Year 3, Day 19: If it's Monday, It's NUTS

My extra-small salad made me feel like I could eat more snacks. The royal gala apple I had was so inferior that I tossed it after sadly eating half of it. I made my way for the popcorn, but an hour later I WAS STILL HUNGRY.

I reached for the nuts, and you know what happens. I even took some stale pistachios in the car. How sad is that?

Breakfast
Kashi Go Lean!
Heritage Flakes
Blueberries
Banana
Unsweetened Soy Milk
Coffee

Snack
2 oz 50% jalapeno cheddar
5 sticks beef jerky
8 almonds
30 pistachios
1/2 apple
2 cups boston lite popcorn

Russo's ($4.45)
Romaine, red pepper, red onion, feta
chicken, broccoli, mushrooms, balsamic vinegar, pepperocini

Dinner (Leftovers)
Chicken breast
green beans and string beans

From RunnersWorld.com Start Your Engine

Now that you've taken Metabolism 101, here are 10 easy ways to coax your body to burn more calories all day long.

1. Reach for green tea. Research shows that drinking 2 to 4 cups of green tea a day can significantly boost your metabolism. Unlike black tea, green tea contains a phytochemical called ECGC, which researchers believe can cause the body to waste calories as heat, thus speeding calorie burn.

Some supplement companies have tried to capitalize on this research by including green tea extract in their formulations of products such as multivitamins. But the jury is still out on whether these supplements contain enough of the right extracts to speed weight loss. For now, your best bet is to sip the real thing.

2. Spice things up. If you enjoy hot, spicy foods, take note: You can increase the amount of calories your body burns during digestion by adding hot peppers from the "capsaicin" family, such as jalapeno and serrano peppers, to your meals. The studies done on hot peppers and caloric burn show an effect with 2 to 3 grams of capsaicin, but I recommend sticking to a level of hotness you can comfortably tolerate. (Just remember to always use gloves when dicing hot peppers to avoid accidentally transferring their hot oil to your eyes or nose.)

3. Eat protein at every meal. Your digestive tract has to work harder to break down protein than it does to break down carbohydrate, which increases caloric burn during digestion. This doesn't mean you should switch to a high-protein diet, however, since runners need carbohydrates for muscle fuel. Instead, include some low-fat protein with every meal or snack to boost calorie burn. For example, if you usually snack on pretzels and sports drink, consider switching to pretzels with nonfat milk.

4. Eat fish and flax. New research shows that omega-3 fatty acids, a type of polyunsaturated fat found in fish and flax seeds, encourage your fat cells to send the "we're full" signal to your brain. This, in turn, causes the brain to send the signal to your metabolism to burn more calories. So consider switching from beef or chicken to fish as often as possible, and mix flax meal into your baked-goods recipes.

5. Switch to healthy fats. Researchers at Monash University in Australia found that switching from saturated fats (such as butter) to monounsaturated fats (such as olive or canola oil) increases caloric burn. In the study, participants were served the same breakfast a few weeks apart. One breakfast was cooked in butter; the other was cooked in olive oil. After eating the breakfast made with olive oil, the participants burned more fat and stored less fat than they did after eating the breakfast made with butter.

6. Consume more dairy products. During the past few years, researchers have uncovered a surprising connection between calcium and fat burning. The theory: Diets that include adequate calcium (1,000 to 1,300 milligrams per day) result in more weight loss than diets that include less calcium. It's thought that calcium plays a key role in regulating fat-cell metabolism and fat storage. In other words, when you eat enough calcium, your body prefers to break down and use fats. When you don't eat enough calcium, your body prefers to store fat.

More evidence suggests that eating foods high in calcium, such as low-fat dairy products, boosts metabolism better than taking calcium supplements. This may be because some other substance in food--possibly whey protein--is needed for calcium to do its job.

7. Eat regularly. Since the "feast-or-famine days" of our distant ancestors, our bodies have become hardwired to conserve calories when faced with a food shortage. So, when you skip meals, your body immediately slows your RMR. And when you skip meals on a regular basis, your RMR may remain permanently low. To keep this from happening, make sure you eat at least three meals a day--every day. And add some healthy snacks as well. Remember: Everytime you eat something, you add fuel to your metabolic fire.

8. Eat more. Now here's a tip you probably didn't expect, but chronic calorie restriction trains your body to survive on fewer calories. As you eat fewer and fewer calories, your body adapts by slowing your metabolism, at which point you'll never kiss those last 5 pounds good-bye.

The solution? Eat just a bit more--about 250 to 400 additional calories a day. This can help rev your engine and allow weight loss to take place.

9. Run harder. Sure, if you add more miles to your current running program, you'll burn more calories. That's the simple truth about running: The more miles you run, the more calories you burn. But let's say you don't want to run more miles. Fine, try varying your intensity instead.

Rather than running the same pace day after day, add bursts of faster running that last for 60 to 90 seconds. The added intensity will increase your caloric after-burn during the 24 hours after your workout as your body recovers from the added physical stress and restores muscle glycogen and protein.

10. Lift weights. If you aren't doing some form of strength training, it's time to start. The more muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn all day long. And it only takes two workouts a week to make a difference. For a fun strength workout at home, try using a fitness ball--those large, air-filled balls that are all the rage in gyms these days.

Visit lizapplegate.com for more nutrition and fitness tips from Liz or for information on her new book Bounce Your Body Beautiful.