Weight loss and Diet

In order to stay healthy and maintain a correct weight for our height and age; we have to keep our metabolism going strong. Starting in our 30s, our body's metabolism can slow down and we can gain weight. To help maintain healthy metabolism levels, we need to give our body key nutrients and always eat on time. The best way to do this is to eat much less each time we eat but 6 times a day. Every three hours will be a great way to schedule our daily food intake.

Starting with full breakfast(6:00 AM- we should eat at the same time everyday) then in three hours we have a snack of 100 calories(9AM- eating 2 times). Three hours later lunch(12noon eating three times), three hours later snack of 100 calories(4PM eating 4 times). Three hours later Dinner(7 PM and 5 times) and later snack of 100 calories(9PM eating 6 times) if we are hungry.  The point here is not to make our body think that is starving. Once the body feels it is hungry then whatever we eat, it will try to save as fat for later. This is the way the body hoards the food and protects  us from hunger and starvation.  If you see the three hours is too long for you cut the interval to 2 1/2 hours or even 2 hours. Have a friend or timer on your cell phone to tell you to eat every set time.

In general men thanks to testosterone hormone have more muscles than women. Muscles burn more energy and therefore need more calories. That is why people; men or women with more muscles could consume more calories.   
Another thing that we could do is minimize eating starchy carbohydrates with proteins and fats. Women should limit starchy vegetables and bread to 1/2 servings to a meal. Men could double this amount. None starchy and none sweet vegetables could be eaten as much as you want.

A daily sample of foods to be eaten are as follows:

For breakfast: 

Bowl of whole grain non sweeten cereal(could be sweeten with fruits or one teaspoon of honey or sugar)

skim milk

1/2 grapefruit

coffee or tea with skim milk or 1% milk 

200 to 250 calories

Water in between

snack of 100 calories

For Lunch:

None fat turkey, ham or chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes and mustard dressing on 1/2 slice of bread

you could have 300-350 calories for lunch

Water in between

snack of 100 calories

Dinner:

One serving of any non fat meat/fish or protein, as many as you can eat non-starchy vegetables. 1/2 serving of starchy vegetables or starch. 

you could have 300-450 calories for dinner

Water in between

snack of 100 calories

The daily calorie intake for woman should be 1250- 1400 calories per day and for men 2000 to 3000 calories.  

You can use the following calculator daily to calculate your daily calorie intakes.

Drinking Green Tea, White Tea & Orange Tea will help boost our metabolism. Make sure you do not buy those bottled green teas with loads of sugar. It is very easy to make your own. There are Green tea supplements that you can take if you do not have the time and you are always on the run.

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Thyroid- Underactive

Under active Thyroid (Hypothyroidism):

Your thyroid gland and your metabolism are closely related to each other. How fast you burn food and all chemical actions in the body, from making hormones and enzymes, to digesting food and re-building cells are related to your thyroid function. All these actions create heat as a side-effect. Any machine when it works becomes hot. You can find if your metabolism work efficiently by taking your body temperature.

Deficiency in thyroid hormones can affect all body functions. Following are the symptoms of sluggish thyroid:

fatigue and exhaustion

brain fog
feeling cold easily
hair loss or coarse hair
dry or coarse skin
depression
muscle and joint weakness, stiffness or pain
constipation
weight gai

high blood pressure

The most common cause of hypothyroidism is Hashimoto's thyroiditis, a hereditary condition in which the immune system attacks the thyroid. Hashimoto's thyroiditis is seven times more common in women than in men.A simple blood test can detect the thyroid function by measuring your TSH. Some people can go undiagnosed because they have a mild form of Hypothyroidism. If your first TSH test was normal and you still have the symtoms associated with low thyroid levels you should try and test for TRH.

The hypothalamus is a gland in our brain that secretes Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone (TRH). When TRH is released, it stimulates the pituitary gland in the brain to release Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH). TSH stimulates the thyroid itself to make thyroid hormones.The first and fastest test of thyroid function is the TSH test, which measures the circulating level of TSH in the bloodstream at one point in time. The TRH test is different. A baseline TSH test is done. Then you are given an injection of TRH, which stimulates the pituitary to release TSH. A second blood sample is drawn 30 minutes later, and the TSH level is retested.

After you know for sure you have a low TSH; In order to fix this problem- First you try to amend your diet with Salt that has Iodines. Remember when cooking with Iodine enriched salt, the Iodine will evaporate in cooking. Therefore add the salt later. Consume food that has Iodine; for example sea salt, radishes and kelp.

Do not eat the following foods raw: You have to cook them for few minutes. Apples, Peaches, Garlic, Broccoli, Turnips, Green leafy vegetables. If still your levels stay low, you should supplement with the correct dose of Thyroid Hormone. These pills are the best in the market. They are safe and they exactly emulate the missing Thyroid Hormone in the body.

The chart below will help you read your thyroid blood test.

TSH	T4	T3	End Results
High	Normal	Normal	Mild (subclinical) Hypothyroidism
High	Low	Low or normal	Hypothyroidism
Low	Normal	Normal	Mild (subclinical) Hypothyroidism
Low	High or normal	High or normal	Hyperthyroidism
Low	Low or normal	Low or normal	Nonthyroidal illness; rare pituitary (secondary) hypothyroidism