Every person, whether apparent to themselves or not, falls into one of these three categories: weight loss, weight maintenance, or weight gain. So, metabolism is a very important word when it comes to our body weight.
Many people wish to have a speedy metabolism, leading to a more lenient food intake or to speed up a weight loss goal. Our genetics have an impact on how fast or slow our metabolism is, but there are different things we can do to increase our metabolic rate.
- Building muscle can help increase our metabolism. Muscle burns, on average, more calories at rest than fat does. Men often burn more calories than women due to their higher muscle volume. This is why it is important for women to participate in strength training as well.
- Increase intensity. Try to take the intensity of at least one workout per week up a notch. Higher intensity exercise results in a higher metabolic rate.
- Drink lots of water. We have been preaching this to all of you. Water has more benefits than one could imagine. Our body needs water to process calories and if we are dehydrated, this process is slowed.
- Eat more often than less. When you wait too long between meals, your body goes into starvation mode and your metabolism slows down as well.
- Go spicy. There are chemicals in different spices, like chili and peppers, that can boost your metabolism.
- Get plenty of protein. Your body burns more calories digesting proteins than carbohydrates and fats.
- Avoid that latest fad diet. They often have too few calories that, again, will make your body go into starvation mode and slow your metabolism. When you lose weight from low caloric intake, you often lose muscle that will also slow metabolism.
For those of you trying to jump start your metabolism, try following these seven steps and you will be well on your way.
Article courtesy of Intelligent Fitness Personal Training.
