Choose a quiet, well-ventilated place for the yoga session. There should be no distraction.
Ideally, yoga should be done in the morning, before breakfast. If you are hard-pressed for time, it is okay to do it at any other time.
Wear comfortable clothes: a t-shirt and track pants or a t-shirt with salwar.
Keep a threehour gap between your last meal and the yoga session.
Empty your bowels and bladder before doing yoga. Consume a glass of lukewarm water 15 minutes before the session.
For best results, do the asanas on a yoga mat.
Getting the technique right is more important than the duration.
However, it is better to repeat each asana 2-3 times.
You don't have to do all the asanas. In the beginning, do the ones you are comfortable with. Keep adding to the routine as you go along.
The breathing should be long and deep. Keep the mouth closed, inhale and exhale only from your nostrils.
Yoga trainers recommend a balanced, satvik diet: grains and cereals, dairy products, vegetables and roots, fruits, honey and nuts all eaten in moderation.
Avoid doing yoga if you are feeling unwell.
Anyone can do yoga—couch potatoes and professional athletes alike. If you're interested in stretching into better shape, find a yoga studio that offers classes for beginners.
Instructor
Look for a teacher who challenges but does not push students beyond their limits. Ask if the instructor works one-on-one with students and if he or she is familiar with modifications to poses.
Equipment
Equipment
When you attend your first class, be sure to wear comfortable clothing that allows you to move. And think about purchasing a simple yoga mat. The mats offer cushioning and prevent slipping.
Videos
Videos
If you can't find a class in your town, practice with a video made for beginners and read as much as you can on yoga.
Easy does it. Whether exercising on your own or with a class, remember that if a pose or stretch hurts, you should stop. The theory of "no pain, no gain" is not the yoga way. Yoga encourages students to explore their limits and doesn't focus on complete perfection.
Easy does it. Whether exercising on your own or with a class, remember that if a pose or stretch hurts, you should stop. The theory of "no pain, no gain" is not the yoga way. Yoga encourages students to explore their limits and doesn't focus on complete perfection.
Yoga literally means “union.” The practice is designed to unite your mind and body, as well as your spirit, through deep breathing, peaceful meditation, and physical poses that stretch and strengthen the body.
Yoga was developed by Hindu people in India 5,000 years ago and continues to be part of their religious practice, people of all faiths can perform yoga poses to calm stress and tone and energize the body.
Yoga was developed by Hindu people in India 5,000 years ago and continues to be part of their religious practice, people of all faiths can perform yoga poses to calm stress and tone and energize the body.
Yoga combines the physical -- exercises that stretch and tone your body -- with the nurture and development of your emotional health and well-being. This simple practice, which works your back, hips, neck and shoulders, is ideal for relaxing your mind and body when you feel tired and stressed. All you need is 20 to 25 minutes to help slow your breathing, gently exercise your body and move your mind toward a state of stillness and clarity.
Before starting this practice, keep these general yoga tips in mind:
You'll probably be uncomfortable doing a yoga practice after eating a large meal, so wait about two hours before starting a practice. If you want to practice but feel very hungry, eat a piece of fruit or other small snack.
Stand or sit and become aware of your breathing at the beginning of each practice. Reflect on your inhalation and exhalation until each is smooth and regular. Try to keep that awareness and smoothness throughout your practice.
Use your breath as your teacher. When your breath becomes forced or uneven, your teacher is telling you to rest and wait for your breath to recover.
Imagine your practice as one flowing activity like a slow, rhythmic dance, not as a series of disconnected poses.
Use the resting poses to reflect on your breathing and to become aware of how your body and mind feel.
When your thoughts wander during practice, gently bring your attention back to focus on your breathing and the movements of your body.
Remember that poses can and should be adapted to suit you and your body. If you find any particular pose too challenging, look for ways to adapt it.
Before starting this practice, keep these general yoga tips in mind:
You'll probably be uncomfortable doing a yoga practice after eating a large meal, so wait about two hours before starting a practice. If you want to practice but feel very hungry, eat a piece of fruit or other small snack.
Stand or sit and become aware of your breathing at the beginning of each practice. Reflect on your inhalation and exhalation until each is smooth and regular. Try to keep that awareness and smoothness throughout your practice.
Use your breath as your teacher. When your breath becomes forced or uneven, your teacher is telling you to rest and wait for your breath to recover.
Imagine your practice as one flowing activity like a slow, rhythmic dance, not as a series of disconnected poses.
Use the resting poses to reflect on your breathing and to become aware of how your body and mind feel.
When your thoughts wander during practice, gently bring your attention back to focus on your breathing and the movements of your body.
Remember that poses can and should be adapted to suit you and your body. If you find any particular pose too challenging, look for ways to adapt it.
Q. If I can’t touch my toes, can I still do yoga?A. Absolutely! Just as people who are out of shape should walk and lift weights to increase their physical fitness, people with tight muscles and stiff joints reap benefits from practicing yoga. Just start slowly, modifying the poses as you need to, and never stretch to the point of pain. Within a few weeks, you should see noticeable improvements in your flexibility.
Cholayil Sanjeevanam - Chennai for Ayurvedic, Naturopathy & Yoga
Cholayil, one of the well known and respected AyurvedicFamilies of Kerala, and the makers of Medimix, the world's largest selling Ayurvedic Bath soap, have evolved the concept of Sanjeevanam, a one of its kind center for holistic health services integrating the principles of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy .
Ayurveda
Ayurveda , one of the ancient traditional medicines of India, believes that the body is governed by three fundamental principles - Vata, Pita and Kapha. An imbalance of these causes illness. Ayurvedic treatment helps restore this balance without side effects.
Naturopathy :
Naturopathy is a multi disciplinary approach that uses the healing power of natural resources like food, herbs, earth, water and air to help the body heal itself..
YOGA
Yoga, a science not less than 5000 years old, is simultaneously self diagnosis, healing, prevention and maintenance. Yoga also helps to overcome stress and creates a sense of well being.
Ayurveda
Ayurveda , one of the ancient traditional medicines of India, believes that the body is governed by three fundamental principles - Vata, Pita and Kapha. An imbalance of these causes illness. Ayurvedic treatment helps restore this balance without side effects.
Naturopathy :
Naturopathy is a multi disciplinary approach that uses the healing power of natural resources like food, herbs, earth, water and air to help the body heal itself..
YOGA
Yoga, a science not less than 5000 years old, is simultaneously self diagnosis, healing, prevention and maintenance. Yoga also helps to overcome stress and creates a sense of well being.
Chennai Centres :Mugappair :
No. 50, Block – 1, Ist Floor, AMM Towers, ThiruvalluvarRoad,
Mugappair, Chennai 600 037.
Phone : 044 – 26243249 – 51, 65718418
No. 50, Block – 1, Ist Floor, AMM Towers, ThiruvalluvarRoad,
Mugappair, Chennai 600 037.
Phone : 044 – 26243249 – 51, 65718418
Landmark- Near DAV Girls High School, above KarurVysya Bank & Reliance World
Adyar :15, Indira Nagar First Main Road
Adyar, Chennai – 600 020
Phone : 044 – 65718423 / 24
Nungambakkam :97, Old No.45, Nungambakkam High Road,
Nungambakkam, Chennai – 600 034
Phone – 044 – 64508427 / 28
Exclusive Therapy Centre, Saligramam, Chennai:
Old no.7, new no 11, 4th cross street,
Logaiah colony
Saligramam
Chennai – 600 093
Ph: 044 – 23762173 / 74
Adyar :15, Indira Nagar First Main Road
Adyar, Chennai – 600 020
Phone : 044 – 65718423 / 24
Nungambakkam :97, Old No.45, Nungambakkam High Road,
Nungambakkam, Chennai – 600 034
Phone – 044 – 64508427 / 28
Exclusive Therapy Centre, Saligramam, Chennai:
Old no.7, new no 11, 4th cross street,
Logaiah colony
Saligramam
Chennai – 600 093
Ph: 044 – 23762173 / 74
Natural products also available
Visit here for more about Cholayil Sanjeevanam....
Ideas to brighten your morning
Hi & Good morning !!!
These are some simple ideas to brighten up your morning.
Have a nice day :))))
The Wake-Up Routine
These are some simple ideas to brighten up your morning.
Have a nice day :))))
The Wake-Up Routine
The morning is probably no one's favorite part of the day, particularly if you stayed up the night before to watch Leno or Jaws for the seventeenth time. Remember: Stress and anxiety wreak havoc on your immunity. Enter your day happy and relaxed, and you greatly increase your chances of a healthy, productive day.
1. Go to sleep with your blinds or curtains halfway open. That way, the natural light of the rising sun will send a signal to your brain to slow its production of melatonin and bump up its production of adrenaline, a signal that it's time to wake up. When the alarm goes off, you'll already be half awake. Even better: Go to bed early enough so that waking up when the sun shines through your window still gives you the recommended seven hours of shut-eye. If you maintain this routine, it's likely that you can start relying on your biological clock rather than an alarm clock.
2. Set your alarm 15 minutes earlier. This way, you don't have to jump out of bed and rush through your morning. You can begin your morning by lying in bed, slowly waking up. Stretching. Listening to the news headlines. Mentally clicking off what you're going to wear, what you're going to do, what you're going to have for breakfast. It's just as important to prepare yourself mentally as physically for your day. These few minutes in bed, before anyone else is up, are all yours.
3. Stretch every extremity for 15 seconds. Try this even before you open your eyes. Lift your arm and begin by stretching each finger, then your hand, then your wrist, then your arm. Then move on to the other arm. Then your toes, feet, ankles, and legs. Finally, end with a neck and back stretch that propels you out of the bed. You've just limbered up your muscles and joints and enhanced the flow of blood through your body, providing an extra shot of oxygen to all your tissues.
4. Stick a chair in the shower and sit in it. Use one of those plastic chairs you can buy at any hardware store. Let it warm up under the spray for a minute, then sit in it and let the spray beat on your back. It's simultaneously relaxing and energizing, like getting a water massage. After a couple of minutes, you can swing the chair out of the way and commence with washing.
5. Read a motivational quote every morning. This can provide a frame for the day, a sort of self-talk that keeps you motivated in the right direction as opposed to the negative thinking of the morning news. Another option: Use a motivational mantra that provides a meditation-like burst, or read or recite a poem that helps you focus. A good one to use: Rudyard Kipling's "If."
6. Take a vitamin. Keep a multivitamin out on the kitchen counter right by the coffeepot so you remember to take one every morning. More than 20 years of research led to a major recommendation in one of the country's premier medical journals suggesting that every American take a multivitamin as part of a healthy lifestyle.
7. Eschew any decisions. For truly relaxing mornings, reduce the number of choices and decisions you make to zero. Go about this two ways: First, make your morning decisions the night before: what clothes to wear, what breakfast to eat, what route to take to work, and so on. Second, routinize as much of your morning as possible. Really, there's no need to vary your breakfast, timetable, or bathroom ritual from one morning to the next.
8. Cuddle with your kids. Few things are more stressful in the morning than waking up an overtired fifth grader or a snoring high schooler. Yet this is one of the few times you can catch your child still vulnerable. Sit on his bed and gently smooth his hair as you softly waken him. Or, if you're dealing with a very young child, lie beside him and gently hug him awake. Such a moment will send a quiet surge of joy through your entire day and will become all too rare in all too short a time.
9. Spend 5 to 10 minutes each morning listening to music or sitting on the deck or porch just thinking. This allows the creative thinking that takes place during the night to gel and form into a plan of action, grounding you for the day.
10. Wake to the smell of coffee. Really great coffee. Buy the absolute best coffee you can afford -- fresh beans are preferred -- and put twice the amount you've been using into your coffee maker, the one you bought specifically because it has an alarm that can be set to start brewing times. The strong scent of strong coffee will pull you out of bed like a fishhook in the back of your pajamas. Plus, if you're going the caffeine route, morning is the best time for it. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant that acts in many ways like other stimulant drugs such as amphetamines, waking you up and increasing your muscular activity. Even better: A study of 18 men found that caffeine improved clear-headedness, happiness, and calmness, as well as the men's ability to perform on attention tests and to process information and solve problems.
1. Go to sleep with your blinds or curtains halfway open. That way, the natural light of the rising sun will send a signal to your brain to slow its production of melatonin and bump up its production of adrenaline, a signal that it's time to wake up. When the alarm goes off, you'll already be half awake. Even better: Go to bed early enough so that waking up when the sun shines through your window still gives you the recommended seven hours of shut-eye. If you maintain this routine, it's likely that you can start relying on your biological clock rather than an alarm clock.
2. Set your alarm 15 minutes earlier. This way, you don't have to jump out of bed and rush through your morning. You can begin your morning by lying in bed, slowly waking up. Stretching. Listening to the news headlines. Mentally clicking off what you're going to wear, what you're going to do, what you're going to have for breakfast. It's just as important to prepare yourself mentally as physically for your day. These few minutes in bed, before anyone else is up, are all yours.
3. Stretch every extremity for 15 seconds. Try this even before you open your eyes. Lift your arm and begin by stretching each finger, then your hand, then your wrist, then your arm. Then move on to the other arm. Then your toes, feet, ankles, and legs. Finally, end with a neck and back stretch that propels you out of the bed. You've just limbered up your muscles and joints and enhanced the flow of blood through your body, providing an extra shot of oxygen to all your tissues.
4. Stick a chair in the shower and sit in it. Use one of those plastic chairs you can buy at any hardware store. Let it warm up under the spray for a minute, then sit in it and let the spray beat on your back. It's simultaneously relaxing and energizing, like getting a water massage. After a couple of minutes, you can swing the chair out of the way and commence with washing.
5. Read a motivational quote every morning. This can provide a frame for the day, a sort of self-talk that keeps you motivated in the right direction as opposed to the negative thinking of the morning news. Another option: Use a motivational mantra that provides a meditation-like burst, or read or recite a poem that helps you focus. A good one to use: Rudyard Kipling's "If."
6. Take a vitamin. Keep a multivitamin out on the kitchen counter right by the coffeepot so you remember to take one every morning. More than 20 years of research led to a major recommendation in one of the country's premier medical journals suggesting that every American take a multivitamin as part of a healthy lifestyle.
7. Eschew any decisions. For truly relaxing mornings, reduce the number of choices and decisions you make to zero. Go about this two ways: First, make your morning decisions the night before: what clothes to wear, what breakfast to eat, what route to take to work, and so on. Second, routinize as much of your morning as possible. Really, there's no need to vary your breakfast, timetable, or bathroom ritual from one morning to the next.
8. Cuddle with your kids. Few things are more stressful in the morning than waking up an overtired fifth grader or a snoring high schooler. Yet this is one of the few times you can catch your child still vulnerable. Sit on his bed and gently smooth his hair as you softly waken him. Or, if you're dealing with a very young child, lie beside him and gently hug him awake. Such a moment will send a quiet surge of joy through your entire day and will become all too rare in all too short a time.
9. Spend 5 to 10 minutes each morning listening to music or sitting on the deck or porch just thinking. This allows the creative thinking that takes place during the night to gel and form into a plan of action, grounding you for the day.
10. Wake to the smell of coffee. Really great coffee. Buy the absolute best coffee you can afford -- fresh beans are preferred -- and put twice the amount you've been using into your coffee maker, the one you bought specifically because it has an alarm that can be set to start brewing times. The strong scent of strong coffee will pull you out of bed like a fishhook in the back of your pajamas. Plus, if you're going the caffeine route, morning is the best time for it. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant that acts in many ways like other stimulant drugs such as amphetamines, waking you up and increasing your muscular activity. Even better: A study of 18 men found that caffeine improved clear-headedness, happiness, and calmness, as well as the men's ability to perform on attention tests and to process information and solve problems.
11. Brush your tongue for one minute. There's no better way to rid yourself of morning breath and begin your day minty fresh and clean. After all, more than 300 types of bacteria take up residence in your mouth every night. You think a quick brush over the teeth is going to vanquish them all?
12. Take a baby aspirin. There. You've just significantly reduced your risk of a heart attack. In one study of 220,000 doctors, those who took an aspirin every day for five years slashed their heart attack risk nearly in half. Of course, check with your doctor first to make sure this is okay for you.
12. Take a baby aspirin. There. You've just significantly reduced your risk of a heart attack. In one study of 220,000 doctors, those who took an aspirin every day for five years slashed their heart attack risk nearly in half. Of course, check with your doctor first to make sure this is okay for you.
These are some simple ideas to brighten your morning..
Have a nice day
Have a nice day
Use real sugar in your coffee, or drink a cup of orange juice. When researchers at the University of Virginia tested the memories of healthy 60- to 80-year-olds, they found those who had a small amount of sugar in the morning (the experimenters compared sweetened to unsweetened lemonade) even before breakfast had better memory recall that day on into the following day. We're talking small amounts, however, about a teaspoon or less; so put down that doughnut.
Check your morning calendar. This is the large calendar or white board you've hung in a prominent position in your kitchen. On it, you write everything you need to know for that particular day, from kids' activities to whether the guy is coming to service the furniture to whether it's time to pay bills. Check it out carefully while you sip that first cup of coffee or morning tea; it will help you structure your day in your mind and avoid the stressful effects of forgetting something important.
Swallow 500 mg of calcium citrate. Your body is better at absorbing this form of calcium than the other commonly used form, calcium carbonate, found in antacids like Tums and Rolaids. You'll need at least another 500 mg before you go to bed.
Drink eight ounces of water. You've been fasting all night and you wake each morning dehydrated.
Create a checklist for your kids. If you don't have kids, skip this one. But if you do, this is a biggie. To cut down on morning chaos, hang a white board in the hallway or kitchen and list all the things that must be done before the kids can leave: brush teeth, eat breakfast, get backpack together, make bed, and so on. Have them check off or erase each item once it's completed. You can do the same thing with lists printed out from your computer. Set a consequence: If all items aren't checked off 5 minutes before you need to leave, there's no TV, PlayStation, dessert, or computer time that night.
Keep a wicker basket for yourself and each child by the front or back door. Into it go your keys, wallet, purse, and the child's backpack, papers, gloves, hats, etc. This will prevent that frantic last-minute scouring of the house as you look for lost items.
Prepare an emergency outfit in your closet. Include socks, jewelry, hose, etc., so on those mornings when you sleep through the alarm or simply need an extra 10 minutes, you can just pluck it off the hanger and go.
Dry more efficiently. Start with an oversized, 100 percent cotton bath sheet for maximum blotting. Towel-dry your hair and let it air-dry while you do your makeup or put on your underwear. Then, if you use a blow-dryer, make it a high-energy one, at least 1,600 watts. Anything else is just wasting precious time.
Hop on the treadmill for 30 minutes. Studies find that people who work out in the morning are more likely to stick with their exercise regimen because they get it out of the way and don't have all day to come up with diversions and excuses. Plus, you will produce endorphins that will last most of the day.
Check your morning calendar. This is the large calendar or white board you've hung in a prominent position in your kitchen. On it, you write everything you need to know for that particular day, from kids' activities to whether the guy is coming to service the furniture to whether it's time to pay bills. Check it out carefully while you sip that first cup of coffee or morning tea; it will help you structure your day in your mind and avoid the stressful effects of forgetting something important.
Swallow 500 mg of calcium citrate. Your body is better at absorbing this form of calcium than the other commonly used form, calcium carbonate, found in antacids like Tums and Rolaids. You'll need at least another 500 mg before you go to bed.
Drink eight ounces of water. You've been fasting all night and you wake each morning dehydrated.
Create a checklist for your kids. If you don't have kids, skip this one. But if you do, this is a biggie. To cut down on morning chaos, hang a white board in the hallway or kitchen and list all the things that must be done before the kids can leave: brush teeth, eat breakfast, get backpack together, make bed, and so on. Have them check off or erase each item once it's completed. You can do the same thing with lists printed out from your computer. Set a consequence: If all items aren't checked off 5 minutes before you need to leave, there's no TV, PlayStation, dessert, or computer time that night.
Keep a wicker basket for yourself and each child by the front or back door. Into it go your keys, wallet, purse, and the child's backpack, papers, gloves, hats, etc. This will prevent that frantic last-minute scouring of the house as you look for lost items.
Prepare an emergency outfit in your closet. Include socks, jewelry, hose, etc., so on those mornings when you sleep through the alarm or simply need an extra 10 minutes, you can just pluck it off the hanger and go.
Dry more efficiently. Start with an oversized, 100 percent cotton bath sheet for maximum blotting. Towel-dry your hair and let it air-dry while you do your makeup or put on your underwear. Then, if you use a blow-dryer, make it a high-energy one, at least 1,600 watts. Anything else is just wasting precious time.
Hop on the treadmill for 30 minutes. Studies find that people who work out in the morning are more likely to stick with their exercise regimen because they get it out of the way and don't have all day to come up with diversions and excuses. Plus, you will produce endorphins that will last most of the day.
Wondeful ways to unwind
In our hectic lifestyle, we often get so tired up with the day's pressures that we forget to sit back, relax and unwind from a hard day's work. Besides visiting the spa, here are some tips you can try to restore and rejuvenate your body and mind.
Take your mind off the daily grind
Take your mind off the daily grind
Keep your work separate from your life, and try not to think about work once you've walked out of the office.
Switch off your mobile phone, or turn it to silent mode when you're at home, and put on some soothing music when you're all set to relax.
Keep your favourite CDs in your car or in the office, so that you can lighten the mood when you're stressed out.
Get up and enjoy a good s-t-r-e-t-c-h once in a while.
Your private sanctity
Make your home a truly relaxing place where you can steal away to your private thoughts and favourite activities.
Find a peaceful spot in your home, and spend 15 minutes there every day just being quiet with your thoughts.
Settle down in bed with your favourite book or magazine.
Unwind with a healthy diet
Eating can help you relax and unwind, especially eating your favourite foods!
Indulge in a delicious cup of Tea/ coffee / smoothies/ yogurt
Drink a warm glass of milk help you sleep better at night.
Weekend relaxation
Make the most of your weekend and spend some time pampering yourself, so you'll be recharged by the time Monday comes!
Take a long shower or bath on weekends, and make it really luxurious with fragrant oils, body milk and scented candles!
Set a small enjoyable ritual of having breakfast with your friends and loved ones.
So do make an effort to relax and wind down, and take time out to indulge in life's little comforts!
Burn more Calories
Eat five small meals throughout the day instead of three large meals.
You might think you should eat less often if you want to lose weight, but that's just not the case. By eating every few hours, you keep your metabolism fired up and ensure it doesn't slow between meals in order to hang on to calories. A "meal" can be as small as a cup of soup.
Sip a couple of cups of coffee throughout the day.
Sip a couple of cups of coffee throughout the day.
Studies find that the caffeine in coffee increases the rate at which your body burns calories. This does not mean, however, that you can order one of those fancy calorie-packed frappuccinos! And skip the java if it makes you toss and turn at night.
Don't get discouraged because you've been yo-yo dieting. Somehow the myth got started that if you've spent your life losing and gaining the same 10 or 20 pounds, your metabolism gets out of whack and winds up slower than an airport security line. Don't believe it. When researchers reviewed 43 studies on the topic, they found no difference in the metabolic rates of yo-yo dieters versus those of everyone else.
Walk with intent -- and intensity. Burn more calories in the same amount of time with these strategies:
Swing your arms when you walk. You'll burn 5-10 percent more calories.
Wear a weighted vest. Another great way to crank up the calorie burn. Leave the hand and ankle weights at home, though. They throw you off balance and could result in injury.
Walk on grass, sand, or a gravel trail instead of the road. It takes more muscle power to glide smoothly over these uneven surfaces (especially sand) than over asphalt.
Use walking poles. A University of Wisconsin study found you get a much more intense workout than without the poles.
Walk along the shoreline of a beach, lake, or pond with your ankles in the water. The resistance will cause you to burn more calories and give your muscles an added workout.
Bump up the protein in your diet. There is some evidence that by taking protein to the upper end of the recommended range (roughly 20 percent of your overall calories), the amount of energy you expend while resting remains the same even as you're losing weight (normally, it falls).
Sip green tea three times a day. A study from the University of Geneva in Switzerland found that in addition to caffeine, green tea contains catechin polyphenols, plant chemicals that may boost metabolism.
Use interval training to rev up your workout. Walk for the same amount of time at the same intensity day in and day out and your body gets as bored with your workout as you do. Throw it a curveball with interval training, which involves varying the intensity of your workout throughout your exercise session. Every five minutes into your walk, jog for one minute. Every five minutes into your bike ride, shift into a higher gear and pedal hard for a minute. If you swim, turn on the speed every other lap. You'll burn more calories in the same amount of time.
Fidget. People who drum their fingers or bounce their knees burn at least 500 calories a day! That adds up to losing a pound a week.
Keep a small squeeze ball with you and work out your hands frequently during the day. It's one of the few exercises you can do anytime. You'll build up the muscles in your hands -- and muscle, whether in your hands or legs, burns a lot of calories.
Don't starve yourself. Cutting too many calories can backfire in more ways than one. Try to subsist on morsels and your metabolism will slow so much that you'll not only stop losing weight, but you'll be lucky if you can peel yourself off the couch.
Put five rubber bands around your wrist every morning. That's how many 16-ounce bottles of water you should drink during the day to rev your metabolism, helping burn more calories. At least, that's what German researchers found when they had 14 participants drink about 17 ounces of water. The volunteers' metabolic rate -- or how quickly they burned calories -- jumped a third within 10 minutes of drinking the water and remained high for another 30 or 40 minutes. The researchers estimated that over a year, increasing your water consumption by 1.5 liters a day (about 50 ounces) would burn an extra 17,400 calories, or about five pounds' worth. Since much of the increased metabolic rate is due to the body's efforts to heat the water, make sure the water you're drinking is icy.
Exercise outside. Maybe it's the fresh air, maybe it's the sunshine, but something about exercising in the open makes you walk or run faster than doing the same exercise in the gym.
Turn up the heat with hot peppers. Some studies show that very spicy foods can temporarily increase your metabolism. Gourmet groceries often stock a dozen different kinds of peppers. Buy one a week and practice adding some to various meals. Spice up your scrambled eggs with minced jalapeño, add a little fire to your beef stew with half a diced banana pepper, or pull together a spicy jambalaya (using turkey sausage and lots of veggies). Don't get discouraged because you've been yo-yo dieting. Somehow the myth got started that if you've spent your life losing and gaining the same 10 or 20 pounds, your metabolism gets out of whack and winds up slower than an airport security line. Don't believe it. When researchers reviewed 43 studies on the topic, they found no difference in the metabolic rates of yo-yo dieters versus those of everyone else.
Walk with intent -- and intensity. Burn more calories in the same amount of time with these strategies:
Swing your arms when you walk. You'll burn 5-10 percent more calories.
Wear a weighted vest. Another great way to crank up the calorie burn. Leave the hand and ankle weights at home, though. They throw you off balance and could result in injury.
Walk on grass, sand, or a gravel trail instead of the road. It takes more muscle power to glide smoothly over these uneven surfaces (especially sand) than over asphalt.
Use walking poles. A University of Wisconsin study found you get a much more intense workout than without the poles.
Walk along the shoreline of a beach, lake, or pond with your ankles in the water. The resistance will cause you to burn more calories and give your muscles an added workout.
Bump up the protein in your diet. There is some evidence that by taking protein to the upper end of the recommended range (roughly 20 percent of your overall calories), the amount of energy you expend while resting remains the same even as you're losing weight (normally, it falls).
Sip green tea three times a day. A study from the University of Geneva in Switzerland found that in addition to caffeine, green tea contains catechin polyphenols, plant chemicals that may boost metabolism.
Use interval training to rev up your workout. Walk for the same amount of time at the same intensity day in and day out and your body gets as bored with your workout as you do. Throw it a curveball with interval training, which involves varying the intensity of your workout throughout your exercise session. Every five minutes into your walk, jog for one minute. Every five minutes into your bike ride, shift into a higher gear and pedal hard for a minute. If you swim, turn on the speed every other lap. You'll burn more calories in the same amount of time.
Fidget. People who drum their fingers or bounce their knees burn at least 500 calories a day! That adds up to losing a pound a week.
Keep a small squeeze ball with you and work out your hands frequently during the day. It's one of the few exercises you can do anytime. You'll build up the muscles in your hands -- and muscle, whether in your hands or legs, burns a lot of calories.
Don't starve yourself. Cutting too many calories can backfire in more ways than one. Try to subsist on morsels and your metabolism will slow so much that you'll not only stop losing weight, but you'll be lucky if you can peel yourself off the couch.
Put five rubber bands around your wrist every morning. That's how many 16-ounce bottles of water you should drink during the day to rev your metabolism, helping burn more calories. At least, that's what German researchers found when they had 14 participants drink about 17 ounces of water. The volunteers' metabolic rate -- or how quickly they burned calories -- jumped a third within 10 minutes of drinking the water and remained high for another 30 or 40 minutes. The researchers estimated that over a year, increasing your water consumption by 1.5 liters a day (about 50 ounces) would burn an extra 17,400 calories, or about five pounds' worth. Since much of the increased metabolic rate is due to the body's efforts to heat the water, make sure the water you're drinking is icy.
Exercise outside. Maybe it's the fresh air, maybe it's the sunshine, but something about exercising in the open makes you walk or run faster than doing the same exercise in the gym.
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