Recently I had my 39th birthday. Gone be the days of  putting on a few pounds and then one trip to the gym takes it off and you are rock hard again like in your 20s. Having been weight obsessed all of my life, not in an unhealthy way just a regular female way, I haven’t been “overweight” but I have definitely had my ups and downs. When I had my first child I put on 70lbs! 
I am pretty sure this was because I allowed myself to eat things I had convinced myself prior to pregnancy that I didn’t like such as Pizza, Ice Cream, Cookies, Bread……mmmm I’m hungry. The pregnanacy weight came off and into my mid thirties I definitely realized being aware of calories in and calories burned was going to be important. Now as I am near the end of my thirties it has gotten harder and even though I am watching what I eat and exercising on the same level I have been the past few years I have noticed a difference. Sitting here this Sunday morning searching for something other then football to watch I looked through my DVR and came across a Dr. Oz from September 2010 that I had taped and never watched. After 40 Metabolism boosters. I guess my 38 year old self knew I might need that in a year?
A Slowing metabolism was Nothing That was “News” to Me.
I knew it was coming and I had been dreading it. I actually thought in my early 30s “Oh, it must be my slowing metabolism” but no that wasn’t it. Something incredibly interesting to me they mentioned in this Dr. Oz episode was as you reach 40 your estrogen starts to go down so that makes your hunger go up. Why? Your body starts looking for estrogen in alternative places and finds it in fat cells! Just as when you were pregnant and your body naturally has you craving more food here it is again in your early 40s. You don’t even realize it is happening. Your metabolism has also slowed down about 5% by now (I know, I totally thought it was more like 50%) and that means you can eat about 100 less calories a day then before. This is your body’s way of building up fat to supply the estrogen levels it had. This is also another reason if often comes in belly fat!
As promised there were some great After 40 Metabolism Boosters Dr. Oz discussed in this episode I will list at the bottom. He also brought up one of his favorite topics Fiber. Dr. Oz recommends 25 grams of fiber a day (you will read another reason fiber is so important below). Foods with fiber will fill you up faster. This will help to put a stop to that hunger signal your body is giving you to help it produce fat for estrogen! Make sure through your 3 meals a day and snacks in between you are getting at least 25 grams of fiber total through the day and this is a big step in that first battle of hunger.
Increase your Metabolism!!
You must work on muscle mass. This is why working out and exercise is so important. You want to build and increase your muscle mass. Muscles will burn 3x more calories then fat cells. Muscle mass is lost in your muscles with the most surface area or in other words your biggest muscles, your core muscles. Dr. Oz suggest for women how important the plank exercise is because this works all of your core muscles. You know, something simple like the picture to the left.
Just kidding!! When you are at home watching TV “plank” as shown to your right during commercials. See, no excuse, you can fit that in.
Another important set of muscles to work are your thigh muscles. Yes, the dreaded squats!
5 Metabolism Boosters Dr. Oz Suggest Under $5
1. Oolong Tea – This helps you to fight off some of the fat building enzymes.
2. & 3. Black Pepper & Tomato Juice – Spicy foods will boost your metabolism. He suggest mixing Black Pepper with Tomato Juice. The Tomato Juice has lycopene in it which helps to protect the energy factories in your cells that help you burn fat! He also gives a great tip of replacing salt with black pepper when you are cooking for flavor.
4. Beans – These are full of soluble fiber which helps to lower your insulin levels. Insulin is what turns the fat cells on and helps you store the calories so if you have lower insulin levels you are preventing fat from growing.
5. Ice Water – Because your body needs to warm it up before it will digest it. If you are drinking 8 glasses of ice water a day you will burn an additional 70 calories a day.
How easy is that! I’m drinking ice water right now. Cheers!!!
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