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10 Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

When it comes to weight loss, anything you can get working in your favor is going to have a positive effect when combined. Portion control, physical activity and motivation all play an important part in successfully losing weight. But there is another important factor that affects weight loss — metabolism.

What is metabolism? It involves hormones and enzymes that convert food into fuel for your body, but it also affects how efficiently you burn the fuel. In other words, how fast we can gain or lose weight. If your metabolism is slow, then it is easier to gain weight and harder to lose weight. If your metabolic rate is higher, then it will be harder to gain weight and easier to lose weight.

Most of us want the last one, a higher metabolism. There are several factors that influence your metabolism. Some of these cannot be changed and some can.

Things that cannot be changed:

  1. Age – Your metabolism slows down about 5 percent per decade after age 40.
  2. Gender – Men generally burn more calories at rest than women.
  3. Body mass – The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate tends to be.
  4. Heredity – Some people burn calories slower than others.

Things you can do to increase your metabolism include:

  1. Stay hydrated. The body needs water to process calories. If you are even mildly dehydrated, your metabolism may slow down.
  2. Build muscle. Every pound of muscle uses six calories a day to sustain itself while each pound of fat only uses two calories a day. Try to include resistance training twice a week into your workouts.
  3. Step up your workout. High-intensity exercise delivers a bigger and longer increase in resting metabolism than do moderate workouts.
  4. Eat smaller portions, more often. No chips or ice cream. Choose high-fiber, high-protein snacks like low-fat cheese, fiber crackers, fruits, veggies and Greek yogurt. Going without will slow down your metabolism.
  5. De-stress yourself. Stress raises the amount of cortisol in your body. Cortisol is a hormone that tells your body to hold onto the fat in case of a stressful situation. Yoga and meditation can help lower stress levels.
  6. Black coffee. Not a latte! One of coffee’s benefits is a short-term increase in your metabolic rate.
  7. Green tea. Drinking green tea has been shown to rev up metabolism for a couple of hours.
  8. Avoid crash diets. They slow down your metabolism making it easier to regain the weight — plus a few pounds more.
  9. Decrease diet soda. Diet soda may slow down your metabolism even though it has fewer calories than regular soda.
  10. Get sleep. You need seven to eight hours of sleep to keep your metabolism going. Anything less can affect your body’s ability to burn calories.

There are more things you can do, but these should help you to keep your metabolism running efficiently.

For more tips on how to live a happier and healthier life, visit GetHealthyLiveWell.org.

Get Healthy, Live Well




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