1. Revving up your metabolism
Heidi LaForge, DO
Family Medicine, Via Christi Clinic

2. Running on empty
As women, we burn our candle at both ends
 Shuffling kids to and from sporting events, working,
cooking, cleaning and organizing our lives one task at
a time
Our bodies may not be burning calories quickly because of
poor eating habits or a sedentary lifestyle.
Fortunately, we can take control of speeding up our
metabolism with a few easy steps.

3. Overview
Our metabolism can be affected by:
 Sleep
 Crash diets
 Water
 Calcium
 Spicy foods
 Exercise

4. Get more sleep
A good day starts with a
good night’s rest.
The number of zzz’s you
catch can have a big effect
on your waistline. Many
women don’t start to gain
weight until after having
children. While some of
these changes are
hormonal, sleep plays a
huge factor in this as well.
Research shows that sleep deprivation alters hunger and
appetite hormones. This is also why people with sleep apnea
tend to weigh more.
Sleep deprived people tend to eat unhealthy foods to help them
stay awake, and then are too tired to exercise — vicious cycle!

5. “Freshman 15”
A four-year joint study by the University of
Wisconsin and Stanford University found that
adults who regularly slept only five hours a night
increased their levels of hunger-inducing ghrelin by
14.9% and lowered their levels of appetite-
suppressing leptin by 15.5%.

6. Going about it all wrong
Don't skip meals. Dieters often try to get that extra
weight-loss edge by cutting entire meals instead of
just cutting calories throughout the day.
This is counterproductive
 Skipping meals forces your metabolism to
slow down and conserve calories to
compensate for the lack of food.

7. But I like to eat
Keep healthy snacks like fruits,
veggies, nuts and yogurt with you
throughout the day so you do not
get tempted to run crazy and
wild.
If you do choose to have a snack,
make sure your main meals are
smaller to accommodate this, or
you’ll load up on extra calories
you don’t need.

8. Our changing bodies
Studies show that our natural metabolism slows by
5% every 10 years.
So every 10 years we need to decrease our daily
calorie intake by 100 calories.
 20 yrs old = 2000 calories
 30 yrs old = 1900 calories
 50 yrs old = 1700 calories

9. Foods to avoid
 Simple sugars — cereal, donuts, candy (these are empty
calories)
 High fat meats — hot dogs, bacon, sausage
 Foods you can’t pronounce — if you need a chemistry
degree to decipher the first few ingredients, don’t put this
food in your cart
 Canned foods high in sodium
 Fake health foods — they say they are low in fat or low in
sugar but they are still cookies … many loaded with calories.
There is no such thing as a healthy cookie.

10. Avoid these drinks that may seem healthy
Juice
 Parents often ask me, “When is it a good time to start my
child on juice?” … Umm, never is a good answer. Children
need vitamins not sugar water. Give them fruit instead.
Vitamin water
 AKA sugar water mixed with poor multivitamins
Gatorade / Powerade
 Only drink this if you are working out like an Olympic
athlete. Otherwise, plain water will hydrate you just fine
with zero calories or chemicals.

11. Shop the perimeter
A good way to find healthy foods at the grocery
store is to stay along the outside walls where all of
the coolers are.
These tend to house fresh foods with fewer
chemicals and preservatives.

12. Raise a glass
The number on the scale may look
good when you haven’t had enough
water, but you risk major weight gain
by not drinking enough.
Being down one to two pounds does
not impress me at your office visit …
do not fool yourself. You are only
hurting your kidneys if you’re not
consuming enough water.

13. Dehydration
Dehydration can trick your brain into thinking
you’re hungry; so instead of reaching for a cold
drink, you may reach for whatever snack is nearby.
Importance of hydration:
 8 ounces of water = 0 calories
 1 candy bar = 270 calories

14. Add a little spice
Turning up the heat on your meals may do more than just
add fun flavor. “Hot” foods, such as jalapeños, chili peppers
and spices like curry and cayenne increase body
temperature. This is why you sweat when you eat them.
Body temperature and metabolism are related: As you burn
energy, heat is released.
By increasing your internal body temperature, spicy foods
may temporarily raise your metabolism and stimulate the
use of stored fat as energy.

15. Moooo
In a National Dairy Council-
funded study, researchers
found that a high-calcium, low-
calorie diet boosted fat loss by
42%, compared to only 8% for
just a low-calorie diet.

16. Mmmm Mooo
Studies also show that dairy lovers are less likely
to suffer from metabolic syndrome
 Symptoms include high blood pressure, cholesterol
and triglycerides, poor blood sugar control and
increased abdominal obesity — all factors that
increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
If you don’t eat enough calcium-rich dairy foods,
such as yogurt, skim milk and low-fat cheeses,
start adding them to your diet or take a daily
calcium supplement.

17. Am I mooved?
Of course the last study mentioned was funded by
the people that produce milk … but drinking a
glass of milk daily is a good idea because healthy
bones are important for exercise and preventing
osteoporosis.

18. Get moving
You can and should work out
every day in some way.
Cardiovascular exercise (running,
swimming, aerobics, walking) stimulates
your metabolism, helps you burn
calories and can even temporarily
suppress your appetite post-workout.
If you work all day you can always do
things faster or differently. Doing squats
or lunges to and from the bathroom and
parking farther away from your
destination are just a few ideas.

19. Weight can be good
When you lift it … ha!
Weight training tones your muscles and
boosts lean tissue mass, which burns
more calories per pound than fat. The
more lean muscle tissue you have, the
more calories you burn daily.
Whether you are used to 12 oz. curls or
20 lb. curls, you need to start with small
weights and slowly increase weight to
avoid an injury.

20. YouTube video
Dr. Mike Evans 23 ½ hrs video