Boost Your Metabolism Over The Holidays

this is a picture of a woman and a man doing planks to stay fit and boost their metabolism
Health and Metabolism Boosting 2020

Do you have big plans to boost your health and metabolism in January? Many of our patients say that they would like to take control of their wellness in 2020. These aspirations often include losing some of the extra weight that they’ve picked up over the holidays.

However, we know that it’s important not to get too caught up in the numbers on the scale. Instead, a good alternative goal is to focus on lowering your body fat, if that would help your overall health. Or, aim to raise your energy levels. In other words, your goal should always be to improve your quality of life, not to chase after an elusive number on a scale or a clothing size.

No matter why you want to lose weight, it’s important to approach your New Year’s resolution with a strategy. Having a concrete plan increases your odds of success. Here’s a sobering fact: About 80 percent of New Year’s resolutions are abandoned by February.

The Metabolism Run-Up to the New Year

Think about it. We often coast through December, eating, drinking, and neglecting our usual fitness routine. Then January arrives and we expect our body to adjust to an austere new regimen. It’s no wonder that many people either give up altogether or wind up injured.

Believe it or not, it is possible to prime your body and mind in preparation for January’s resolutions while still enjoying your holidays. That includes revving up your metabolism so that it’s ready to deal with the anticipated holiday dietary indiscretions. It’s even possible to get started on this during the busy month of December. Here are some steps that will help.

7 Ways to Avoid Packing On Extra Pounds This Holiday Season

Watch What You Eat

This is not just about how much or how many calories you eat. The macro and micronutrient choices that you make when selecting your food change how efficiently your body metabolizes fat. In particular, include a source of protein with every meal. One reason for this is that it helps your body to maintain its muscle tone. A second reason for doing so is to stabilize your blood sugar. A stable blood sugar means keeping cravings at bay. If you aren’t taking in enough calories, your body will turn to the protein in your muscle tissue for fuel. This means that you will lose muscle mass when you lose weight. Losing muscle mass slows your metabolism.

Sip on Herbal Teas

While you’re celebrating the holidays, consider switching some of that eggnog and champagne for herbal tea. Not only is it lower in calories, but you will be consuming more water. Staying hydrated is a great catalyst for weight loss. Warm water is soothing to your digestive system which also improves your metabolism. Some appropriate teas for the holiday season are:

  • Peppermint tea is particularly good for digestion. It will help a stomach that is complaining about the extra burden of rich or heavy food
  • Chamomile tea calms your nervous system and sets you up for a good night’s sleep
  • Rooibos tea is full of antioxidants as well as being a natural energy booster without caffeine.

Eat Probiotic-Rich Foods

Before you even start ramping up your healthy eating routine, get your gut in shape from the inside! Healthy gut bacteria help with weight control. In fact, the makeup of the gut bacteria or microbiome of overweight or obese people is typically different than that of people of a healthy weight. Your gut bacteria benefit from all of the same things that you do overall – good sleep, healthy whole foods, plant-based diet, exercise, and reduced stress.

In addition to consuming fermented foods like kimchi or yogurt, taking a high-quality probiotic supplement in December boosts your gut bacteria levels. Not only can probiotics pave the way for better digestion in January, but they also boost your immune system which makes for a healthier social season.

Sleep Well

Since we’re not technically moving during our sleeping hours, it doesn’t seem like that time would impact your base metabolism. However, researchers have found that getting enough sleep, which for most people is around eight hours, is essential to an efficient metabolism.

Get Enough Vitamin D

During the winter, and especially before you make any dietary changes, it’s a good idea to check your Vitamin D levels. In addition to its many other health benefits, new studies have found that vitamin D helps with weight loss. In one study, women with adequate amounts of vitamin D in their bloodstream lost more weight than women who were deficient in vitamin D.

Note that it is difficult, if not impossible, to get enough vitamin D through diet alone. At this time of the year with cloudy days and long nights, we often don’t get enough sun exposure to generate our own vitamin D. Supplementation is key this time of year.

Did you know that if your blood test shows that you are vitamin D deficient, you actually may be magnesium deficient? It’s true. There are many occasions where

Top Up Your Magnesium

Magnesium helps with many processes in your body. There is so much demand for magnesium that a deficiency of this mineral is quite common. Stress depletes your magnesium level. Our soil is also lacking magnesium, so plant foods that should supply you with magnesium, don’t.

Although it may not directly impact weight loss, having adequate levels of magnesium helps you sleep more deeply, regulates your moods, and controls your blood sugar. Those are all important elements to maintaining a healthy metabolism and sticking to healthy habits.

Good sources of magnesium include leafy vegetables, nuts, beans, and dark chocolate. For most people, particularly anyone with high stress, magnesium glycinate supplements are essential.

Keep Active to Boost Your Metabolism

Yes, it’s hard when you’re busy. However, continuing to stay active makes it easier to hit the gym when you’re ready to ramp back up to your usual routine in January. Not only will your muscles stay limber, but you’ll also be taking steps to prevent your mind from slipping into a winter funk. We have a tendency to get derailed in our fitness efforts when the holidays hit. The festivities mess with your usual schedule. Throwing off your routine lowers your self-discipline and motivation. This is unfortunate timing because the lack of exercise in January and February contributes to February blahs.

The good news is that it doesn’t take too much to maintain your base fitness levels. Think mini-workouts. Remember: It’s better to do even a little bit, every day than to be a weekend warrior. So, fit in some 10 to 20-minute workouts. Try a short YouTube cardio video. Meet up with some friends at yoga or even walk around the mall! Your metabolism will be grateful that you did come January.

If you’re focusing on sustaining your metabolism so that you can crush those New Year’s resolutions in 2020, make sure that you include strength training. Simply put, the more muscle you have, the more super-charged your metabolism will be. Even when you’re just sitting still or sleeping, you’ll burn more calories.

If you’re not sure how to begin with all these tips, the best plan is to speak with an expert! We’d be happy to help you create a unique plan that suits you.

Yes, improving your metabolism feels like a daunting task this time of the year. There are so many temptations and the instinct to hibernate kicks in. However, taking a few simple steps now helps you get ready to meet your New Year’s resolutions head-on! Call us at 416-481-0222.

Authored by Naturopath Dr. Pamela Frank


Health Research

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25926512

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25926512

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16840650

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23343670

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19043404/

No More Resolutions

picture saying no more resolutions

Resolutions are all wrong! Set yourself up for success instead!

Every New Year the “R” word kicks into full force. RESOLUTIONS. We evaluate the past year, how we ‘performed’, what we ‘lacked’, and what we are committed to doing 100% the next year. The trouble is that only about 8% of people actually keep their resolutions. For the rest of us, resolutions serve to remind us of what we didn’t follow through on, what we might have ‘failed at’ again, or what we fell short of achieving. In the end, resolutions create a measuring stick that sets most of us up for failure.

So this year, what if you let go of the “R” word and focus on intentions instead?

There’s a difference between these words, though we tend to use them interchangeably. A ‘resolution’ is similar to a ‘SMART goal’: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely, except that when it comes to making personal resolutions, the most common ones usually miss out on the measurable and realistic parts. Unfortunately, those are the two aspects of resolution-making that make most of us give up or fall short!

These were the top 10 New Year’s Resolutions for 2017:

1 Lose Weight / Healthier Eating 21.4%
2 Life / Self Improvements 12.3%
3 Better Financial Decisions 8.5%
4 Quit Smoking 7.1%
5 Do more exciting things 6.3%
6 Spend More Time with Family / Close Friends 6.2%
7 Work out more often 5.5%
8 Learn something new on my own 5.3%
9 Do more good deeds for others 5.2%
10 Find the love of my life 4.3

When you read these themes, I bet you can imagine how they’re translated into ‘resolutions’ like: “lose X lbs by Y date” or “save X amount of money by Y date”. Can you see how much pressure and expectation there is on finding one acceptable and final outcome for these resolutions – and how discouraging it would be to not meet them? Just reading them makes my heart sink with the expectation of it all! Why do this to ourselves – and at the start of a brand new year, too? 

This is where intentions can be more useful, more positive, and more sustainable.

In his book, The Power of Intention, Wayne Dyer defines intention as “a strong purpose or aim, accompanied by a determination to produce the desired result.” Rather than focusing on a problem to be solved, intentions focus energy on a gradual shifting towards change, a continual checking in with one’s Self to remember and activate inner motivation to live with the intention set.

This New Year, try the following:

  1. Write a “Letter of Intention” to yourself. Consider a maximum of FOUR intentions you want to live with and guide your life by over the next year and beyond. The idea is to choose four things that will become themes to live by, that you can cultivate rather than a goal to be ticked off a list.
  2. When you select your four intentions choose one based on the physical body, one on the emotions, one on the mind, and one on the spirit. Allow these four intentions to be broader than a specific end-goal, and more of a theme or quality to which you can tend.
  3. Re-read your letter and sit with it for a while. Come back to it and distil the content into four intention statements beginning with “I want…” Hang onto that full letter though!
  4. Use these four statements as a daily personal mantra when you arise in the morning, and let them be the way you begin each day – excited and content in the intentions you’re planting. You can even write them on cue cards, or print them on a poster to keep where you’ll be able to read them each morning.

Need some ideas for themes? Here are a few to start you off, “I WANT…

A LIMBER, COMFORTABLE BODY (body theme)

A NOURISHED BODY (body theme)

A CALM HEART (emotions)

SOFTNESS (emotions)

EQUANIMITY, MENTAL COMPOSURE (mind)

OPTIMISM (mind)

GRACE IN BE-ING (spirit)

LIGHTNESS (spirit)

Intentions are done in partnership with the Self, with personal creativity, and inner motivation. When you design them, you do so from a place of desiring improvement – not a measurement or pass/fail – which allows you the freedom to grow, shift, and evolve as your intentions take on practical meaning in your life. There is an embedded mindfulness to this kind of intention-setting that is neither demanding nor outside or particularly foreign to how most of us move through our days, making it simple to incorporate into your morning routine.

Over time, with this practice, you’ll nurture your intentions to become a part of your daily actions – and in that way, you’ll see them develop and grow into the way you now live!

Periodically throughout the year, revisit your Letter of Intention and see how much more able you are to notice your success in bringing those themes into your world – and how much prouder you are than when trying to live up to those impossible resolutions of the past. Then, give yourself a pat on the back, because you’re doing great!

We want to be a part of your personal care team. No question or curiosity is too small for us to address together. So don’t be shy to give us a call!  Our door is always open and your road to optimal health is just a phone call away – 416-481-0222.

From all of us at Forces of Nature Wellness Clinic:

We wish you success, happiness, and good health for 2018!

Authored by Dr Pamela Frank, BSc, ND

References:

https://www.statisticbrain.com/new-years-resolution-statistics

Keep New Year’s Resolutions

woman thinking about fitness resolutions

7 Tips to Keep Your Fitness Resolutions in 2017

New Year’s resolutions date back to ancient Rome and the mythical King Janus, from whose name January derives. Janus became a symbol for resolutions because he had two faces and could look simultaneously back on the past and look forward to the future.  This January, look back on the past to see what you could do better, then look forward to a new and improved future.

Here are some pointers to help you keep your fitness resolutions in 2017:

  1. Set attainable goals and have realistic expectations.  If you’re new to exercise, planning to run a marathon may be a bit too ambitious.
  2. Find the sweet spot of balance between too much exercise and too little.  What that means is that you want to find the balance between where you get the benefits of exercise without overdoing and winding up injured or burning yourself out.
  3. Make a resolution along with a friend or spouse. Research shows that having someone you’re accountable to can almost triple your likelihood of sticking with exercise.
  4. One study showed that motivation to be physically active was higher when sports – instead of just exercise – were involved.  Sports can make exercise less like drudgery and more like fun. Plus there’s an added social benefit to team sports.
  5. Having a goal in mind helps.  For example, register for a 5 km run then train to achieve it or keep working on achieving your next belt in martial arts.
  6. Get the resources you need to achieve your goals, whether it’s a day planner, gym membership, group classes, fitness tracker app or a personal trainer to keep you in line.
  7. Establish a routine that you enjoy and stick to it.  Consistency is key with exercise.  If your work requires you to travel, do some kind of exercise that is portable like walking, running or stay in hotels that have a fitness room.