1. Boost the Energy of Your Spleen to Raise Metabolism
In summer, we tend to drink and eat cold foods. Yet, cold foods and drinks can suppress the energy of the spleen to create sluggish digestion and metabolism. Cold foods and drinks can also aggravate low energy and fatigue so that you feel less motivated to exercise.
In Asia, where obesity rates are lower than in the U.S., warm beverages and foods are used year round as digestive aids to warm the spleen, improve digestion, and increase metabolism.
Adding a bowl of miso soup or vegetable soup to meals can help counter the cooling effects of cold salads and other summer dishes. Soups are also a great addition to cold sandwiches. Stick to the low sodium and low fat varieties for optimum benefit.
Consider replacing iced beverages with warm tea to give further support to your spleen. Try a soothing cup of peppermint, spearmint, chrysanthemum (available in Asian supermarkets), or chamomile tea at room temperature or warmed. All of these teas:
Provide antioxidants to help detoxify the body (a necessary process to achieving successful and long lasting weight loss).
Energetically cool the body to help you acclimate to hotter external temperatures.
Cool the energy of the liver which can help improve sleep, avoid agitated states, and lower blood pressure naturally.
2. Use an Online Caloric/Fat/Carbohydrate Tracker
No more hunting for calorie counters. SparkPeople (http://www.sparkpeople.com) makes journaling food choices easy and empowering.
This free service allows you to input your current weight and height to determine a body mass index.
Next, you can set weight and dietary goals based on your BMI. The program will generate menu items and allow you to input your food choices for daily meals to determine calories, carbohydrates, fats and other nutritional qualities of each food listed.
You can also enter custom foods to create your own meals. The system has a database of over 10,000 food items to make tracking customized meals easy.
The website also has a handy fitness tracker that complements the nutrition tracker. Demonstrations of exercises are also given online.
Blogs, newsletters, health articles and community support are also helpful resources that empower you to reach your weight loss and fitness goals.
3. Move that Body with Qi Gong!
Yes, moving the body for 30 minutes or more a day will benefit you whether you hike, swim or run.
However, internal healing exercises such as qi gong not only raise your metabolism and increase cardiovascular fitness but also:
Improve core strength.
Improves the energy flow of internal organs.
Detoxify the body at a profound level.
Decrease fatigue and increase energy.
Increases meditative states to reduce stress.
Qi gong also greatly increases your body's capacity to absorb oxygen. Also, the European Journal of Cancer care published a report in 2005 that showed that qigong has a positive impact on a cellular level for cancer patients.
Qi gong movements are gentle and Tai-Chi-like which makes it easy for all people, young, old, healthy or recovering from illness to participate.
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