Green Tea Metabolism Booster

Are y’all ready for this green tea metabolism booster?

Technically, I can’t claim credit for this green tea metabolism booster recipe, because it was actually given to me by my nutritionist (although I have tweaked it a bit, as you’ll see later on).  The great thing about it is that it’s all-natural, so you can serve it to the whole family.  PLUS you can enjoy its other health benefits, such as it’s antioxidant power and immune system support.  Score!

So before I get into how to make and use this green tea metabolism booster, I want to talk about what I was doing in a nutritionists office, and why I even needed to lose weight in the first place.

My whole life, I’ve never really cared about my weight.  It wasn’t an issue, I never really gave it much thought.  I also didn’t give much thought to the food I was putting into my body.  Carbs, proteins, fats, oils, sugars, blah blah blah, categorizing food was too much of a hassle for me.  I ate what I liked, but ate in small portions, and my metabolism pretty much had me covered.  Yes, I was that girl that could eat whatever she wanted without thinking twice.  Don’t hate me, keep reading.

Losing weight after my pregnancies was never a big deal either.  I would just decrease the junk food, try to eat more green, but mostly I’d just exercise, and that would be enough to get me back to normal-ish proportions.  While I enjoyed exercise, I was so busy running my home that I would only be able to do it intermittently at best.  But exercise always worked for me.  So after baby number two, I was employing my tried-and-true methods and slowly, but surely, making my way back to normal.

And then my mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer.  (See this post— Best Loose Leaf Chai Tea for more about that.)

Life stopped, and then it felt like it started running again but at the wrong speed.  Anyone who has had a loved one suffer this disease will tell you that it is a disease in which the entire family suffers.  The ups and downs of treatment, the harrowing side effects of chemo therapy.  Only with a disease like cancer is a patient given poison with the hopes that they will survive it.  Before we could even cope with what was happening, she was returned to her Maker.  And we were tested with another trial, overlapping this one: just the day before she passed away, I took my son to the hospital because of disturbing symptoms and was told that he needed to be admitted immediately.  The very next day after her death, doctors told us that our son’s condition was extremely complicated.  Not only would he need surgery, but he had a very serious illness which would need long-term treatment.

I’m not ready to go into details about his illness, but for the next year, we were put through another severe trial.  One filled with fear and pain.  Depression wrapped its tentacles around my ankle and dragged me under the water.  I was so depressed, and the stresses of running my home were drowning me.  My eating habits were haphazard, at best.  I would go out to eat even when I wasn’t really hungry, just because it was the only pleasure or comfort that I had.  Sometimes, I’d be so busy I would skip meals, and for convenience sake, I’d eat whatever packaged food I could easily consume (typically cookies or frozen food that could be quickly fried).  In one year, I gained back the weight I had worked to lose (and then some).  On top of that, I’d depleted myself of iron and I had absolutely no energy.  My “get up and go,” had gotten up and left—me behind, that is.

I got my wake up call when my beloved aunt had a heart attack and needed to go in for bypass surgery.

We couldn’t believe it, it seemed to come from nowhere.  Here was someone who was just fine, no problems, and then suddenly this heart attack revealed that she HAD had problems, but never known it.  An angiography revealed that she had three major blockages.  Angioplasty would be too risky in her case; doctors were strongly urging the bypass.  When we looked up exactly what the procedure would entail, we were horrified.  But Allah answered our prayers, and Alhumdulillah, her surgery was successful and without complications.

This was when I realized how important it is to take care of your body in your youth so that it can take care of you in your later years.  Truly, our bodies are an Amannah, a trust, from Allah and we are responsible for treating them properly.  My aunt was not careless in her eating habits, but it turned out that certain genetic factors made her more susceptible to heart disease.  Genetic factors that could be overcome with careful diet and regular exercise from now on.

Genetic factors that, I realized with a start, I could potentially have.

I had seen the devastation that a family goes through when the matriarch of the family is ill or dies.  I was now the matriarch of my family, and they needed me.

If I don’t take care of myself, and something happens to me, who will take care of them?

I finally took my health seriously.  I got on the scale and realized that my BMI had crossed over to the overweight category.  I employed the methods I usually do to lose weight.  I started eating greener and exercising.  Only there was one problem.

My.  Weight.  Would.  Not.  Budge.

After one month of intense exercising and NO results, I said enough was enough and went to see a nutritionist.  I told her all of the problems I was having losing weight, and about my lack of energy.  Medical tests showed that I was, thankfully, eating well enough that my heart was fine.  I told her my routine and admitted to her what my current eating habits were like.  She then custom tailored a plan that suited my schedule and eating preferences.  She also clued me in on why my usual techniques weren’t working anymore.

I’d basically frozen my metabolism by mistreating my body.  She wrote this green tea metabolism booster into my meal plan to help me get it up and running again.  My meals were divided into three main meals with two snacks in between to keep my metabolism running.  The meals were supposed to be enough to satisfy me, but if I was hungry in between meals, she told me to drink a cup of this green tea to curb cravings.  Exercise was written into strategic times during the day to further boost my weight loss.

Within the first two weeks, I shed six pounds.  Ramadan started not long after I started my diet, so she helped me leverage the month of fasting in a healthy way.  By the end of the tenth week, I had reached goal weight, and lost seventeen pounds, Alhumdulillah.  (By the way, if you’re curious for more details on how I did that, that post will be coming soon Inshallah you can read all about it in my Ramadan Weight Loss Diet Plan post.  Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to my newsletter for a printable PDF version.)

For anyone who is looking to lose weight or just take control of their health and learn more about eating healthy, I highly recommend going to see a GOOD nutritionist.  A good nutritionist will work your meal plan around your individual health needs, food preferences and your daily life.  They will help you come up with a plan that is REALISTIC.  Moreover, you should come out of the experience having made a LIFESTYLE CHANGE, not simply going on a temporary diet.

Today, my eating habits are a LOT healthier.  However, as you can see from some of the recipes I’m posting on this blog (like my Sweet and Spicy Chicken Sticky Fingers) that I’m not strict about eating ONLY healthy food.  My food philosophy is that I eat healthy 75-80% of the time and 20% of the time, I allow myself some fun, but maintaining portion control.  I also make sure to exercise regularly.  This method has been working for me, and I’ve managed to maintain my weight and health, Alhumdulillah.

But you want to know the best part?  The best gift that Allah could have given me is that this journey towards better health and taking care of myself helped to bring me out of depression.  It wasn’t just the sense of accomplishment I got when I lost the weight or felt my body get stronger.  Healthy eating actually helped rid my body of toxins that were messing with my emotions.  It contributed in my finding my spiritual center, connecting with Allah, and making peace with what was happening.  No, I’m not perfectly okay now, I have my ups and downs, but Alhumdulillah, I am in a MUCH better place than I was last year.

Now, I present to you, the green tea metabolism booster!

Green Tea Metabolism Booster Preparation

How I Used the Green Tea Metabolism Booster in my Daily Routine

My day starts at Fajr time, at the time, that was around 4am.  After prayer, I ate about 8-10 almonds and 1 cup of this green tea metabolism booster consisting of: 1 cup green tea, brewed with 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder, and adding 1/2 tsp honey and fresh lemon juice to it.  I made a minor adjustment to this, adding green cardamom to the brewing process, because cardamom just makes green tea BETTER.

The nuts were to let my body know that I was awake, and to kind of nudge my metabolism awake.  The tea served to kick it into higher gear.  Honey has a ton of health benefits, and as Muslims, we know this.

“And the lord inspired the bee, saying: ‘Take your habitations in the mountains and in the trees and in that which they construct. Then, eat of all fruits and follow the ways of your Lord laid down [for you]’. There emerges from their bellies a drink, varying in colors, in which there is healing for people. Indeed in that is a sign for people who give thought.” [Qur’an 16:68-69]

When honey is combined with cinnamon and lemon, it acts as a metabolism booster.  Green tea has caffeine and catechins which help to burn fat and again, boost your metabolism.

After finishing the nuts and tea, there’s a 15 minute gap and then I exercised for 15-20 minutes.  They key was to get my heart rate up, so that my body would start burning fat.  Sometimes I did HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) or sometimes I’d just stick to moderate intensity cardio by using my elliptical trainer.  What I did depended on my mood and how much energy I had in the morning.

Then around 8:30-9am I had breakfast which was one boiled egg and another cup of the green tea metabolism booster.

If I wanted to, I could switch out the green tea with regular tea or coffee with my breakfast, but I preferred the booster.

The rest of my meals were planned around the need to bring more iron into my diet while keeping a low calorie count.  The snacks and meals were set up so that I was eating something every two and a half hours.   This kept my metabolism running and helped keep me from feeling hungry.  It was very well planned: sometimes it was hard for me to finish everything she wrote out for me, I was so full!

I hope you guys try this out and find success with it, or just find it tasty to drink.  I’ve gotten into the habit of making my green tea like this all the time because I just like the taste.

Until next time, stay healthy and happy!

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Disclaimer:  I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV.  The opinions and suggestions on this blog can NOT be taken as medical advice and are by no means a replacement for visiting your doctor.  As I mention in the article above, I strongly suggest going to see a properly licensed nutritionist if you are serious about losing weight or getting your health in control.  Consult a doctor before you make any changes in your diet or exercise routine.  If you follow the recipes and advice on this blog, you agree that you do so at your own risk, and agree to release and discharge Becky Keeps House from any and all claims or causes of action, known or unknown, arising out of Becky Keeps House’s negligence.