How supportive nutrition boosts metabolism

. And boosts your workoput results! Holly Leonard, CFT Weight Loss and Fitness Expert BeFit Personal Training Studio It's no mystery, but the real secret to getting serious results from your weight loss and fitness program is almost always overlooked and glossed over. Most people say "I know that already" or "I understand that" but in reality they have absolutely no clue what they are talking about. So what's the secret to shaping up? It's your nutrition habits. There's nothing more important to your weight loss success than building a solid foundation of healthy nutrition and supplementation habits into your life. Why nutrition matters Before I talk about the supportive nutrition habits, let's talk about why nutrition is critical to your fitness results. 1. It is essential to consistent and lasting energy levels. Since any effective weight loss program causes you to increase your exercise levels, you have to have enough energy to sustain your workouts. 2. Consuming certain food combinations turns your body into a fat burning machine! The secret to cranking up you metabolism is to eat certain combinations of foods frequently throughout the day. Doing so stokes your metabolic furnace. You literally become a fat burning machine all day long even at rest! 3. Food is essential to provide the body with nutrients to build and repair muscle tissue. Without giving your body the essential amino acids (proteins), it will be virtually impossible to repair muscles, recover from your workouts, and build lean, toned muscle. 4. Healthy nutritional habits will improve your long-term health and help protect you from future disease. As you age it is even more important to consider your nutrition and supplementation habits. To ward off sickness and common ailments integrating a healthy nutrition and supplement program is critical. These four reasons are why why nutrition is critically important to your overall fitness program. By focusing on developing the following supportive nutrition habits you not only get results in the short term, but also establish the foundation for lifetime results! Supportive Nutrition Habits: 1. Increase your meal frequency. Consume five-to-six mini-meals throughout the day. This will keep you're your blood sugar and energy levels stable throughout the day. 2. Eat supportive meals every three- to three-and-a-half hours. When consuming your mini meals during the day, strive to get a balance of protein, starchy carbohydrates and fibrous carbohydrates every three-to-three-and-a-half hours. These meals keep you in a fat burning state. 3. Eat as wide a variety of foods as possible. It's critical to balance out the above strategies with a healthy variety of foods. Be sure to include a variety of lean proteins, fruit and veggie sources, starches, etc. every week. This will prevent boredom and will supply your body with a variety of healthy nutrients. 4. Drink enough water throughout the day. Hydration is critical to proper body and cell function. A good rule of thumb is to take your bodyweight in pounds and divide it by two. This gives you the amount of ounces of water you should consume on a daily basis. 5. Take a quality vitamin/mineral supplement daily. Research today shows that we simply can't get all the nutrients we need in our bodies from food alone. That's why every major medical and health organization in the country recommends that everyone take a daily multi-vitamin/mineral supplement. 6. Use meal replacement shakes/bars for convenience. For healthy snacks and convenient meals on the go, quality meal replacement bars and shakes are great. Eating five-to-six meals is not always realistic in today's world. Use a meal replacement shake or bar to get you to your next meal. 7. Always take a recovery shake after your workout. To get the most out of the efforts you put forth in your exercise session you'll need to supply your body with the necessary nutrients to recover, allowing you to increase lean muscle, burn more fat and reduce muscle soreness. A well-balanced carbohydrate and protein drink post workout, stimulates insulin to drive branch chain amino acids (protein) into the muscle cell. 8. Plan ahead and be prepared. One of the key components and often overlooked is to be prepared. If you're not prepared with your foods how in the world will you be able to eat five-to-six meals every day. 9. Take one day per week and ignore the above strategies. Yes, that's right ignore everything I just told you about eating healthy. Remember, this isn't a diet and you don't have to eat perfectly 100 percent of the time to achieve the results you are looking for. I want you to plan one day per week where you will indulge in your cravings and eat the foods that are not typically food that you would normally eat. Then, the next day, get back to eating supportively. I hope you now see why nutrition is so critical to your weight loss and fitness success. I hope you start integrating these principles into your daily routine right now! Holly Leonard is a weight loss and fitness expert, and President of BeFit Health and Wellness Solutions, Inc. She is passionate about empowering people with the absolute fitness truth. To discover the secrets of obtaining fitness and weight loss results in less time sign up for her e-newsletter at www.befithealthandwellness.com or by calling 413.387.6785.