The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies - Meri Raffetto [55]
Aerobic exercise can take on many forms. Whether you regularly run 3 miles a day or you're a beginner just starting a walking program, the important thing to remember is to get your heart rate up. Here are some ideas for regular aerobic exercises:
Biking
Dancing
Interval training (walking a short distance, then running, and then switching back to walking)
Running/jogging
Swimming
Taking aerobics or spinning classes
Walking
Work in your favorite aerobic exercises three or more days a week for at least 20 minutes. (Find sticking to an exercise routine rather difficult? Head to Chapter 21, where I help you find an exercise plan that works for you.)
Be sure to check with your healthcare provider first before starting an exercise program.
Sprinkling in small activities
Any time you can increase your heart rate for even five minutes, you give your metabolic rate a small boost. So doing the little things that get your heart rate up (like cleaning the house or playing with the kids) for a short amount of time provides little rises in your metabolism over the course of a day. Those individual little rises add up to help with your weight loss and overall wellness.
Calculating your target heart rate
An easy way to determine whether you need to pump it up or slow it down is by monitoring your heart rate to see where it's falling within your target range. To calculate your target heart rate, you first need to know your maximum heart rate (MHR). Find that by subtracting your age from 220.
Your target heart rate should be between 65 and 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. To find the lowest number in your target heart rate range, multiply your MHR by .65. To find the highest number in your range, multiply your MHR by .85.
Here's an example to tie it all together: Barbara is 40 years old. That means her MHR is 180 (220 - 40 = 180). The lowest number in her target range is 117 (180 × .65 = 117), and the highest number is 153 (180 × .85 = 153). Therefore, Barbara's target heart rate range is between 117 and 153 beats per minute.
If you lead a fairly sedentary lifestyle but do some sort of formalized exercise once a day, that's a good start, but you're only giving yourself one metabolic boost each day. Believe it or not, there are tons of small, daily activities that you can easily do to give yourself some extra metabolic boosts. These activities include
Housecleaning
Gardening
Playing with your kids
Stretching in the afternoon
Doing jumping jacks
Practicing some quick yoga poses (such as sun salutations)
Dancing to your favorite music while making dinner
Taking your dog on an extra walk
Doing leg lifts, sit-ups, and/or push-ups
Taking the stairs rather than the elevator
Parking in the last spot in the lot so you walk more
Carrying your groceries to your car rather than using a shopping cart
Throwing a ball for your dog in the backyard
Tossing a Frisbee or football around on the weekend
The more small activities you add, the more your metabolic rate will rise throughout the day, each and every day. So keep looking for extra ways you can move more during the day to help your body burn more calories. Heck. Make a game out of it! Think of the many different ways (including the ones from the preceding list) you can incorporate metabolic boosts throughout the day. Choose as many of these ideas as you can as part of your master metabolism makeover. You'll find that adding more small activities to your daily life may be the simplest strategy for increasing your metabolic rate.
Eating low-glycemic resistant starches
New research is showing a connection between metabolism and the foods you eat, specifically that certain starch-resistant foods increase the body's efficiency at burning stored fat. One study found that replacing just 5.4 percent of total carbohydrate