Boost your metabolism

Noted fitness expert PEGJORDAN outlines new thinking on how to burn fat and maintain a great body.

WITHOUT doubt, there are more questions sent to this column inquiring about how to be in good physical shape than on any other topic. I sympathise with all of you. Some days it seems the pounds go on by just looking at food. Instead of just telling people what they already know - eat less and move more - I took a look at the latest research and up-to-date thinking on the subject of weight management to enlighten us all on this battle of the bulge.

One of the most forward thinking programmes on weight loss today comes from the research of Scott Connelly, M.D., who is a metabolic expert and author of Body Rx (Putnam 2001). Consider these rules that Connelly and his co-author Carol Colman call the 36-Pack Prescription 26-pack referring to that elusive sculpted abdomen that only dedicated body builders seem to attain.

The programme is based on revving up metabolic rates that have been slowed due to chronic dieting or just by aging. Your metabolic rate will tend to decrease by almost 10-20 per cent for every few years past 30 years of age.

Look around. You will notice that some people are skinny no matter how much they eat, while others cannot stop putting on weight, even when they skip meals. That is because humans are born with either a metabolic tendency to be a fat burner or a fat storer. The fat burners appear fortunate to the fat storers, and vice-versa. We always want to have what the other guy's got - that is human nature, too. But this column is dedicated to the fat storers.

Connelly's research states that within each of us is a sort of metabolic traffic cop, directing nutrients we eat into one of two parking lots. Fat storers tend to have traffic cops that get confused by the modern array of manufactured foods such as high- fructose corn syrup and trans-fatty acids that are invading our food supply at an alarming rate. These substances get mistaken as fat and parked as fat, rather than burned up. Adding to the problem is the fact that we are eating less of the good foods (greens, grains, vegetables, lean protein and fish) that can help to keep our metabolism higher.

To change how you look on the exterior, you have got to change the food instructions you give to your metabolism.

Rule 1: Food is number one

One of the biggest mistakes people make is to eat so much less and skip so many meals that they actually slow their metabolism drastically. That slower metabolic rate translates to a greater weight gain when all the depriving is over, and they start eating regular meals again.

Food is the most important tool you have to achieve a strong, sculpted and leaner body. You must give your metabolism the raw materials it needs to start burning fat and building muscle. Every meal you eat should work with your metabolism, not against it.

It is essential to eat a little something every two to three hours to keep your metabolism burning fat to build muscle. Skipping meals and cutting calories will make your body hoard fat. Six small meals a day can remedy this.

Rule 2: Cut back on starch and refined foods

Most people eat the same 12 or 15 foods over and over again, day in and day out. These are often the wrong foods. Consider cutting back on starchy carbohydrates (corn, potatoes, chick peas, yams, squash). Cut back on refined breads and crackers. And definitely cut back on foods that contain trans-fatty acids. These are polyunsaturated oils and margarines that undergo hydrogenation processes to increase their shelf life. The trans-fats become rigid sections of your cellular membranes, and interfere with cell function, increasing insulin resistance, high cholesterol and contributing to higher cancer rates. You find trans-fatty acids in processed, refined grain products, such as cookies, fried snacks, cakes, breads, chips and other non-nutritious, or "junk" foods.

Rule 3: Avoid Fructose

Another processed "modern" food that gets bodies in trouble is fructose. Fructose is ubiquitous in food, especially the prepared, processed snacks marketed to children. It is also in soda, snack foods, condiments, frozen entrees, breakfast cereals and candy bars, since it was developed as a low-cost alternative to sucrose or table sugar. Read food labels (sometimes it appears as high-fructose corn syrup). The tiny amount you get in fruit is harmless. The massive amount that is epidemic in our manufactured food supply is health-threatening because it contributes to cholesterol, adult onset diabetes and heart disease. Plus, fructose can switch metabolism from fat-burning to fat-storage by promoting the formation of long chain fatty acids, which are resistant to oxidation. The more long chain fatty acids you produce, the more fat you will have on your body.

So even though you think you are just eating something with a sugar-like content, you are increasing the fat storing capacity of your body. This happens in a stealthy and sneaky way over the years, and before you know, it, your weight has soared. Just because food manufacturers put fructose in the food supply it does not mean that you have to overload your system with it.

Rule 4: Develop strength.

Only weight training will turn you into a champion fat burner and give your metabolism a tremendous post. This will happen within four or six short sessions of 10 or 15 minutes each. There are people who try to accomplish this through years of doing aerobics only, and they are completely surprised to find that they finally get in shape through weight training (lifting weights) much better than they ever achieved through aerobics.

Fast-twitch muscle fibres are the kinds of muscle cells used for weight lifting and keeping your body firm and toned. Weight training increases their efficiency. Suddenly you are burning a lot more calories, and you can eat a meal without gaining weight.

You need to lift weights that are heavy enough to give your body a true workout. Beginners should warm up with very light weights, and then advance to five different exercises, eight or 10 repetitions each set, for at least four days a week. You move up in weight when you can complete the tenth repetition. Initially, you may only get to four or so repetitions in the final set.

Rule 5: Eat high quality protein and fibre

Protein provides the amino acids you need to operate your metabolism and other vital systems. It is the real monetary exchange of your metabolism. In addition, fibre, the magical ingredient in fruits and vegetables, stimulates fat burning and helps counteract the damaging effect of high glucose producing carbohydrates such as grains. Higher protein intake with a higher fibre intake is the secret, winning combination which will keep you sleek and lean.

Good fibre sources are amaranth, barley, bulgur, kasha, asparagus, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, jicama, beets, carrots, sauerkraut, parsnips, broccoli, brussel sprouts, persimmons, raspberries, tamarind, avocado, boysenberries and apples.

E-mail the writer at mail@pegjordan.com.

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