TESTIMONIES OF THE DAY
30 Day Accelerated Meal Plan Testimony: “Thank you for your program & books. I have lost 10 pounds. One pound more today after a few weeks of stalling. Not a ton, but I am VERY insulin resistant & guess I’ve gotten older. I wasn’t able to lose anything before. Even on 600 calories of low fat per day for 6 weeks. Just over pneumonia & ready to start being active again, so look out!” – Susan
Photo Testimony Update from Dawn: “I’m still going strong and my size 4’s are getting loose while I continue to feel excellent, increased energy and down a little over 60 pounds now. Thanks Maria!
To get started on your path to health and healing, click HERE.
BROWN FAT
Have you ever heard of “CoolSculpting?” It is a new procedure that is less invasive than liposuction where the treatment basically activates brown fat.
There are 2 types of fat in the body:
1. White Adipose Tissue (WAT): WAT is what we normally refer to as “body fat”. We want to burn white fat, BUT brown fat is beneficial because it helps burn calories and burn the unhealthy WAT.
2. Brown Adipose Tissue (BAT): BAT is composed of iron-containing mitochondria (powerhouse of cells), which is best known for creating ATP (energy)…the more mitochondria = more energy!
BAT helps use excess calories for heat. If you use proper techniques, you can use BAT to your advantage so excess calories aren’t stored as WAT which ends up as undesired belly fat. Cold stimulates BAT to burn excess fat and glucose for energy. This is why Michael Phelps can consume over 12,000 calories/day. He isn’t just exercising that much, the cool water of the pool stimulates BAT, therefore, he needs extra calories to keep the weight from piling off.
TIPS:
1. Use ice packs on the back/neck for 30-60 minutes while relaxing at night when insulin levels are higher and more sensitive. Click HERE to find the one I like.
2. Soak your feet in cold water at night or right away in AM when you first wake up. This will stimulate heat throughout the day. Click HERE to find the one I like.
3. Suck on ice cubes throughout the day. I use THIS mini ice cube tray and I sweeten a touch with Fruit Punch stevia drops.
4. Have a snowcone for dessert with Tropical Punch stevia OR flavored stevia drops like Root Beer.
5. Take a cold shower upon arising.
6. Lower the temperature in your house by 5 degrees.
Drinking ice water = burn 60 calories
Sucking on 6 flavored ice cubes = burn 60 calories
Soaking feet in ice water for 5 minutes = burn 90 calories
Placing ice packs on body for 30 minutes = burn 100 calories
Lowering house temperature by 5 degrees = burn 100 calories/day
3 minute shower at 75 degrees F = burn 120 calories
Women typically have twice as much brown fat as men, so take advantage of it!!!
“HEALTHIFIED” SNOWCONE:
4 cups ice
2 strawberry tea bags
1 cup water
1 tsp NOW tropical punch stevia
Place tea bags in very hot water and let steep for 3-5 minutes. Allow to cool in the fridge (I always have strawberry iced tea in the fridge). Sweeten with stevia drops to desired sweetness. Let cool for 3 hours or overnight (some tea will steep in cool water so you don’t have to wait to cool it down!).
NOTE: FOR AN EVEN TASTIER SNOWCONE, make the tea into ice cubes and crush to make the ice for the snow-cone!
Place ice in snowcone maker (click HERE to find the one I like). Top the crushed ice with the strawberry iced tea.
NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per 8 ounce serving)
Traditional ICE-E = 117 calories, 29 g carb, 0 fiber
“Healthified” ICE-E = 0 calories, 0 carbs, 0 fiber
Amazing!
Enlightening article. Is there any special place on neck or back that we should put the ice packs? I crushed about a cup of ice today and snacked on it. Is that enough, or should I do that a few times a day. I loathe being cold, and usually do anything to avoid it, even curling up with a hot pad at night, but this makes sense to me.
Thanks! Yes, just put the ice packs on your upper shoulder area. 🙂
I just got 2 sample tea bags from Republic of Tea calling to check on their chai tea bags to make your chai of the strawvberry hibiscus so this sounds so good now need an ice shaver-might have to get the kids one for Christmas now and make this hehe
Great article, Maria.
Have you read the recent studies from Harvard Medical School and how they activated Brown Adipose Tissue with a 58°F cooling vest? They put the vest up against the weight loss drug Ephedrine and said the cooling vest worked better!
The trick is to activate brown adipose tissue at a cool not cold temperature, as when the user is cold it will induce a shiver response.
KewlFit (www.kewlfit.com) has created such a vest that maintains the same 58°F temperature and activates all the major areas of brown fat. This allows users to stimulate Brown Fat comfortably
Maria, I studied Ayurveda and I come from a background where everyone always told me to drink hot water or at least room temperature water so that the food can be digested. I want to believe what you are saying as again in our culture people jump in freezing cold water in the winter but I think you should further explain how ice cold water can be harmful for digestion. So, stay cold, drink cold water, but when you are eating drink room temperature or hot beverages. Is that what should be done?
Thank you for your explanation ahead of time.
Here is one article that I quickly found online to support my point:
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/ice-water-and-digestion.html#b
Yes, but I also don’t drink while eating as it dilutes your digestive enzymes. 🙂
I studied Ayurveda also so this is why I have struggled accepting this particular advice. Except for the cold shower part… It is so opposite even the Chinese and Japanese methodologies I know. Warm tea before and about an hour after a meal. Hot water first thing in the morning, etc. I will say warm or hot liquid following my supplements really help me post gastric surgery since my supplement cocktail is generous. Cold water was discouraged and it congeals the fat eaten when it comes in contact and slows digestion and interferes with the enzyme break down, etc.. I know I will get with the program here and get back into cold… but its hard to ‘enjoy it’ after acquiring such a strong preference for room temp water! Im taking baby steps on this one…. I’ll start with the snow cone and ice packs….and work from there! LOVE this information.. it is really challenging me with what I know.
Thank you! 🙂
So I have a progress report! I did an ice pack on the shoulders last night for about an hour or so. Not so bad and found a real comfortable way of doing it with a cloth I used in yoga that is thin enough and wraps around and holds. I even dabbled in a snow cone with just STUR pomegranate drops in it. While I took my normal relaxing hot shower after my bike ride last night, this morning I took a 5 minuted therapeutic cold shower. I began with it on very warm to luke warm, and slowly moved it into full cold. Then stood for 5 minutes front and back. MAN my back and shoulders are SUPER sensitive while the front could take it much easier. After letting it run on my back about a minute I actually got ‘used’ to it and it wasn’t so bad. I felt SO accomplished! LOL! I realized that as long as its not a cold shower to CLEAN and just a SHORT therapeutic shower, it is actually doable which was a bit of a surprise to me. I think I will try and make this a routine. Hot normal shower in the evening and a cold shower for 5 minutes in the AM. Im going to try drinking cold water today. My hot tea and hot decaf in the morning is still not going anywhere. It relaxes my throat and stomach for all the supplements I take. Im not sure why just DRINKING cold water is hard for me on some weird level but Im going to try in small amounts! LOL!
That is great! Good job! 🙂
Good point:). When do you drink hot beverages? Upon waking up hot water with lemon? From some reason I feel that hot beverages flush out my system better than cold ones. So I drink a lot of hot herbal teas.
Yes, I drink hot tea in the morning. 😉
I’ve heard this all before. We live in SW Pa – we’ve reduced our thermostat to 55 degreed F in the winter (most of you folks would be comfy at 70) there is no difference metabolically in the way you would think. My hubby and I have done our own experiments – it’s just like calories in vs calories out – bogus.
Did you then cover up with blankets and sweaters? You have to reduce your body temperature to get the effect. Ice bath, etc. Studies have show there is an effect.
Interesting. I grew up in a cool climate and never tended to wear particularly warm clothing. Something I always wondered about was my tendency to get something similar to hot flushes (thoroughly child/teen years) – do you think this could be related to the activation of brown fat as it burns heat energy? My mother always thought it was my body burning off excess energy.
Yes, that could have been the cause. 🙂
Jack Kruse talks about thermogenics on his blog.. very interesting read.. When you mentioned Cool Sculpting it reminded me that my Plastic surgeon offers a procedure called Cool Sculpting to reduce fat without surgery.
I like those little ice cubes. I wish they had a cover like my big ice cube tray from Tupperware has.
Are you saying coolsculpting targets brown fat? Thanks.
OOPS!….SORRY!…I re-read your post…I see you say it ACTIVATES it. Thank you! I have been considering coolsculpting (once I get down to my goal weight) I learn so much from you!
I can attest that this is true, specifically drinking ice water in between meals. I have tried regular water and ice water and the times I drank ice water in between meals (at least an hour after eating) I saw a bigger loss. I’ve lost about 60 lbs. altogether with diet and exercise but definitely saw accelerated fat loss during the times when i was drinking ice water. During the winter is a little more difficult but now that spring is here, I will be starting on round 2 (30 lbs. to go)!! (Btw, I learned about the cold therapy by reading Tim Ferris book “4 hour body”)
Well done on your amazing weight loss, and good luck with your last 30lbs pounds.
I am starting a diet today so reading your post has given me the motivation I need.
Inspirational.