Now you know why it’s imperative that you eat something about every 3 to 4 hours - because the strength of your metabolism depends on it - but does that mean you’re supposed to be eating big, full meals that often? Not exactly. On the nutrisystem diet, our meal plan features three meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), but it also includes two healthy snacks every day. In total, you’ll be eating foods that speed metabolism five times a day, fueling your body with healthy carbs, proteins, and fats to maximize your metabolism, which means the snack is back.
Many diets discourage snacking but not this one.We meet the age-old “To snack or not to snack?” question with a resounding yes because we know that healthy snacking can be key to reviving up that metabolism of yours. However, before you start munching, it’s a good idea to consider the fact that often the majority of our snacking is due to something other than hunger.We’re all human, and we’re all affected by myriad things in our lives. Stress, loneliness, boredom, or even feelings of celebration can often be the main impetus behind an urge to snack. So when you initially feel the desire to snack, stop for a moment and ask yourself, “Do I really need to eat, or is something eating at me?” Be honest.When you really think about why you want a snack, if you find a cause other than true hunger that’s making you want to munch (like the fact that your sister or husband or mother will never understand, or your boss couldn’t care less), that’s okay. Just don’t go for food in that instance; it will never satisfy you. Instead, search for a different, healthier alternative to snacking. Release the emotion you may be feeling instead of letting it lead you to some snack food.
That said, if you’re dying for a snack and true hunger is what you are really experiencing, let the snacking begin. Strategic snacking, as scheduled in the meal plans, can do wonders for balance and optimum wellness. Foods that speed metabolism can increase alertness, energy, productivity and optimism, and can help you lose weight fast and in a healthy way. Just remember, when it comes to snacking, there are two important elements: type and timing.
For starters, you need to know what types of snacks deliver the best outcome and the most satisfaction. They must be slow burning, blood sugar balancing, and energy sustaining - for example, cottage cheese, nuts, seeds, apples, pears, and yogurt. If you’re using the nutrisystem foods, you’ll even get soy chips and high-protein chocolate. Next, you must consider the proper timing of your snacks. On the nutrisystem diet meal plan, you’re scheduled to eat three meals a day and two healthy snacks to keep your body burning. Say you’re hungry, but your next meal is more than 2 hours away; your blood sugar is fading, and your irritability is rising.What should you do? In this instance, it’s wise to choose a snack for greater sustenance, such as fruits like apples and celery with 2 tablespoons of a nut (or seed) butter spread on top, or a proteinenriched soy and fruit smoothie.
Of course, it all depends on what you’ve chosen to stock your kitchen with, but the main message when it comes to snacking is to do so sensibly and strategically. Always remember: type and timing. Whenever possible, plan ahead to avoid getting caught with your blood sugar down and no good choices around. Do all you can to avoid the quick-fix, empty calorie, sugary snacks like soda and candy bars. Although they’ll lift you quickly, they’ll drop you even faster and they will just leave you hungry for more. They’ll spike your insulin every time, and as you know, that pretty much means metabolism breakdown and fat storage, so you must eat the right foods that speed metabolism.
Stress has a very detrimental effect on metabolism. Like skipping meals and making poor meal and snack choices, stress can wreak havoc on your metabolism but in a slightly different way. Being continuously overstressed leads to muscle loss, and muscle loss leads to a decrease in metabolic rate, making it more difficult to burn calories. In a nutshell, ongoing stress leads to a hormone imbalance that decreases muscle and its ability to help you burn fat. If that isn’t enough to get you to take that vacation in Tahiti, I don’t know what is. Just think - the more you’d relax on the beach, the more efficiently your metabolism would burn, and you’d look that much better in your swimsuit! Centered life is key to long-term weight-loss success.
Our website is not responsible for the information contained by this article. Articleinput.com is a free articles resource thus practically any visitor can submit an article. However if you notice any copyrighted material, please contact us and we will remove the article(s) in discussion right away.
Note: This article was sent to us by: Allie Gryssen at 02252010
1. Weight loss supplements that keep you healthy and in shape
All articles are property of their respective authors. Please read our Privacy Policy!
© 2009 ArticleInput.com.