Best Metabolic Boosters: How To Increase Your Metabolic Rate Naturally and Burn More Calories (even when you sleep!)
Slow metabolism often gets the blame when people gain weight or have trouble losing weight.
How come your brother devours pizza and hamburgers five times a week and stays slim, while you watch your carbs, count calories, and still keep putting on weight, having to go for a larger jean size every year?
He must have a fast metabolism, you conclude, while you are probably doomed by a slow metabolism.
It’s all in the genes and there is nothing that you can do, right?
Wrong!
Your metabolism may be inefficient, but don’t blame it all on your genes. And being overweight is not your fate. Everyone — no matter how old, overweight, or out of shape — has the power to rev up their metabolism and achieve optimum weight with these simple metabolism boosters.
What is Metabolism Anyway?
Metabolism is a general term that deals with the biological and chemical processes that your body’s cells engage in, in order to maintain life. In simple terms, your metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories to sustain its current weight.
Metabolism consists of:
- Basal metabolism – is the calories that you burn just to keep you alive. On average, this amounts for about 60% of calories daily. Even if you were to stay in bed all day, you would still need these calories to support basic body functions. The amount of energy required for a body to maintain its weight depends on the amount of muscle it has in comparison to fat. Muscle requires more energy to sustain itself than fat does, so two people of the same weight and height can have two different metabolic rates if one has a higher percentage of muscle mass.
- Physical activity – Approximately 25% of your calories go to movement and physical activity.
- Thermic effect of food – About 10% of calories are spent processing the food you eat. For example, if you eat 2000 calories a day, you should be burning 200 calories a day simply eating and digesting your food.
Increasing your metabolism can help you burn calories, replace fat with muscle and give you more energy.
Fortunately, there are some simple and natural ways that you can improve your metabolism and turn your body into a fat burning furnace.
Generally, younger people have higher metabolic rates because the body works harder to supply the needed energy required for growth, but whatever your age you can speed up your metabolism to burn more calories using the natural methods that I outline below.
Metabolic Formula for Weight Loss
The magic metabolic formula to maintain your weight is that what you take in should equal the calories you expend:
CALORIES EATEN = CALORIES EXPENDED FROM BASAL METABOLISM + CALORIES EXPENDED BY ACTIVITY + CALORIES EXPENDED DIGESTING FOOD (THERMIC EFFECT)
To lose weight, you have to reduce calories taken in, increase calories expended, or do both.
Some people find that their metabolic rate is lower than average — for example, thyroid patients. If that is you, you will need to work a little harder on increasing your metabolism so you lose weight.
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Calculator
To calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMI), enter your weight, height and age to find out how much
How to boost metabolism?
How to boost your metabolism: with aerobic exercise
As I outlined above there are 3 factors that determine your metabolic rate, which is the amount of calories your body uses every day. The basal metabolic rate (BMR), the rate you burn energy during physical activity and the rate you use energy during digestion of food. To improve your metabolic rate you only need to change what you eat and what you do to experience a difference in how you look and feel.
Metabolism Booster #1: Exercise
By far the best method to jump-start your metabolism is by exercising.
Vigorous physical activity burns calories and increases lean muscle mass. By increasing lean muscle mass, metabolism increases and speeds up the weight loss. Muscle tissue uses more calories than fat tissue because it has a higher metabolic rate.
Aerobic exercise, such as walking, running, swimming or cycling, has the added benefit of speeding up your metabolism for 4 to 8 hours after you stop exercising. This means, more calories will be burned long after you stop exercising.
As a side note, I just want to mention that if you’ve been a couch potato for a long time and are not used to running, don’t just sign up for running a marathon. Read some running tips first to make sure you avoid injuring yourself.
Weight lifting, resistance or strength training, does not speed up your metabolism by itself, but it does burn fat and increase your lean muscle mass which increases your resting metabolic rate. If you are reluctant to train with weights on your own, consult a personal trainer for tips on how to safely work out with free weights and weight exercise machines.
A combination of aerobic exercise and resistance training is best for optimal fat burning and boosting metabolism.
How to boost your metabolism: Building muscle
You can choose to exercise first thing in the morning, and you will reap the benefits of a faster metabolism throughout the day, or exercise in short 10 or 15-minute bursts a few times per day. The bottom line, do it whenever you can to reap the benefits.
Metabolism Booster #2: Foods that Increase Metabolism
Increase Your Metabolism with Whole Plant Foods As Your Main Calorie Source
Eating a healthy diet is crucial if you want to increase your metabolism. Finding the right foods to accomplish this is easier than you think. Here is how.
Choosing healthy foods, especially whole plant foods – fresh vegetables, greens, fruits, whole grains, some lean protein will help increase your metabolic rate naturally. By eating these foods, you will naturally increase the amount of dietary fiber in your diet.
The best foods to increase your metabolism and help you lose weight are fresh, raw vegetables, dark green leafy greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, blueberries and other fruits; as well as legumes, whole grains, and at least 8 glasses of water a day. For faster weight loss, avoid high-fat foods completely.
Avoid sugary foods, alcohol, caffeine and don’t smoke.
How to boost your metabolism: Eat the right foods
When your cells need energy they use carbohydrates first, then fat and finally protein. Your body converts all carbohydrates into a form of sugar called glucose which is then used as fuel by your body. All excess carbohydrates you eat will be stored as fat for the future use. Also, any fat you consume will be stored as fat too. You need to eat a healthy diet and you exercise to be able burn those fat stores and increase your metabolism.
Beware of Calorie Restrictive Diets – They Slow Down Metabolism
If the body does not get sufficient nutrients it slows down the metabolic rate and tries to store more fat to use during these times of nutritional deprivation.
That is why it’s so difficult for many people to lose weight by just restricting the number of calories eaten. Many experts recommend to eat six small meals a day to keep your body’s fuel supply consistent and avoid slowing your metabolism down.
Don’t eat before going to sleep because metabolism naturally slows down in the afternoon and evening, so eat a hearty breakfast and lunch, keeping the dinner light, and skip the supper. Consistency is important because your body metabolism adapts to your current weight. If you have been dieting or skipping meals your body’s metabolism slows down to compensate for the lack of nutrients.
You can jump-start a sluggish metabolism through exercise and diet which will have lasting health benefits for you. Not only will you lose weight and gain muscle mass, but you’ll have more energy to burn and you’ll feel great.
Questions? Comments? Weight Loss Tips?
Why not add to the conversation in the comment section below! Are you trying to lose weight? What type of diet are you following? What are you struggling with? Want to share some weight loss tips with other blog readers?
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