the diets of obese mice with arginine over 3 months and found that it decreased body-fat gains by a whopping 64 percent. Adding this amino acid to the diet enhanced the oxidation of fat and glucose and increased lean muscle, which burns more calories than fat does. Snack on watermelon and other arginine sources, such as seafood, nuts, and seeds, year-round.

Stay hydrated All of your body's chemical reactions, including your metabolism, depend on water. If you are dehydrated, you may be burning up to 2 percent fewer calories, according to researchers at the University of Utah who monitored the metabolic rates of 10 adults as they drank varying amounts of water per day. In the study, those who drank either eight or twelve 8-ounce glasses of water a day had higher metabolic rates than those who had four.

Me & my salary in Hannan's opinion

We were on our way home and I was trying to convince my dear husband for Ipad2. :P

Me :  Dear, You see,.. I dont really spend $$$ on myself.  Though I earned X thousands a month, I dont even buy things for myself..... hmmm..  (trying to get some sympathy)

Hannan was looking at me with disbelief.  @-@

Hannan : Mommy, you did buy a lot of wraps. All those baby carriers???  aren't those are yours???

Husband : Was laughing like he has been possessed with crazy ghost!

ARRGGHHHH. Mission failed. How come I forgot about that?  *shame on myself

Empty Hearts Fuel Bad Behaviour

Did you give your child a hug today just because…? Did you take the time to understand his need to go on the computer for another hour? Did you listen and look her in the eye when she was talking to you? Did you tell him that you still loved him when he told you that he failed his exams?

There is no such thing as bad children, only bad behaviour. Bad behaviour is behaviour that intentionally hurts other people and includes acts like hitting, fighting, teasing, telling tales, spreading rumours about someone, ignoring or excluding someone, calling names, biting and scratching (the last two popular among younger children!). They disrupt classroom time in schools and playtime everywhere, which adults often find troublesome.

Bad behaviour that is carried out repeatedly over time to gain physical and psychological advantage over someone else is called bullying. Some kids seem to be perpetual bullies. Other kids are natural targets for bullies.

When children behave badly we need to look beneath the surface and search for the cause of the bad behaviour. Often we will find there a tangle of inner turmoil that the child does not know how to articulate in words. Many children do not possess sufficient emotional vocabulary to express how they are feeling, especially if the feelings are not nice. Just like grown-ups, children get hurt, scared, angry, anxious, depressed or jealous. But unlike adults, children are often unable to express these feelings without getting told off, ignored or punished.

The sight of a crying child being hushed up and told, “good boys/girls don’t cry” is an all too common one in our shopping malls and public places.

With no outlet or respect for their emotions, children tend to either keep it all in, to slink into a corner and withdraw into themselves, or to get physically rowdy, sometimes to the extent of hurting someone else. The first type of kid tends to be the victims of bullies, while the second type may end up as bullies in the school compound and the playgrounds.

Children need to have their feelings reflected back to them. They need validation of what they feel, more so if it’s a ‘negative’ feeling. A parent might say, “I sense that you are feeling very angry that I have to go to work and leave you with the maid. It’s ok to feel this way.”

‘I hear you’ is powerful validation that children need to hear all the time. It keeps their emotional tanks filled.

They also need acceptance of their feelings—an understanding parent or teacher goes a long way towards making up the healthy mental landscape of a child. Finally, children may need some guidance on how to deal with it all. We have our own issues to resolve as parents. A lot of times when we take it out on our children, we are acting out what we learned and retained from our own childhoods. Our parents would have likely meted out harsher punishment when we misbehaved as children. As did their parents before them…

The solution to a child’s bad behaviour, therefore, really lies within us. If we are willing to do the very painful work of sorting out our own inner turmoil, we would then be able to take steps towards raising ‘well-behaved’ kids.Just as we would never dream of sending our kids off to school or out to play on an empty stomach, let’s also make sure that we do not send them out on an empty heart.

From : parenting-works.com

I outgrown my jeans? oh !!

While getting myself ready for office on weekend :

me : dear,  is it ok if I wear this?  (read tight jeans with T)
DH  :  Small! (with not so sweet face)
Hannan : That is not small, Mommy just outgrown it!  (with serious face and patted my thigh)

AHAHAHAHAHHAHA, i normally wear tight pants with muslimah t-shirt :P

Serawa durian yummeh

DH was asking me to make this serawa durian, he even bought 2 durians just for this.. hmm.. actually we, kelantanese not really know how to cook this, and I never tried before. Luckily I did see my MIL cooked this last time. Pretty easy though... but then my DH said mine is not as tasty as his mom's :P  of course not!  I cooked it with evaporated milk while she used coconut milk :P 

Here it is :

Pretty easy though...  

Put durian, coconut milk or evaporated milk, brown sugar/white sugar & pandan leaves. Errr.. a bit of salt for seasoning. Then stir slowly once in while in slow fire. :)   Can be eaten with bread ( DH favorite!) 

Back dated post?!!

I am so sorry!!~  it is not that I already forgotten that I have a blog to attend to, but I value my time more to :

Works & family rather than my own self. hahahah, valid reason tak?

Just sharing with you my parcels of the day!!  yee haa!!   Ops, jangan pengsan!  :P