Ways To Increase Metabolism
“Rather than ‘faster’ or ’slower’ metabolism, it’s most accurate to define metabolism as efficient and functional versus inefficient and dysfunctional.”
Your basal metabolic rate — the energy your body expends at rest — is generally determined by your genetics, but the fact is that you can motivate your body into burning calories more efficiently.
How can we lose and keep off extra fat? You need to increase your resting metabolic rate (RMR), which is the pace your body burns calories at rest. Your RMR is closely linked to the amount of muscle you have -remember, muscle burns more calories than fat. Adding muscle will raise your RMR and will greatly increase the chance that the weight loss (more accurately fat loss) will be maintained.
Metabolism & Coventional Dieting - “Conventional diets achieve fat loss at the expense of losing muscle, which downgrades your metabolism. That’s one of the reasons ‘diets’ don’t work”.
Tom Venuto, in Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle
The Vital Ingredient To Increase Metabolism
If you are looking for ways to increase metabolism, you will need to focus more on your exercise, and not your food. The proven way to increase your metabolism is to build muscle. As we grow older, and with weight loss, we lose muscle - and as a result, our metabolism slows down. It’s never too late to build muscle, so regardless of how old you are or how much muscle you have lost you can still speed up your metabolism. The best, and safest way to begin is to work with a qualified trainer to help you design a plan.
Interval Training
Interval training (Fartlek in Swedish, for “speed play”) is one of the best, and fun ways to pump up your metabolism. Interval training alternates short bursts of intense activity with lower intensity activity. For example; alternating sprints with a slow jog, or power-pedalling some minutes on a stationary bicycle, rotating with periods of slower action. Interval training teaches the heart and muscles to use oxygen more efficiently. A few studies have found that interval training alters the mitochondria (they produce energy in cells) to burn more fat. You will burn more calories with interval training, increase your metabolic rate and your level of fitness at a faster rate than with any other workout.
The Ultimate Metabolism Booster - “That’s what you have to do. Set your goals, roll up your sleeves, and get to work. Follow the instructions so you get your workouts done in less than 45 minutes and then get on with your life – all while your body’s metabolism is revved up so that you are burning tons of fat and calories all day long”.
Craig Ballantyne, in Turbulence Training
Strength Training
Developed muscle need more calories just to sustain itself. In other words: You burn more calories simply by carrying more muscle, even while resting. So, the BEST way to speed up your metabolism and increase calorie burning is to do strength training on a regular basis.
The way to combat metabolic slowdown (brought on by aging, fat gain and muscle loss) is with regular strength or resistance training. Resistance training reduces fat mass and increases muscle mass, providing your body with beneficial improvements in strength and function. Research also suggests that resistance training may even increase life expectancy.
How To Eat Foods To Speed Up Metabolism
Change your eating habits to eating 4-6 small meals a day, instead of 1 or 2 big ones. Although this strategy results in less calorie burning than exercise and strength training, you will increase your metabolism by forcing your body to constantly digest and process food in small amounts.
A surefire way to slow your body down, is by depriving it of fuel. Food stimulates “energy metabolism” that is necessary for digestion, in a process called “dietary induced thermogenesis.” When you limit your calorie intake, the calories burned by eating are diminished, and so is your metabolic rate. Restricting calories signals the body that there is no food available, so it tries to conserve stores of carbohydrate and fat by slowing down its metabolism, in what is known as “the starvation response”. The best way to keep your metabolism up, by eating, is to eat regular meals and snacks to give your body a constant supply of healthy fuel.
Start Your Day The Smart Way - Eat breakfast. Eating breakfast may increase resting metabolism by 10 percent and reduce the risk of obesity and diabetes. Make sure it’s a healthy morning with whole-grain cereal and fruit, whole-wheat toast and peanut butter or fat-free yogurt and a handful of granola.
Foods That Speed Metabolism
Charge your system with B vitamins and magnesium
B vitamins: B vitamins play key roles in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and protein and energy production. Inadequate amounts of B6, B12, folate, thiamin and niacin can slow the body’s metabolism, increase your risk for chronic diseases and leave you feeling depressed and fatigued. Foods high in B vitamins include fish, poultry and eggs, spinach, asparagus, beans, melon and broccoli.
Magnesium: Magnesium is used in more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body, including proper muscle, nerve and heart function, protein synthesis and energy metabolism. In fact, it is a mineral needed by every cell in your body. Excellent sources of magnesium include green vegetables such as spinach (as the center of the chlorophyll molecules contain substantial quantities of magnesium), halibut, nuts, soybeans, whole-grain cereals, oatmeal, and legumes.
Snack Right For Metabolic Delight - Eating healthy snacks (in snack-size portions of course), can help you avoid the overhungry and then overeating syndrome that often leads to excess fat. Be sure to include healthy carbs and protein in each snack such as: peanut butter and banana (my personal favorite is a banana and peanut butter smoothie - to which I add honey, low fat yogurt and low fat milk), trail mix, hummus and baby carrots, or an apple with low-fat Cheddar cheese. The protein/carbohydrate combination is great for regulating blood sugar, energy levels and does wonders for your emotional feelings.
(I just had a smoothie)
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