Beyond water

We all know that water should always be your drink of choice. But what if you’re in the mood for something a little different but want to stay on the healthy side? You should never overlook the benefits of green tea, which is a magical necessity in any weight loss plan. First and foremost, green tea contains caffeine, which stimulates the release of fat from the fat cells and enhances fat burning. Caffeine also boosts the consumption of oxygen and fat-burning. Green tea has been shown to increase fat burning by up to 35 percent. Green tea has thermogenic properties and promotes fat oxidation beyond that explained by the caffeine content alone. Whenever your body releases stored fat for energy production,it triggers a corresponding surge in the hormone norepinephrine. But norepinephrine’s fat-burning effect wanes quickly. It appears that epigallocatechin, a chemical in green tea, helps keep norepinephrine available in the bloodstream for an extended period, so fat burning lasts longer. Green tea boosts energy expenditure, as well as fat oxidation and can boost thermogenesis by 35 to 43 percent. So in layman terms, drink green tea before AND after working out. In addition, make a point of sipping green tea throughout the day, and especially in the afternoon when the tea’s cold temperature and active ingredients combine to boost fat burning when it would otherwise take a downturn.

Start your day the Empower way!!

Getting up in the mornings has never been my strong suit. As a matter of fact, I hate mornings. I definitely don’t do my best work in the mornings, and I tend to fall asleep and spill my coffee right in my lap. Makes of a rude wake up call. I have found a few things to help my mornings to be a little more pleasant. Maybe these 5 steps can help your mornings, as well.

1. Start your day off with calm energy instead of tension. Don’t begin your
day with high levels of cortisol.
2. Do some type of muscle toning activity within an hour of awakening. This doesn’t have to be intense, just enough to get your muscles to an awake state to make ATP.
3. Expose yourself to bright life. Let your body know it’s going to be a great energetic day.
4. Have breakfast with some high quality protein.
5. Focus on self-regulation rather than self-control.

With these simples steps you can equip your body to burn fat all day long! For more information you can reach me via blog, Facebook, text message, or email. Have an attitude of gratitude and have a great day.

Shhhh…..it’s a secret

Why don’t you know what it is that you don’t know? Why is it that there is so much conflicting information about health, wellness, and nutrition? The answer to that question goes way, way back. In the past, physicians referred overweight and health challenged patients to nutritionists and dietitians. After all that is their speciality. So if that is the case, why do we have this pandemic of obesity and obesity-related chronic diseases? Shouldn’t the dietician sand nutritionists have a handle on this? The truth of the matter is at the very core of the healthcare system….money. Always follow the money. Nutritionists and dietitians are licensed by the American Dietetic Association (ADA). That makes sense, right? The problem lies in where the ADA gets their “funding.” You see, the ADA has sponsors, you know those people who “donate” money in exchange for what is most often good publicity. Now, what if you knew that a key sponsor of the ADA was the American Cattle Rancher’s Association? How would you feel about that? So if the ADA gets funds from the ACRA, then we know that there is a conflict of interest in that the ADA cannot possibly say anything about negative about the cattle industry, or the meat industry, or the dairy industry. So that makes discussions of these topics off limits for these “registered” practitioners. Let’s not leave out some of the other sponsors such as the National Dairy Council, the Coca-Cola Company, Kelloggs, General Mills, and PepsiCo. Now can you see the problem here? The ADA, or A.ND. as it is sometimes called, is a tainted entity. The allegiance of the ADA is not to consumers or the patients of the “licensed” practitioners, it is to the companies who funnel money through their organization. The truth is, the ADA does not care about your health, wellness, or nutrition. They simply exist to funnel money into the broken healthcare system. So, this is exactly why “you don’t know what it is that you don’t know.”