Metabolic Pumps (2 of 4)

My mom is a health nut, which was ok with me growing up since if we wanted junk food we can just drive out of the house. But now I thank her for making my transition to a healthy life much easier because turns out we've been eating healthy stuff all our lives (we still argue about my sweet intake all the time, though).

Here's a some of the food lying around in our house all the time, and incorporated in our food preparation. This article is meant to get you started in increasing your metabolic rate. The list  is a product of random readings and our lifestyle.

Second of four posts.

5. Dark Chocolate - we lived with dark chocolate growing up because whenever my mom would buy from Santi's Delicassen (or where ever else), it would always be blocks of dark chocolate. So now I have the blehk feeling when I eat milk chocolate. Having chocolate each day reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which prompts the body to store fat. Dark chocolate, however, is famous for being an aphrodisiac.

I've watched Chocolat severeal times because it combines three beautiful things - (dark) chocolate, the French countryside, and Johnny Depp

6. Apples - Keeping the doctor away with low-calorie source of fiber. Easy to crunch and munch, especially for lazy people like me who prefer fast food from the fridge. Our dog Pandora also has a serving of it in the afternoons. House rule: if there's only a few apples left, it's all for Pandora.

7. Grapefruit - High in antioxidants, reduce insulin levels. Love it when the juice squirts out of the pulp! 

8.Avocado- Monosaturated fats that help control the metabolic rate. Very good afternoon snack of avocado, coconut sugar and ice.

9. Almonds - Awesome with monosaturated fats, give dieters a sense of satiety, hence eating less. Sometimes we keep a bottle of mixed almonds, walnuts and dried berries or raisins for random munching while working or watching TV. Stay healthy, be happy!