|  | Diet Nutrition | Weight Loss

Meals to Increase Metabolism

Metabolism is your body's process of building and maintaining itself by breaking down nutrients to produce energy. When your metabolism is increased, you have more energy because your body is breaking down more nutrients and burning more calories. Though your metabolic rate is partially determined by your genetic makeup, it can be controlled through your eating and exercise habits.

  1. Eat Breakfast

    • Your metabolism slows way down overnight as you sleep because you're not eating. When you skip breakfast or restrict how often you eat, your body has to adjust by slowing down and learning to function on fewer calories. It starts holding on to the calories you ingest and storing them as fat to protect itself because it's not certain you'll feed it later. You're essentially forcing your body to store fat to rely on in the future when it doesn't get the nutrition it needs. A dairy-free vegetable omelet with whole wheat toast or a small (1/4 to 1/2 cup) side of oatmeal is an example of a healthy breakfast: veggies, protein and fiber.

    Eat Many Small Meals

    • John Berardi, PhD, CSCS, president of Precision Nutrition, and author of "The Metabolism Advantage" recommends you eat every two to three hours--that's roughly six small meals a day. Each meal will stimulate your metabolism, feed your muscle and starve your fat. Unlike skipping breakfast, which tells your body to store fat for future skipped meals, eating often reassures your body that food is readily available. Georgia State University research indicates that those who eat small, healthy meals every few hours (each meal being roughly the same, small size--think of them as three small meals and three healthy snacks) have less body fat and faster metabolisms than those who eat just breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is no recommended size or calorie count for each meal or snack--just keep each meal much smaller than the meals you make now, knowing that you are going to be eating up to six times a day.

    Eat Good Food

    • Each small meal should include lean protein, vegetables and dietary fiber. High-protein foods take extra energy to metabolize; compared to carbohydrate-rich or fatty foods, they require your body to burn twice as many calories to digest it. Eat fish and poultry, leafy vegetables, fruits, brown rice, barley and oats. Half of each small meal should consist of vegetables; the other half should be shared between lean protein and high fiber whole grains (a quarter of each). Drink as much water as you comfortably can during the day. For some people this is the recommended eight glasses; for others, it's less. Treat yourself occasionally to sweets and processed snacks if you must, but do not eat them often.

    Don't Eat Late at Night

    • Metabolism starts to slow down in the late-afternoon or early evening to prepare itself for sleep. Eat a small dinner and stop eating at least two hours before going to bed.

Weight Loss - Related Articles