10 Tips for Increasing Your Metabolism

Being healthy and fit is more than just looking good in a pair of jeans or liking the number on the scale. It’s also about making sure that your body is working at maximum capacity; this means your metabolism should be running as high as it possibly can. By incorporating the tips below, you can give your body the boost that it needs and keep it running smoothly for decades to come.

1)Add strength training to your workout: Strength training will help build muscle which will raise your resting metabolic rate (RMR.) This means you will burn fat not just when you are working out, but all day long. Do this three times a week.

2)Aerobic Exercise: You need to include some aerobic exercise into your daily life, even if it’s just a brisk walk after dinner. Your goal should be at least 30 minutes a day.

3)Eat smaller meals more often: When you wait too long in between meals, your body will go into what’s called survival mode; it stores what you eat and turns it into fat. When you eat smaller meals throughout the day, your body knows it will get more food in 2-3 hours and gets rid of food quicker to make room for more.

4)Split up your workouts: Do your aerobic activity in the morning and your strength training at night or vice versa; when you work out more than once a day, your metabolism speeds up considerably.

5)Drink ice water: When the water you drink is ice cold, your body has to work harder to digest it; thus increasing your metabolism.

6)Citric acid: Lemons are an effective aid in digestion and fat burning. Put a lemon slice in your water bottle or drink lemon tea throughout the day.

7)Don’t starve yourself: You need to cut your caloric intake in order to lose weight; but when you severely cut calories or skip meals you will sabotage your diet. Your body knows it will not get any more food for many hours and it will store what little food it gets as fat. Another effect of skipping meals is that you will be so hungry by the next meal you may eat more than you intended.

8)Have protein with every meal: Have a tablespoon of peanut butter with your banana; eat some cheese with your apple. Eating a bit of protein with every meal will help with digestion and increase metabolism.

9)Drink green tea: Green tea is believed to have metabolic increasing properties; it tastes great too!

10)Don’t skip breakfast: Skipping breakfast after a long night’s sleep is disastrous to your diet and to your metabolism. Your body is looking for nutrition and fuel to help get you through the day. There is a general rule to dieting: eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.

Keep in mind that everyone’s metabolic rate is different. You may burn fat a faster rate than your best friend. Your cousin may seem to lose weight effortlessly while you seem to struggle day after day. Age is also a factor, as metabolism slows the older you get. The tips above will help you fight a sluggish metabolism and have it running at full speed again in no time.