Patch Blog: Weight Loss Tricks for My La Crescenta Neighbors

When you wake up in the morning drink two 8 oz. glasses of water. Most of us have a hard time drinking during a busy day. People who drink an extra six to eight glasses of water lose an extra five pounds over non drinkers. Try this before every meal and you’ve accomplished ¾ of the battle.

Eat within an hour of waking. Ghrelin is called the “feed me” hormone and it’s triggered as soon as we wake up. If we ignore this nasty hormone and don’t eat, it will make us more ravenous when we do.  A good idea is a mix of low fat protein and some complex carbohydrates.

Ghrelin also begins to rise again a few hours before lunch. If you get a mid morning break, have a small snack to make lunch more productive. I like a stick of string cheese. It’s portable and you can make it last.

Another hormone creeps up around lunchtime called Galanin. When you eat dietary fat you produce more Galanin. This all goes on without us even knowing. If you eat more cleanly you stop the insidious cycle of craving more or the artery clogging stuff that can actually kill you.

If you want a caffeine boost, make sure you have it before 4 PM. Sleep is a factor that all the experts agree can affect weight loss. As we age we produce less melatonin. If you want to sleep better, avoid caffeine of any type after 4:00 and try some melatonin after dinner. With this natural supplement, less is more. All you want is one to three mgs. It’s not a sleeping pill so you shouldn’t fall asleep watching TV after you eat.

If you want to maximize fat burning spend 30 minutes of strength training between 4:00 and 8:00 PM. Studies show that’s when your metabolism is lowest and your temperature is highest. The best time to exercise is when know you’ll do it. For some people early is better than later. If you have a routine that works, stick with it. If you don’t and want to get a bang from you weight loss efforts, hit the weights. You don't need any fancy equipment and you don't need a lot of time to learn how to lift. Visit our wensite for more tips at body-mastery.net.