More Apple Good News

Everyday apples pack antioxidant punch - Diet & Fitness - MSNBC.com - this one says that red delicious apples are the best variety for nutrition, and that they have a lot of it ... but you must eat the skin! Me, I like Gala apples - they probably have less antioxidants because the skin on the apple is a lighter shade of red.

My exact wight loss plan

Here's what I am doing ..

1. Eating 4 small to medium meals a day - I try to eat around 7:30, 10:30, 1:30, and dinner between 6 and 7. If I don't eat that meal around 10:30 I get really hungry and tend to snack.

2. Eating an apple before three meals and a salad before dinner.

3. I have been walking or bike riding every evening for several years now, and I will try to switch a few walks a week to jogs, plus some interval training. I also will do a strength training routine every monday and thursday - a short one, probably 25 minutes max. I will also try to incorporate the "moving around every hour" in some way.

4. I have always eaten a decent amount of dairy, but I will add a supplement of 1200 mg a day.

5. I am going to try to get back into EFT - I'll talk about EFT later.

So I was trying to figure out if working out more often speeds your metabolism ...

... and I found this 14 ways to speed up your metabolism article. Yes indeed, the article says that someone wanting to speed up their metabolism should break one long workout session into two shorter ones, or even get up and move every hour. What I found really interesting though was the sentence: "Women reap the largest fat-burning benefit when they consume three servings of dairy and 1,200 milligrams of calcium a day, Zemel's research shows," so I searched for "zemel calcium" and found this benefits of calcium in weight loss article.

It basically says that tests on rats show that a diet with added calcium will help burn fat faster because calcium in a fat cell will cause that fat cell to burn more of itself and because calcium increases the body's core temperature. The article also says that diets high in low-fat dairy are the best, but supplements work too, and if you want to take a supplement, take one with vitamin d, magnesium, and zinc, because they help the calcium be absorbed into the body.

Well, I'm sold.

thought of another reason the apple plan might work

Actually, two more reasons - maybe all the extra fiber (about 15 grams a day) may have a slight laxative effect, causing your body to consume less calories ... or maybe all the extra actual-good-food vitamins your body gets tells it to let go of fat more easily. You know how the "experts" say "don't starve yourself, your body's metabolism will just slow down because it thinks a famine may be ahead." Well, maybe being sure to eat at least three apples a day tells your body "We're doing great, we've got tons of good, nutritious food, those extra pounds aren't needed.". What do you think?

So why would an apple a day work anyway?

So far so good, it's been a few days and I am enjoying my apples. I've been thinking about it though - why would an apple before every meal work? If you are changing nothing else that would actually be more calories.

I haven't bought the book but another website says it says the fiber in the apples fills you up and the sweetness of the apples satisfies any cravings. So I guess you would eat less because of those two things.

Hmm, I have been fairly satisfied they last few days, and I haven't had a lot of cravings, so maybe they are on to something. I also have to speculate that maybe eating the three apples chews you out. You know, where you just don't want to have to chew one more thing. Or, maybe it's the pyruvate found in red apples. I don't know exactly what pyruvate is but several websites trying to sell it as a substitute claim it has a 'phenomenal' affect on weight loss. Just in case, I'll be sticking with red apples.

three apple a day plan musings

Have you heard of the three apples a day plan for weight loss? I saw the URL on a box of apples at my grocery store a few months ago and checked out the website. It says that a small town took a weight loss challenge that consisted mostly of more exercise, more water, and an apple before every meal. I tried it and it worked for about two weeks. I lost a little over 5 pounds. It stopped working after that, but I admit that I became a little lax in my discipline ... and then stopped altogether.

It's harder to eat three apples a day than you would think. First of all, it gets expensive - especially when you buy organic. Second, that is really a lot of chewing. Third, I guess I got a little tired of apples.

But, it did work and so I am going to try again. Starting tomorrow, I will eat an apple before every meal, try to drink more water, and get back on track with my exercise. I already walk between two and four miles every day or ride my bike about 6 miles but I did stop any strength training for a long time. I am going to get back into it. I don't have time for a lot, but some is better than none.