Your Future Looks Great Part 2

Calcium is a weight loss wonder

Calcium is another doctors’ secret. When your calcium levels are low, a hormone called PTH (parathyroid hormone) and vitamin D both increase in your blood.
High levels of PTH and vitamin D are seen during food shortage situations.
This means that your body is in “starvation mode,” and will protect itself by storing more energy as fat for later use.
And that’s exactly the opposite effect that we want when trying to promote fat-burning in the body.

It’s All in Your Mind

Carbohydrates are addictive. The more you eat, the more you want. And it may be all in your mind- or more precisely, your brain.
Carbohydrate consumption raises the level of a brain chemical called serotonin.
Serotonin is a calming chemical, and promotes feelings of well-being and satisfaction.

You May Need Chocolate!

Chocolate contains and releases chemicals that improve circulation and promote feelings of being loved.
Everyone needs to be spoiled a little once in a while. And taking a little bit of something so delicious can help you avoid binging on high carbohydrate foods. But you have to be a little careful and sensible with this secret.
Too much chocolate, or the wrong kind of chocolate, can take you right out of fat-burning mode.
The right kind of chocolate to treat yourself with occasionally is semisweet dark chocolate. It can help get you through those cravings for something sweet.
A serving of approximately 10 semi-sweet baking chocolate chips contains 9 grams of carbohydrate and 4 grams of fat. But used as a “medicine,” they can actually help when you need to treat yourself, or you feel like you just have to have something sweet.
Here’s the trick- take 10 of these delicious dark chocolate morsels and eat them very slowly. Try not to chew them at all. Just let the sweetness dissolve in your mouth, and savor it.
Pay attention to how it makes you feel- loved and “treated” to something special. Then, put the rest of the bag away.
Remember, just a tiny bit of semisweet chocolate before you have cravings is sufficient, and helpful. :)