How to Increase Resting Metabolism

Metabolism basically refers to the chemical reactions your body undergoes to get energy from the food you take in. You can think of metabolism as a sort of furnace: The faster your metabolism, the quicker your body burns through food. Increasing your metabolism can help you lose weight. Your resting metabolism, or your resting metabolic rate (RMR), is the energy your body uses to maintain vital functions; it accounts for as much as 60 percent of your metabolism.Your RMR is dependent, in part, on your age, gender and genes, yet you can increase it through diet and exercise.

Things You'll Need

• Watch or smart phone with stopwatch setting
• Notebook
• Pen
• Exercise shoes
• Exercise clothing
• Free weights or weight machines

Show More

Instructions

Implement a Fitness Plan

• 1

  Step on a scale and mark down your weight. Once you begin exercising and eating right, your added muscle and the correct nutrition will help your body burn more calories even when you are at rest. Your weight is one way to gauge whether your changes are working and increasing your RMR.

• 2

  Buy lightweight, well-cushioned shoes made for walking or running. Get workout gear appropriate for exercising outdoors or inside, depending on what you'll be doing most of the time.

• 3

  Mark the days you plan to exercise each week on a calendar. If you have not been exercising, try for some activity 30 minutes a day, three days a week. If you have been exercising, aim for moderately intense cardio half-an-hour a day, five days a week.

• 4

  Start running, walking, swimming or doing some other cardiovascular activity. If you have already been exercising, increase it per your plan. You can exercise outside, in your home or in a gym. Interval training -- bursts of fast activity for a short period of time -- can increase resting metabolism.

• 5

  Add weight training. Use free weights or weight machines at least two days a week, on days you aren't doing cardio. Higher weights with fewer repetitions are best for adding muscle, but numerous reps with lower weights can burn more calories; either way will increase resting metabolism. Muscle burns more calories than fat, and maintaining your muscle mass as you get older can help to keep your RMR high.

• 6

  Stock up on whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and lean dairy and proteins. Stay away from processed foods, white flours and sugary sweets. Make a grocery list and stick to those items. Runner's World recommends eating protein with each meal, drinking green tea, eating healthy fats like olive oil and getting enough dairy to increase your RMR.

• 7

  Track your calories. There are numerous calculators online that can tell you how many calories you need, or ask your doctor. If you take in too few calories, your resting metabolism actually slows down.

Assess and Make Changes

• 8

  After a week, weigh yourself again and mark down your weight. Healthy weight loss is 1 to 2 pounds per week. Metabolism is hard to measure, but if you are losing weight, or notice you can eat more without gaining weight, you've probably increased your metabolism. "The best way to jump-start your metabolism is to exercise," says Laurie Hedlund, L.P.N. on Consumer Affairs.

• 9

  Make changes to your plan. According to Hedlund, increasing your metabolism "can help you burn calories, replace fat with muscle and give you more energy." If you're eating well but don't feel you have more energy or you're not losing weight, you may need to increase the intensity or time duration of your workouts.

• 10

  Mark down any changes in your routine on your calendar. Implement these new changes for a week.

• 11

  Weigh yourself again at the end of the week and see if your changes have had any results.

• 12

  Stick with your changes for the next week, if they were successful.

• 13

  Weigh yourself at the end of the week and assess whether you should stick with your new plan another week or change it. If you plateau at some point and are not losing any weight, your body may be getting used to your exercise program. Change it with a different cardio activity or increase your intensity with interval training to increase your resting metabolism and begin seeing changes again.