Ready to Lose Weight? Take A Deep Breath

What is the easiest thing you can do to boost your metabolism, burn more calories and lose weight? Breathe deeply.

Taking time to stop and take a deep breath can do wonders for your waist line and your state of mind. Deep breathing cleans toxins out of your system, increases your circulation, calms your mind and helps you focus. Breathing deeply is also an aerobic activity that actually burns calories.

Typically, we tend to take shallow breaths, using just the top part of our lungs. This creates a back-up of carbon dioxide and slows metabolism. But spending just 10 minutes a day focusing on deep breathing brings more oxygen into your system, making you more alert and speeding your metabolism.

To get the most out of your breath, sit or stand up straight and put your hand on your stomach. As you breathe in deeply, your shoulders should be still, but your hand should move as your diaphragm fills your lungs. Now you are using your lungs to capacity, taking in oxygen and burning calories with every breath.

Try Toning to Firm Up and Lose Weight

Are you a cardio junkie? Many women are - spending all their time at the gym on the Stairmaster or elliptical machines. While cardio is a great way to burn calories and stay fit, don’t skip the toning.

Adding a day of toning to your exercise routine is a great way to slim down, increase lean muscle mass and sculpt your body. What’s more, toning burns calories, increasing the effectiveness of your regular cardio workouts.

Toning helps you slim down because it increases your metabolism. When you add lean muscle, you’re adding more calorie burning power, making it easier to keep weight off. Toning also helps to rebuild bone mass, preventing osteoporosis and weakening bones as you age. Add in a boost to your immunity, more energy, lowered risk of injury and a great body image and the benefits of toning are hard to top.

So add a day or two of toning to your workouts. You’ll love your firm, sculpted body and the health benefits go far beyond skin deep.

Use Exercise to Pump Up Your Metabolism

Want To Give Your Metabolism an Early Morning Lift? Exercise!

Nothing gets your metabolism up and running like exercise, and doing it first thing in the morning gives your metabolism a boost that lasts all day, maximizing your fat burning potential. Exercise burns calories and increases muscle tissue that continues to work hard to keep you lean, even while you sleep.

To burn calories, the best workout is aerobic exercise, like walking, swimming, stair climbing or cycling. In addition to the calories you burn during your workout, your metabolism stays pumped for 6-8 hours, burning calories long after you’ve put away your gym shoes.

Consider adding a day or two of toning to your fitness regiment. Toning not only burns calories, but it increases muscle mass to keep you looking your best - fit and lean.

Get Moving!