Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

• Improve Your Metabolism With These Effective Exercises

• Take Away

If your body’s engine is working at full speed, there’s little you can do to improve your fat-burning potential – you’re already performing at your peak.

But if your tank is staggering on half-empty, use these 7 secrets to shift your metabolism into high gear.

1: Get more sleep

The number of sleep hours can have a big effect on your waistline.

A four-year joint study by the University of Wisconsin and Stanford University found that adults who regularly slept only for five hours a night boosted their levels of hunger-inducing ghrelin by 14.9% and lowered their appetite-suppressing leptin levels by 15.5%.

This means more trouble for your fat cells: You end up eating more than you are required, leaving you with extra weight to show for it.

So how much sleep do you need to avoid these extra calories?

Well, experts recommend 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. 

2: Wake up earlier

Don't neglect two important activities that could enhance your metabolism.

First is to eat breakfast which breaks the overnight “fast” your body was in to preserve calories. Having a balanced diet every day – stimulates your metabolism.

The second is to exercise as it boosts your metabolism.

You can burn more calories throughout the day simply by doing the same thing you always do.

Even a 20-30 minute walk or jog can make a difference. 

3: Get active

Cardiovascular exercise like running, walking, swimming, and aerobics stimulates your metabolism, helps you burn more calories and can also temporarily suppress your appetite post-workout.

And remember weight training is essential as well because it tones your muscles and enhances lean tissue mass, which burns even more calories per pound than fat. The more you have lean muscle tissue, the more calories you burn daily.

Breaking up a 60-minute workout as per your convenience into two 30-minute (or three 20-minute) sessions is not only convenient, but it may also help you burn more fat.

4: Eat all-day

Forget about 3 large meals a day. Either opt for healthy snacks or go for smaller meals instead.

Eating 5-6 small meals throughout the day keeps a bulk of energy available to your body. This enhances your metabolism and your brainpower.

Keep healthy snacks (fruits, veggies, nuts, yoghurt) always with you or near you throughout the day. Try having protein-rich foods.

Just make sure your main meals are smaller to add all this snacking, or else you’ll load up on extra calories you don’t need.

And never skip meals. People often try to get that extra weight-loss edge by skipping entire meals instead of just lowering the calories throughout the day.

Skipping meals urges your metabolism to slow down and preserve calories to compensate for the lack of food.

5: Hydration

Dehydration can trick your brain by thinking you’re hungry, so instead of reaching for water, you will reach for whatever snack is nearby.

8 ounces of water = 0 calories

1 candy bar = 270 calories.

Some experts say that your body burns extra calories as it works to increase the temperature of icy water to your internal body temperature, although others might disagree.

Still, water is always refreshing and hydrating - and you’ll even burn calories on your walk over to the fridge.

6: Eat spicy foods

Turning up the heat on your meals can do more than just add fun flavour. “Hot” foods, such as jalapeños, chilli peppers and spices, might raise body temperature.

Body temperature and metabolism are interrelated: As you burn energy, heat is released.

By increasing your internal body temperature, spicy foods may temporarily boost your metabolism and stimulate the usage of stored fat as energy.

Experts agree that eating spicy foods can enhance the feelings of satiety.

The sooner you feel satisfied with a meal, the faster you’ll stop eating.

You can easily save yourself from eating 100 calories at a meal by taking lesser bites, so pile on the hot sauce.

7: Count on calcium

Research shows that calcium, a vital mineral, can enhance your basal metabolic rate, which boosts weight loss.

In a National Dairy Council-funded study, researchers found that a high-calcium and a low-calorie diet helped boost fat loss by 42%, compared to only 8% for just intaking a low-calorie diet.

Studies also show that dairy consumers are less likely to suffer from metabolic syndrome, whose symptoms include high blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides, low blood sugar control and increased abdominal obesity – all factors that raise the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Improve Your Metabolism With These Effective Exercises

Running lunges

Running lunges can help in strengthening and stretching your body muscles. If you can do this for enough time, these are perfect for shedding some extra pounds and boosting your metabolism.

Dumb-bell crushers

Muscles can burn more calories than fat. So the more muscle you have, the better your metabolism will work. So, strength training is good if metabolism-boosting is your goal. This can even help you get toned arms and build muscle mass in your upper body.

Sprinter burpees

Sprinter burpees have started getting popularity due to their efficiency in targeting all the major muscle groups. It not only engages all your muscles, including hamstrings and hip muscles, but it is also considered a good strength training exercise to enhance metabolism.

Fire-feet drill

Fire-feet drill is a good cardio exercise that can boost your heart rate. A higher heart rate means your heart pumps more nutrients and oxygen-rich blood that reaches all parts of the body quickly. This is what your body needs to improve your metabolism quickly.

Take Away

Making little lifestyle changes, some weight loss exercises and adding these tips into your routine can increase your metabolism.

Having a higher metabolism can help you lose some weight and keep it off, while also providing you with more energy. You can also follow a weight loss diet.