JUST BREATHE.

A powerful piece of simple advice that I have been applying a lot in the recent months.

As it turns out, there is a surprising regulator of fat burning and metabolic improvement that is free, accessible 100% of the time, and something you already do, just maybe not well.

Fat burning has a particular metabolic “coin” so to speak, that on one side provides a major ingredient to each cell needed to break down and “burn” fat, while the other side of the coin determines how much fat breakdown occurs over all.

What could it be? Believe it or not, breathing.

The oxygen we breathe in and the rate in which we can process it effectively provides a key ingredient that drives the breakdown of fat.

Ever wonder where fat “goes” when we lose it or burn it off? The ultimate end to fat is it is expelled from the body through our breath. We essentially breathe it out.

The rate in which we can get out our exhaled breath determines how much fat we burn, it is called a negative feedback mechanism.

We will not burn more fat than we can breathe out because that breath carries metabolic waste and is toxic.

This is yet another way that exercise, fresh air, and breathing techniques can all aid in our health and ultimately in our fat burning or weight loss efforts.

This is why I include it in all my programs.

Here are some tips to increasing your fat burning potential through your breathe:

  1. Take multiple short, low intensity walks throughout the day focusing on easy deep breathing.
  2. Practice paced breathing where you take a 5 second inhalation then a 5 second exhalation for 3-5 minutes a couple times a day.
  3. Practice pre-breathing where you start breathing deeper during the early phase of exercise before you really “need” to and then keep it deep and steady when things get more intense.

Good ways to monitor your breathing efficiency if you are interested, but by no means are “needed”:

  1. Heart rate variability monitor
  2. Pulse oxygen meters
  3. Paced breathing capacity (longer the better)

See my friends, there are many reasons to slow down a bit and take a deep breath, enjoy!

We can do better!

Dr. Don