Learn how to boost your metabolism naturally with these nutrition, lifestyle and fitness tips…
From as early as a person’s mid-twenties the metabolism – literally, the sum total of chemical processes that take place in the body – begins gradually to slow down. It’s no surprise, then, that many women say, ‘I’m putting on weight but I’m eating less.’ The reason is that, the slower your metabolism becomes, the easier it is to gain weight because your body is now burning fewer calories.
But fear not. We can change all that by naturally increasing your metabolism on a daily basis. We do this in several ways…
How to boost your metabolism
If you can feel your metabolism slowly grinding to a halt, learn how to boost your metabolism naturally with these nutrition and lifestyle tips…
1. Eat breakfast to boost your metabolism
The first is by eating breakfast. For the past eight hours while you’ve been sleeping your body has gone into starvation mode: your metabolism has slowed down to conserve energy, otherwise known as calories. Having that healthy breakfast will rev it back up and keep you feeling full until your next meal.
2. Eat regular small meals
Eat smaller meals more frequently. Don’t skip your mid-morning or mid-afternoon snacks as these will keep your blood sugar stable and provide a steady source of energy to fuel your metabolism. Eating regularly will also help to curb any food cravings which could slow down your weight loss progress, so eating little and often really is key to body transformation success.
3. Ensure your diet is balanced
It’s important to remember that the higher your metabolism is, the more efficient that your body will be at burning calories instead of storing them as fat. Ensure to follow a balanced diet that avoids cutting out specific food groups as these all play an important role in helping to jump-start your body’s fat burning furnace.
4. Include protein and healthy fats in your diet
Protein sources like lean meat and fish are satiating and stop you overeating whilst complex carbohydrates such as those found in brown rice and oats help to curb hunger pangs. And don’t think about skimping on good fats like those found in avocado, nuts and seeds. Healthy fats are harder for your body to break down and store which means they are used for fuel.
5. Avoid sugary processed foods to boost your metabolism
On the other hand, avoid sugary, processed foods. Unfortunately sugar is easy for your body to break down which means the calories in sugary foods are more likely to be stored as fat if you don’t stay regularly active.
6. Add metabolism-boosting vitamin B5 to your diet
Ensure your diet includes plenty of vitamin B5 – found in mushrooms, avocados, tomatoes, cabbage, eggs, whole wheat, peas and lentils – because this boosts your metabolic rate. Stick to the above and you’ll turn back your metabolic body clock to a time when you naturally burned more calories daily.
7. Drink cold water to boost your metabolism
Swap room temperature H20 for a glass of ice cold water. Your body has to use energy to heat it up to body temperature which helps to sustain a high metabolic rate.
8. Eat spicy foods
Spicy foods contain a compound called capsaicin which can boost your metabolism so try and add more spice to meals.
How to boost your metabolism through exercise
Doing your circuits will ensure that your muscles are toned. And the more toned your muscles are the more calories they burn. Regular exercise not only burns calories during your workout, but also encourages your body to keep burning extra calories for up to two hours after you stop exercising.
Resistance workouts will also help to supercharge your metabolism by building more muscle. If you build more muscle tissue it means that your muscles will require more energy – thus boosting your metabolic rate.
Working out is important, but so is rest. Ensuring that you get enough snoozing time is also thought to help boost the metabolism. Adequate sleep also helps to suppress the hunger pangs.
Metabolic calorie-burning smoothie
This easy-to-make smoothie is packed full of fruit and vitamin B5, which will get your metabolism firing. It has the added benefit that the blend of nutrients will give you healthy skin and hair.
Ingredients:
- Handful of strawberries
- Avocado
- Stick of celery
- Glass of low-fat milk
- 1 tsp of wheatgerm
Chuck it all in a blender, blitz it up, and enjoy!
