7 Steps to Increase Your Metabolism


If you follow these 7 tips to speed up your metabolism, you might never again find yourself facing the dreaded "next bigger size" on the rack of jeans at your favorite store.

Tip #1 -- Determine your daily caloric needs:To rev up your fat-burning engine, don't overload your system with too much food. Figure out how many calories you need to consume each day to lose weight and keep your metabolism humming along. Caloric level is determined by taking into account your age, sex, height, weight, lean body mass and activity level. It may sometimes mean eating more clean food than you have ever eaten before. This is a concept some find hard to accept. If you work with your body, your body will work with you. It is a team effort. Talk to your trainer to determine your individual level.

Tip #2 -- Divvy up your meals: Kick-start your metabolism and curb your appetite by dividing your meals into five to six small, nutritious meals a day instead of three squares. Eat a 200-400 calorie mini-meal every three to four hours. Your body will expend more energy to digest the food and your metabolic rate will increase.

Tip #3 -- Just move! Physical activity accounts for 20 to 40 percent of calories burned each day. We suggest that a good goal for many people is to work up to exercising four to six times a week for 30 to 60 minutes at a time. If you can't do that much, do what you can. Walk the dog, park the car at the far end of the car park, take the stairs instead of the elevator, clean the house, just do something!

Tip# 4 -- Pump iron: Muscle is your best friend! Your resting metabolic rate (RMR) is the pace at which your body burns calories at rest. It accounts for 60 to 70 percent of your daily calorie expenditure and it's closely linked to the amount of muscle you have. Muscle burns more calories than fat, and the more muscle you have, the more calories your body will burn, even while you sleep. Lean muscle needs calories just to exist, so start lifting those weights.

Tip#5 -- Sleep tight: Sleep loss may increase hunger and affect the body's metabolism, which may make it more difficult to lose weight. People who lose sleep may continue to feel hungry despite adequate food intake because sleep loss has been shown to affect the secretion of cortisol, a hormone that regulates appetite. Make sure you get in your eight hours or more of shut-eye every night. Every session you have with your trainer, you will be asked how may hours you got.

Tip# 6 -- Eat lean protein and good carbs: Your body burns some of its own calories when it digests the food you eat. This is called the thermogenic effect of foods (TEF) and it's what makes protein (which has the highest thermogenic effect of any food) and good carbs metabolism-friendly. Lean protein such as turkey and chicken also builds calorie-burning muscle. Good carbs such as whole grains, legumes, veggies, and fruit are also your body's major fuel source. They provide the energy to get you up and moving so you can burn more calories.

Tip# 7 -- Drink H2O: The energy-burning process of metabolism needs water to work effectively. Water also fills you up, curbs your appetite, flushes out your system, and rids the body of bloat. Drink at least 8 to 10 glasses per day and more if you're active.

If you follow these 7 tips to speed up your metabolism, you might never again find yourself facing the dreaded "next bigger size" on the rack of jeans at your favorite store.