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Natural Ways to Speed Up Your Metabolism

Metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories through every process that goes on throughout the course of the day. In other words, every time you bat an eyelash, take a breath, lift a weight or get up out of a chair, you are burning calories. If you happen to be overweight, speeding up your metabolism can help increase your overall caloric expenditure and help you burn calories more efficiently. The end result is more weight loss, and there are several ways to do it.

  1. Frequent Meals

    • When you get up in the morning after a long fast and skip breakfast, you're metabolism is going to stay low. To kick-start it, eat a balanced meal, such as oatmeal with low-fat milk, a granola bar or a cup of yogurt and some fruit. Then proceed to eat a small, balanced meal every 2 to 3 hours for the rest of the day. Every time you eat one of these meals, your body has to burn calories to break down the food. If you have just enough calories to keep you satisfied, there will be none left over to be stored as fat. This will keep your metabolism revving and your energy levels high. Make sure to eat clean calories and avoid high-fat, highly processed foods that can slow down your metabolism. Good choices include fruits, vegetables, lean meats, low-fat dairy, beans, fish and whole grains.

    Protein

    • Protein is a macronutrient that helps repair muscle fibers, and it also aids in hormone formation. When it comes to your metabolism, protein has a high thermic effect, meaning it takes a lot of work for the body to break it down. Make sure to get adequate protein in your multiple meals. Examples include chicken breasts, turkey, lean beef, cottage cheese, eggs, salmon and tuna. Make your meals a balance of protein, carbs and healthy fats. An example would be a baked chicken breast with steamed broccoli and brown rice.

    Water Intake

    • Water offers many benefits to the body. It helps you stay hydrated, lubricates the joints, helps control appetite, flushes toxins from the system and can help increase your metabolism. The Institute of Medicine recommends that women get 2.7 total liters of water a day and that men get 3.7 liters a day.

    Weight Training

    • Muscle is metabolically active tissue, meaning that it burns calories even when you are not moving. To increase your metabolism, do weight training exercises that involve all your major muscle groups. Examples are bench presses, shoulder presses, back rows, triceps extensions, biceps curls and lunges.

    High-intensity Cardio

    • Performing cardiovascular training can also increase your metabolism. To really get the most out of it, do it in a high-intensity fashion in which you experience an "oxygen debt." This means that after you have finished, your body is trying hard to get back to pre-exercise oxygen levels, which causes an elevated metabolism for several hours. Interval training is an example of high-intensity training. To do this, start off at a light intensity for 10 to 15 minutes. Then go all out for 60 seconds, then at a light pace for 60 seconds. Go back and forth for 20 minutes and finish with a light 10- to 15-minute cool-down. Examples of cardiovascular exercise include running, biking, elliptical training, rowing and stair stepping.

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