Okay ladies, get your skinny quarters mailed. Have alot of month ahead of us to lose that weight!! Set a goal - 3 pounds or something like that.
Doing some food education for our
Terrific Tuesday - starting with that dreaded carbs.
Complex carbs such as those found in whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables help to jump start our metabolism. Research shows that a high-carbohydrate diet boosts T3 levels - a thyroid hormone that's responsible for revving up the body's base metabolic rate.(the metabolism rate determines how quickly our food burns out) Carbs are naturally low in calories, having only four calories per gram (that blasted math again!) Compare that to 9 calories in every gram of fat (WOW).
Where you put those carbs makes a big difference - if you add sauces full of butter, cream, or cheese that's over the top on your calorie count. Adding carbs on top of carbs - butter on the potato, oil or creamy dressing all these drive the final count higher. Turning your fruit into pies will dramatically change its calorie count for the worse. Also, with these complex carbs, you automtically boost your fiber intake with them - which we know is helpful in trying to lose weight. Don't fret about overdoing fiber, it takes more than 75 grams per day before adverse effects set in and it's hard to eat that much fiber.
When you begin to eat more fiber-rich carbohydrates, you also should begin to drink more water. Without enough fluids, the extra fiber will backfire on you and make you gassy and constipated. Mayo Clinic says drink 1 8-oz glass before a meal (about 30 minutes before) to help the food as it's being digested. They also say drink a glass first thing in the morning - it helps all the organs 'wake up' and get going. (I just write what I read, I don't always understand it)
Okay, enough schooling today. Get out there and lose weight!!
