I have often met people who tell me that they would give anything to increase their metabolism. For starters on this topic of metabolism and weight loss, you may be wondering what the benefits of a high metabolism are. My answer is simple. A high level of metabolism enables you to maintain, burn fat and lose weight rapidly with minimal amounts of fat. of activity.
But what is metabolism?
Although I’m a devout myself (with a degree in food science and technology, with a specialization in dietetics and human nutrition), the definition I’ll give you for metabolism is about as general as it can get. Correct? Ok. Metabolism is the rate by which the body produces and consumes energy and calories to support life.
However, before I give you my quick tips, I must first tell you that this is not the only tips that I give you here. There are many other factors that affect your metabolism. These may include but are not limited to; amount of muscle tissue, meal frequency, genetics, stress levels, personal diet and activity levels.
In addition, there are other internal and external factors that can slow down metabolism such as loss of muscle mass due to not enough physical activity, body’s tendency to eat its own tissues because there is not enough food energy to sustain it and the decrease in physical activity that comes naturally with aging.
With the above in mind, here are quick tips you can implement to boost your metabolism. I have listed them below.
1. The first and highly recommended tip is to start building lean, average body mass. Naturally, metabolism slows down with age, but it is possible to counteract the effects. The amount of muscle a person has is a very strong determinant in their ability to burn calories and lose fat. So it goes without saying that exercise is essential.
You can do your body and yourself a favor by building strength and resistance. You can do this by working out at least twice a week, preferably with weights. Do easy exercises in between workouts. Simple acts like walking the dog and using the stairs instead of the elevator can already reduce calories. The key is to match the amount of food eaten with the amount of activity a person is doing.
In most of the manuals and websites I’ve seen, here are some guidelines for doing the right exercise:
for strength training
-Increase the number of repetitions of a particular exercise
-Use advance exercise techniques if possible
add resistance level
for cardiovascular training
-Insert intervals between exercises
– Cross-Training and Mixing Up Exercises
add on resistance and speed
2. Never ignore the most important meal of the day. Many people ignore the fact that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Surprisingly, breakfast eaters tend to be thinner than non-breakfast eaters. If you eat breakfast in the morning or wait till noon to eat, then your metabolism can be very slow.
3. What about spicy food. Yes, you should eat spicy food to boost your metabolism. Hot dishes with chili can increase metabolism.
4. Avoid sugar. Sugar enables the body to store fat. It is recommended that a person consumes such food which helps in maintaining the blood-sugar level. Additionally, progressive exercise should be done 2-3 times a week to stabilize blood sugar.
5. Sleep more. According to research, people who do not get enough sleep are at risk of gaining weight. In addition, muscles are regenerated during the last few hours of sleep.
6. Increase water intake. Water flushes out toxins that are produced whenever the body burns fat. Most bodily functions involve water, and a lack of water slows down the speed at which body systems operate, and results in unnecessary stress.
7. Large meals versus small, frequent meals. I never knew this until a dietetics lecture at university. But what I learned is to avoid eating large amounts of food at one go. This greatly increases the calories in your food. And we saw above that it slows down your metabolism. When you’re trying to lose fat, you may want to skip meals to reduce your calorie intake, but a better — and easier — way to cut calories is to eat smaller, more frequent meals. This keeps your metabolism high. That’s why I always recommend that you eat small, frequent meals every 3 or 4 hours.
8. Never skip meals. People skip meals to lose weight, which is a big mistake as it slows down the metabolism.
9. Plan your meals in detail. Always prepare the right amount of food to eat at regular intervals. Do not make the mistake of eating food in between.
9. Relieve Stress! Stress, whether physical or emotional, triggers the release of a steroid called cortisol, which lowers metabolism. Also, people tend to overeat when under stress.
10. Green Tea Vs Coffee. I suggest you increase your intake of green tea. In other words, drink green tea. Green tea can be used as a substitute for coffee. Tea has the ability to stimulate metabolism, and unlike coffee, it has no unwanted side effects when consumed in excess.
Achieving the desired body weight is never impossible if one has the determination and patience required to stabilize the metabolic level, which plays a vital role in weight loss. A person needs to realize that eating right and exercising is not just a temporary fad, but a way of life.
Source by Muhammad Lubowa
