But this number isn’t set in stone. You can boost how much you burn up — your basal metabolic rate — by tweaking your lifestyle and what you eat or drink. The more efficient and “hot” your metabolism, the more effortless your fitness and weight maintenance.

Wake up and chug water:

Your body requires proper hydration to flush toxins, transport nutrients where they need to go, and recover after hitting the gym. Just a slight level of dehydration can negatively impact your metabolism. For example, studies have found that proper hydration levels are crucial for metabolizing lipids — also known as fat! Drinking water also helps you stabilize your body temperature, lubricates your joints, and helps with proper elimination of waste through bowel movements and urination.

The Institute of Medicine suggests that men should drink approximately 13 cups of water a day, while women should drink approximately 9 cups. Water needs can rise or fall depending on physical activity, humidity and temperature levels and more.

Cut out sugary drinks:

Sugary beverages don’t just add empty calories to your diet, but they can actually slow your metabolism. Sugar can also mess with your blood sugar levels and insulin resistance, leading to further side effects. Instead, enjoy hot or iced green tea throughout the day. Green tea is one of the most popular metabolism-boosters on the market. Its catechins, an active compound in the tea leaves, can enhance metabolism rates. Plus, green tea offers additional benefits, such as potentially lowering your risks of some forms of cancer.

Add protein to every meal:

When planning your breakfasts, lunches and dinners, ensure there’s a nice protein source at each sitting. That’s because protein has a greater thermogenic effect on your body. This refers to how much energy your body needs to digest and process the food you eat. Compared to carbohydrates, the thermogenic effect of protein is 25% while the effect from carbs is 5%. In other words, your body uses dramatically more energy to burn off protein. Make your food work even harder for you at every meal!

Build muscle:

A big mistake that people make when trying to lose weight is focusing on cardio. Such exercises can boost your health, but they have a lower impact on your actual metabolism. Instead, focus on weight-bearing exercises, such as bench presses or dumbbell curls. Muscle tissue burns more energy than fat tissues, so changing the ratio of muscle to fat in your body can elevate your metabolism over time.

If you do choose to continue doing cardio, try high intensity interval training (HIIT). This combines brief spurts of high intensity exercise with slower, more moderate speeds, and the end effect can enhance the rate that your body burns up fat.

De-stress:

As your day winds to a close, take a deep breath. Hold it for a second, then exhale slowly to the count of five. Repeat for a few rounds to slowly calm yourself and release the stress you’ve accumulated throughout the day. Regular breathing exercises, yoga, meditation and similar mindfulness techniques can help you manage your stress in a healthy way. Chronic stress releases cortisol, which prompts your body to store fat. De-stressing and getting enough sleep boosts your metabolism, allowing your body to focus on itself instead of trying to manage all the various external stimulants our modern life throws at it.

This might not seem like a massive number, but it can really add up over the years. Plus, as time progresses, that extra weight can cause hormone imbalances, insulin resistance and other side effects that make the weight pile on faster than Santa Claus coming down the chimney.

This winter, make a pledge to yourself that you’ll find ways to work physical activity into your week. And because it’s a festive season, get off that boring treadmill! With snow days and twinkling lights putting us all into a great mood, winter is the perfect time to enjoy the crisp outdoors, burn off a few calories and have so much fun while we’re doing it that we don’t even realize that it’s — gasp — exercise!

Casual Dancing

When the DJ calls everyone onto the dance floor at your next holiday banquet, jingle it all the way! In just one hour of shaking it on the dance floor, the average 175-lb. adult burns 198 calories.

Housework

It’s easy to break a sweat while you dust the cabinets to make room for your Christmas snow globes, and wiping down said snow globes before your mother-in-law comes over also burns a few calories. In fact, cleaning up your home for the next family holiday get-together burns almost 200 calories in an hour.

Snowskiing

Head downhill and you’ll burn off 330 calories worth of Christmas junkfood. Head crosscountry instead, and the calories burned jump to moer than 460 calories.

Snowshoeing

Snowshoeing is the perfect way to immerse yourself in nature and squeeze a hike into even the most snowy of days. This classic Christmas pasttime will burn you almost 530 calories in an hour.

Walking

Take a brisk walk around the neighborhood after dinner, and you’ll burn just over 250 calories. The fresh air can wake you up after indulging in a bit too much food. Research has shown that daily walks can also brighten your mood, the perfect way to keep a cheerful attitude when the days are cold and short (and when family awkwardness often bubbles to the surface).

Practice Winter Safety

While enjoying your favorite winter activities, don’t forget that it also exposes you to a few safety hazards. Don’t let a winter hazard keep you away from the mistletoe. The CDC recommends the following safety precautions this holiday:

• Wear appropriate outdoor clothing: layers of light, warm clothing; mittens; hats; scarves; and waterproof boots.
• Sprinkle cat litter or sand on icy patches.
• Learn safety precautions to follow when outdoors.
  • Be aware of the wind chill factor.
  • Work slowly when doing outside chores.
  • Take a buddy and an emergency kit when you are participating in outdoor recreation.
  • Carry a cell phone.
• Protect your family from carbon monoxide.
  • Keep grills, camp stoves, and generators out of the house, basement and garage.
  • Locate generators at least 20 feet from the house.
  • Leave your home immediately if the CO detector sounds, and call 911.

It seems easier to lose the first 30 pounds than the last bit of fat around your middle.

And if you’re like me, you want to get lean — for reasons that may vary from improved physical performance to better health to better looks. It’s not always easy to get rid of that stubborn belly fat — or any fat, for that matter, as you can’t “spot reduce” just your belly fat.

So I’ve created a list of things you can do to break through that plateau, if you’ve been exercising and eating fairly healthy for awhile but have seen your progress slow considerably. That’s the situation I found myself in recently, and these are the techniques I’ve been using to pretty good success.

Who Should Use These Tips

Again, this post is aimed at those who have been exercising regularly for at least a few months and who already eat fairly healthy. It’s for those who want to break through a plateau and speed up their fat-burning, lean-making progress. It’s for those who are looking for leanness and not hugeness.

If that’s you, read on.

If you don’t exercise regularly, I highly recommend you start right away (assuming you don’t have major health problems) and that you start out slowly. These tips aren’t for you. Start with: get healthy and fit with exercise, and 4 simple steps to start the exercise habit.

If you regularly eat junk food — that’s sugary foods, fried foods, fast foods, fatty foods, processed foods, or refined carbs — this isn’t the place to start. Better to start with the basics — learning to slowly wean yourself from these junk foods and start eating mostly whole foods instead. I’m not saying you can never have sweets or french fries, but you should cut back on them and only have them in moderation. Start here: get healthy and fit by eating healthy.

If you are looking to build massive amounts of muscle, this post isn’t for you. To do that, the prescription is pretty simple: 1) do compound lifts like the squat, deadlift, bench press, standing military press, standing barbell row, power clean, pullup, etc.; 2) lift heavy and continue to progress; 3) eat a LOT, including lots of protein. I recommend lifting 3 times a week, full body routine, unless you’re a serious bodybuilder (in which case, you know better than I do how to reach your goals).

But if you’re looking to get lean, as I said, these tips will help take you from your foundation of healthy eating and regular exercise to your goal of losing that last bit of stubborn fat.

How to Rev Up Your Fat Burning

You don’t have to do all of the following tips — pick ones that will work best for you and give them a try. If they don’t do much after a few weeks, try some of the other tips:

1. Lean Your Diet. I typically eat pretty healthy. As a vegetarian, I stick with lots of veggies, fruits, lean protein, nuts, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and good fats. For the most part. But I also allow myself some indulgences, including veggie pizza, some sweets, and other treats. And while I think that’s a good lifestyle to have, sometimes you have to get a little strict with yourself for a little while to achieve your goals. So right now I’m on a self-created diet with only one menu plan — I eat the same things every day. I have a set breakfast, set lunch, set dinner, and set snacks. I’ve taken the choice out of eating, and for me that’s been working. That might not work for everyone. The key is to cut out the junk food and other treats (except for maybe 1-2 cheat meals a week). Cut back on grains for a little while and focus more on lean protein, veggies, fruits and good fats. With a diet like this, you’ll get lean faster.
2. Intervals. If you do cardio exercise such as running, cycling, rowing, or what have you … rev it up with higher-intensity intervals. This means going at a little under full speed for a short interval, and then going slow for another short interval. There are tons of great interval workouts, but one of my favorites recently are Tabata Intervals — basically 20 seconds of intense exercise, then 10 seconds of rest … and repeat those intervals 8 times. That’s a total of four minutes — a great workout in a short amount of time. I suggest easing into interval training if you haven’t done much of it before — just pick up the pace for a minute, then go slower for another minute. Don’t overdo it at first. Also realize that if you do intense intevals, you will probably have to cut back on the duration of the exercise.
3. Metcon Workouts. These are usually workouts that combine strength training with cardio at high intensities. Generally they’re about 20 minutes (give or take 10 minutes), and they use a combination of exercises with no rest in between. Crossfit is the ultimate expression of this philosophy — typical workouts include doing four rounds of 400-meter sprints and 50 squats (as fast as you can) … or 100 pullups, 100 pushups, 100 situps, 100 squats (as fast as you can). See Crossfit’s “girl named Workouts of the Day” for more examples.
4. Hills. If you normally run, add some challenge to your runs with hills. Hills are like strength training for runners. They add intensity and are a great way to rev up the fat burning. I suggest easing into hill running if you’re not used to it. Start by running a slightly hilly course — gentle, rolling hills. Then run a course with hills that are a bit tougher. Then, when you’re good and strong (after a few weeks), do some hill repeats up a challenging hill — run hard up the hill, then go easy down the hill, for 5-7 repeats. You’ll curse my name when you’re done.
5. Heavy Weights. If you normally do strength training, but only do bodyweight exercises (which are great) or do high reps with lighter or medium weights, try increasing the intensity. Do this gradually, of course, as you don’t want to overdo it at first. Shoot for 3 sets of 5 reps with a heavier weight, for each exercise you do. This will help you to build more muscle and increase your metabolism.
6. Compound Lifts. Combine the above tip of lifting heavier weights with this tip — only do compound lifts. That means no isolation lifts, where you’re only working one muscle group at a time. Be sure that each lift uses two or more joints. Bicep curls are an example of an isolation lift — only the elbow joint is involved. Examples of compound lifts include the bench press (shoulder and elbow joints involved), the pullup (again, shoulder and elbow), squat (knees and hips and back). With compound lifts, you are working more muscles at once, and as a result you’re going to build more muscle overall. Compound lifts are also more functional — they mimick real-world motions. No one lifts anything like they do in a bicep curl, but we squat every day (think of picking something up off the floor, or sitting down and then getting up).
7. Extra Activities. If you’re doing all of the above tips, you’re on a great track to get lean. But if you’ve stepped up the intensity and are eating super lean for a month or so and want to take it to the next level, then add some extra activities to your schedule several times a week. These could include anything where you get active for at least 30 minutes: playing sports, going on a hike, doing some yardwork, doing some intense house cleaning (no, the Roomba doesn’t count), going swimming, etc. Just get active, in addition to your regular workouts. This extra activity will help you burn those extra calories and help break through your plateau.

To take running as an example: I began running in the morning at the time just before the sun rises, and as I did my morning run, the sky became an amazing display of colors. I would look up at the sky as I ran, taking in this daily miracle, take a deep breath, and say to myself, “What a glorious day!” It was truly a celebration of life. The next morning, I would look forward to greeting the new day this way. It was a pleasure.

Another example: making your exercise or other activity a social activity can make it fun. You might go cycling with a group, for example, and chat with them as you ride. Or run with a group. If you do this, you don’t even realize you’re working out!

Yet another example: Let’s say you want to keep track of your expenses each day, or write every morning. Well, you could make a little ritual where you input your expenses in your spreadsheet, or write for 30 minutes, while taking in your first cup of coffee in the morning. Savor the aroma and flavor of the coffee, sip it slowly while doing the activity you want. Or it could be hot chocolate, or in my case fresh berries. Whatever would make the activity a pleasure.

If your goal activity becomes a treat, you actually look forward to it. And that’s a good thing.

Choosing a gym is a lot like marriage these days: you get caught up by appearances, then you sign a piece of paper that promises “until death do us part, or at least a year or two.” Since most gyms have massive contracts that lock you in for a specified amount of time, and impart hefty penalties should you try to get out early, it’s important to dive beyond the spectacle (Shiny machines! Club music! Overenthusiastic personal trainer!) and look for the qualities that are truly necessary for a good, healthy and safe workout.

1. Costs

Research by CNBC found that the typical person pays between $40 and $50 a month for a gym membership. But don’t forget about the initiation fee, which often ranges in the $100 to $200 range, plus incidental fees such as add-ons for classes or personal training.

2. Equipment

Some gyms have a lot of machines. Others put more of an emphasis on free weights. Identify your training style and make sure the gym has the specific equipment you need.

3. Crowds

Visit the gym on a day and a time that you would normally work out. Then,  come back one or two more days at the same time. Are the machines you would need available, or do you have to wait for 20 minutes before the things you need become free?

4. Operating hours

Some gyms are open for 24 hours. Others are much more restrictive. Make sure the gym is open at the times you’ll need it most, especially on the weekends and during holidays.

5. Sanitation

Don’t work out in other people’s sweat. Look around the gym and note how clean it is. Do the staff do a good job of picking up trash from the ground? Are there an ample supply of towels and cleaning spray near the workout stations?

‘The art of living well and the art of dying well are one.’ ~Epicurus

I don’t have health insurance, so I have a big investment in staying healthy. And so I did a little research today — I found the top causes of death, then created a spreadsheet for the controllable risk factors for each.

Some things can’t be controlled, such as your age, family history of diseases and gender. But other factors can be changed. And those things aren’t a huge surprise — you already know not to smoke, drink too much, or eat crappily.

It’s interesting, though, how all of the major diseases are caused by the same things: smoking, diet, exercise, alcohol and stress.

Below, I’ll list the top habits you can change right now, today, and four simple tips for achieving the healthy change you need.

The 8 Habits of Healthy Living

1. Stop smoking. This is by far the most important habit, as it affects almost every single one of the leading causes of death. While it’s also the hardest of these habits to change, it’s not at all impossible — I quit six years ago.

2. Lose weight (if you’re overweight). This is not exactly a habit — the best habit to form to lose weight is to eat less. Or eat more of things that don’t have a lot of calories, like fruits and veggies. Being overweight is just below smoking in terms of the worst risk factors for many diseases.

3. Exercise. You don’t need me to tell you to exercise, but listen to this: Lack of exercise is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, colon & rectal cancers, diabetes, breast cancer, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. If you don’t exercise, you’re just asking to get a major disease. It’s almost a magic pill: do a bit of exercise every day, and you get healthy. You don’t need much — start with 5 minutes a day in the morning.

4. Drink only in moderation. Heavy drinking is one of the worst risk factors for many diseases. That’s more than two alcoholic drinks a day for men, and more than one drink for women. A glass of red wine is a good thing, but too many and you’re greatly increasing your risk of disease.

5. Cut out red and processed meats. Eating red meats, and processed meats like sausages, bacon, canned meats and so on, is a risk factor for colon/rectal cancer, stomach cancer, and high cholesterol, which in turn is a leading risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke. While this won’t sit well with many people, the overwhelming mass of research supports this. I recommend going vegetarian.

6. Eat fruits and veggies. This is obvious, but it’s amazing how few veggies most people eat. Eating fruits and veggies reduces your risk of several leading diseases, and it’s one of the easiest habits to form. Eat a salad (without heavy dressings, bacon or other meats, croutons or cheese). Add veggies to soups or veggie chili. Cook up veggies as a healthy side dish with dinner or lunch. Eat fruits with breakfast and as snacks.

7. Reduce salt, and saturated/trans fats. Salt and saturated or trans fats are in so many processed or prepared foods, and they increase risks of high blood pressure and high cholesterol, which increases your risk for heart disease and stroke. Despite what the Weston Price Foundation and other people on the Internet tell you, saturated fat isn’t healthy — read the sources. Note that this isn’t a controversy in the medical community, but the “harmlessness” of saturated fats is perpetuated by the diary and meat industries, and lay writers like Gary Taube. Cook your own healthy meals instead of eating out or eating prepared foods.

8. Reduce stress. Stress is a risk factor for heart disease and high blood pressure, which is itself a risk factor for stroke. Simplify your workday so that you’re not overly stressed, and exercise to relieve stress.

How to Form the Habits

This might seem like a lot to change, if you’re not already doing these things, but let me share something with you: I changed all of these in the last six years.

In 2005, I was incredibly unhealthy. Then I learned to change my habits, and slowly I:

• Quit smoking.
• Started running.
• Became vegan.
• Lost 70 pounds.
• Cleaned up my diet and got rid of unhealthy stuff.
• Simplified my life and reduced stress.
• Cut drinking down to one to two glasses of red wine a day.

I did it, and so can you. I changed one habit at a time, slowly, in tiny tiny steps, and it wasn’t hard. Don’t try to change everything, and don’t make it hard on yourself. It’s actually very easy if you’re patience and if you just start.

Here’s how to change these habits:

• Change only one habit at a time. It doesn’t matter which habit you choose. Just choose one. You’ll want to do more than one, but don’t.
• Create positive habits you enjoy. Read the last word again — if you enjoy it, the habit change will be easy. Replace smoking with positive habits you enjoy that fulfill the needs that smoking now fulfills (stress reduction, social lubrication, boredom relief, etc.). Replace red meats with healthy foods you enjoy.
• Start as small as possible. Just do five minutes of exercise the first week, and try to be consistent as possible. Then do 10 minutes. Small change is by far the most effective method I’ve used for changing habits. Slow change lasts.
• Make it social. Find a partner or group to change the habit with you, so you’re more likely to stick with it.

These work. I’ve done them many times, and every time I stick to these principles, I’ve changed a habit. Healthy living isn’t impossible, or even especially difficult. It’s just slower to come by than most people care for.

“It seems too obvious to state, but the most common sign that someone is not getting enough sleep is that they are sleepy during the day,” says Patty Tucker, a sleep medicine specialist who has worked with thousands of patients at an American Academy of Sleep Medicine-accredited sleep disorders center. “Falling asleep or even nodding off briefly when you don’t intend to is a sure sign of excessive daytime sleepiness,” she says.

Other signs can be less visible.  “Another less obvious sign of sleep deprivation is emotional fragility,” reports Tucker. “Someone who feels overwhelmed, is too quick to react, is overly sensitive or is generally irritable may just need more sleep.”

But it’s about more than just yawning awkwardly at your work colleague or nodding off during lunch. Sleep deficits create precarious, physical hazards. In fact, the CDC notes that approximately 24 million Americans experience difficulties with driving due to their lack of sufficient sleep. Meanwhile, an estimated 7.2 percent of Americans between the ages of 25 and 35 actually report that they have occasionally fallen asleep while at the wheel. “The most dangerous result of sleep deprivation is probably death from car crashes,” warns Tucker. “More than 1,500 people are killed in drowsy-driving accidents every year.”

And the list goes on and on, like a bad nightmare. “Sleep deprivation leads to problems from head to toe,” says Tucker. “Fuzzy thinking, impaired memory, depressed immune function, increased risk of heart disease and diabetes, decreased human growth hormone and testosterone levels are all linked to sleep deprivation.”

Protein shakes pack a muscle-building punch.

Protein shakes can boost your athletic performance, no matter what kind of workout you’re into. Pumping weights, running, swimming, catching alligators on Swamp People — you name it! But don’t just follow the boring protein shake recipes printed on the label of your protein powder. To really boost your performance, amp up your protein shake’s health power with a few fitness tricks.

Start with nonfat milk for an instant mineral and electrolyte boost compared to plain old water. If you’re interested in reducing your animal protein intake, opt for unsweetened almond milk — it has less starch than traditional soy milk, and also counters any fears you may have about the hormone effects of soy protein.

Add a scoop of your favorite protein powder. If you’re going the traditional whey protein route, choose a protein powder made from whey protein isolate. It has the purest, most concentrated form of protein. For example, whey concentrate often ranges between 30 and 40 per cent protein while whey isolate can hit 95 to 99 per cent. If you’re a plant-based athlete, try a protein powder like Vega that is manufactured from sprouted grains and hemp protein.

Mix in two tablespoons of peanut butter. This imparts some thickness and rich flavor to your protein shake and matches almost all the protein shake flavors out there, especially berry- or chocolate-flavored shakes. This small addition increases your shake’s protein numbers by approximately eight grams, while also slightly increasing your carb intake by six grams — this tiny carb boost may help you to absorb more protein. Plus, peanut butter has heart-protecting healthy fats.

Blend in a tablespoon of flaxseed. It may sound weird, but this health food store staple gives your protein shake 1.5 grams of omega-3 fatty acids. In a randomized trial published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2011, researchers found that omega-3s increased muscle protein synthesis. Meanwhile, a 2011 study in London’s Clinical Science journal noted that oemga-3 fatty acids augmented muscle protein anabolic response.

With these four tricks, you’ll improve the taste, texture and appeal of your ordinary protein shake while also enhancing its ability to help you recover from your workouts and experience increased physical gains.

1. Down a Pint of Beer

Approximately 200,000 people in more than 16 research studies were analyzed by the Fondazion di Ricerca e Cura in Italy. The researchers found that men and women who drank a pint of beer every day had a 31 per cent lower risk of heart disease. That may be because beer raises your body’s levels of “healthy” high-density lipoprotein.

2. Watch a Scary Movie

In Saw, various organs get sliced and diced, but the increased heart rate triggered by horror movies may actually strengthen your heart, according to researchers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

3. Beans, Beans are Good for Your Heart

Eating a minimum of four servings of beans every week can reduce your risk of various forms of heart disease by 22 per cent compared to people who eat one serving of beans or less per week, reports the American Institute for Cancer Research.

4. Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand

The University of North Carolina found that holding hands or hugging someone for 10 minutes reduces your blood pressure. So go ahead, hug the person next to you. However, avoid any touching that could get you in trouble with the police.

5. Laugh

Laughing “is an active process and may have a direct impact on improving the lining of the blood vessels,” Michael Miller, M.D., director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology, tells the University of Maryland Medical Center. Time to stock your Netflix queue with reruns of Big Bang Theory!

6. Urinate More Often

In an unusual study conducted by the Taiwan University, researchers noted that having a full bladder creates stress that constricts your body’s blood flow by 19 per cent and increases your heart rate, which one of the study’s researchers says could be enough heart stress to cause a heart attack.

7. Sip Some Tea

While green tea gets a lot of positive press, black tea is also rich in antioxidants. Both teas can help reduce blood vessel constriction and protect your arteries.

8. Kill Your Neighbors

Noisy neighbors can be a downer, literally. A study in Germany found that people who lived where nighttime noises reached higher than 55 decibels were twice as likely to experience high blood pressure as those who had quieter evening surroundings. For the record, 55 decibels is the average sound level of a suburban street.

9. Start Your Day with Oatmeal

Oatmeal’s high fiber levels scrub your arteries clear, raise your levels of good cholesterol and reduce your levels of bad cholesterol. Make your breakfast even more heart-healthy by adding fiber-rich fruit such as a banana.

10. Stop Reading This Article

A study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that people who spent more than four hours a day sitting around in front of their computer or TV had a 125 per cent increased risk of having a heart attack or stroke.