• Massage increases the serotonin in your body, also known as the “feel good chemical”, which makes you less likely to turn to food to feel better emotionally.

• Massage gets you in touch with your body (we call it the “mind-body connection”) so you are better able to acknowledge and follow your body’s hunger/satiety cues, thereby preventing overeating.  Studies have shown that yoga has this effect as well.

• Massage decreases the stress hormones cortisol and epinephrine, which are known to promote fat storage in chronically stressed individuals.   Hence why some people gain weight when working at a stressful job or  going through a major life change… isn’t it nice to know that a simple massage every now and then will help break that stress/weight cycle?

The solution is to first recognize the problem and figure out how to improve your sleep so that you wake up feeling rested.  If the noise/lights of the city is the problem, earplugs/white noise machines/eye masks/dark curtains are all good tools to improve your night’s sleep.  For anxiety after a stressful day, journaling your thoughts and soothing your nerves with Sleepytime tea and a hot bath can help a lot.  Valerian root tea is another option that is a little stronger than Sleepytime tea, but should not be used if you take other sedative medications.

If neither of these are the problem, ask your doctor if you can be evaluated for sleep apnea.  There are oxygen masks you can wear at night if you are diagnosed with sleep apnea to improve your night breathing for a more restful sleep.

Furthermore, it’s amazing how regular exercise will make you feel tired at night and you can’t help but drift off into a deep sleep!

A  regular  good night’s sleep will help regulate your metabolism and help you have the willpower to choose healthy foods instead of craving sugar for fast energy.

There are all kinds of guidelines out there for how much physical activity we should be getting each day.  But let’s set that aside, because the truth is that if you want to lose weight, it doesn’t really matter what or how much you do, as long as it is more than what you are currently doing.  It’s all relative.  For example, couch potatoes will find the weight melts off if they just start taking walks more often, whereas New Yorkers who walk every day as a baseline have to add something more to cause the pounds to come off.

Important factors regarding the success of your physical activity are that it be enjoyable for you so that you continue to do it and that you include a variety of activities because there will come a point where your body gets efficient at doing your exercise of choice and then it will no longer result in weight loss.  A good combination to strive for is some form of cardio (walks, running, dance, biking, etc), with stretches (Yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates) and also occasional weight-bearing activities (either free weights or general activities like push-ups and even carrying your bike up & down the stairs count!)  But again, anything that is above and beyond the everyday for you will be beneficial.

My current routine is a run in the park + stretches on Tuesdays, dance class + stretches on Thursdays, and a bike ride on Sundays (which always involves lifting my bike up and down stairs too).  This is constantly changing though – sometimes I do the elliptical machine at the gym, or yoga class, or my pilates video, or a core calisthenics routine I saw in a magazine.  There is also a great program you can download from www.workrave.org that forces me to take computer stretch breaks (you just have to set the parameters for how often and how long you want the stretch break to be).  All of this variety is important so that I don’t get bored with doing any one thing.

Starting any physical activity can initially be tough  – you may feel tired at first and get sore the next day.  But there are so many positives that come out of exercising that make it worth it:  you will sleep better, you will have increased energy after the first few days, your circulation & skin tone will improve as you will be drinking more water, and you will combat depression when the feel good hormone serotonin is released into your system during exercise.  Take notice of these positive outcomes to reinforce the effort you have made. Many people are surprised at how good they can really feel and the difference it makes in their everyday life!

Optimal fuel for your metabolic fire is a combination of complex carbohydrates (ie. fruit or whole grains) with protein or healthy fat, which slows the absorption into your system.  Hence this type of fuel will stick with you for 3 to 4 hours.  Example snacks include:  apple with natural peanut butter, pear with cheese, whole wheat pita dipped in hummus, or pineapple mixed with lowfat cottage cheese.

But unlike a fire, the other optimal fuel ingredient for your metabolism is WATER.  Too often we confuse thirst with being hungry and end up eating more than we need while trying to satisfy ourselves.  The simple solution is to carry a water bottle with you everywhere you go – you will be constantly reminded of the need to drink throughout the day when the water is right in front of you.  Not only does water improve metabolism, it keeps you looking younger and fresh as it flushes impurities from your body.

So the optimal ingredients equation to set your metabolism on fire = complex carbs + lean protein or healthy fat  every 3 to 4 hours + water.

Eat Breakfast, and then eat again every 3-4 hours. Every day, a first time client says to me, “I don’t know why I weigh so much – I hardly eat anything!”  They may be only eating 1 meal a day, and never feel very hungry at all.  My response is that infrequent meals are causing their sluggish metabolism, and their lack of hunger /excess weight is a symptom of that slow metabolism.

Think of your metabolism like a fire.  If you only get your fire started at 5pm when you eat dinner, then your fire is only burning for those few hours between dinner and bed-time.  But if you get your “metabolism fire” started first thing in the morning (ie. breakfast), and then put a log on that fire every 3-4 hours (ie. snacks/mini-meals), then you will have a roaring metabolic fire burning calories all day long!

If you are not already in the habit of eating breakfast, then it will probably feel like you are forcing yourself at first.  But if you consistently eat breakfast for a month’s time (even with something small like just a fruit or yogurt),  you will begin to wake up hungry – and that is a sign that you have increased your metabolism.