Boost Your Metabolism

Metabolism is the energy in terms of calories your body burns to maintain itself. We keep burning calories irrespective of what we are doing i.e. eating, working, sleeping, exercising, sitting etc.

A person with a high metabolic rate generally remains lean and also loses weight easily. A person with a sluggish metabolism tends to gain weight, finds it difficult to lose weight easily and feels tired and lethargic.

Reasons for lower metabolism

As you age it is essential to take conscious steps to increase your metabolism. This is because as you grow older muscle mass decreases, more fat settles in the body and the natural metabolism boost starts to disappear.

Other non-age-related factors which slow down your metabolism are fasting, an excessively low-calorie diet, excessive high-sugar snacks/foods, lack of physical activities and an under-active thyroid.

How to boost metabolism?

Here are some easy methods you can use to boost metabolism.

1. Eat breakfast

I know this sounds cliché but breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Most of us tend to skip breakfast thus instantly slowing down our metabolism. A nutritious healthy breakfast fuels up and kick-starts our body for the day. Skipping it is the worse thing we can do.

That big cup of Joe is not breakfast but some oats and milk or an omelette with steamed vegetable is. Don’t give excuses about not having time. Make that time if you value your health. It takes less than 5 minutes to make a nice vegetable sandwich.

2. Eat small meals throughout the day

Yes, keep eating every two hours to keep your blood sugar steady and to keep providing your body with a steady source of energy. That does not mean that you gorge away throughout the day. Have mini-meals which could be anything like a cube of cheese, a sandwich, a bowl of soup or even some nuts. Try and have at least 5-6 mini meals and the last one should be at least 2-3 hours before going to bed. Try eating the last meal no later than 7 PM.

3. Do not starve yourself or under-eat

Starving yourself or eating less than 1000 calories a day is a sure-shot way to slow down your metabolism. It signals the body that there is a paucity of calories so the body slows down the metabolism in order to save energy. It also starts storing whatever little food that goes in as fat.

4. Drink water

Water, water, and more water. Ensure you drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water everyday because water is required to keep the energy-burning process of metabolism going.

5. Drink green tea

Green tea has the advantage of raising the rate of metabolism and speeding fat oxidation. A regular intake of 3-4 cups of green tea daily is beneficial. Have it hot or as iced tea with a squeeze of lime.

6. Strength training

Strength training helps build muscles. One pound of fat burns only 2 calories in a day whereas one pound of muscle burns 50 calories a day. So do the calculations, build muscles, keep burning the calories, and boost metabolism.

7. Do aerobic exercises

Aerobic exercises like jogging, swimming, running, cycling etc help to raise the metabolic rate. Aerobic exercises done in the morning raises the metabolic rate all day through.

What food can boost metabolism?

Foods rich in Vitamin B and Magnesium help boost metabolism. Include them in your daily meals and get your body to become a super energy-burning machine.

Vitamins: Certain Vitamin Bs like B12, B6, Thiamine (B12), Folate and Niacin (B3) play a key role in metabolism boosting. Being deficient in these can make you feel fatigued and depressed. Yes . . . in extreme cases you can take supplements but what’s best is to increase your intake of natural foods containing them. Foods like spinach, beans, chicken, turkey, sardines, tuna, melon, broccoli and eggs are rich in Vitamin B.

Magnesium: Magnesium helps the body to boost cell energy that is directly responsible for your body’s metabolism—boost cell energy, boost metabolism. Foods like halibut, oatmeal, whole grain cereals, lentils, black-eyed peas, spinach and nuts contain rich sources of magnesium.

Symptoms of slow metabolism

Some of the symptoms of a slow metabolism are fatigue, dry skin, constipation, slow pulse rate and low blood pressure. If you have these conditions first ensure you have them checked with a doctor to rule out any other medical condition.

Follow these simple rules and improve your metabolism. A good metabolism will keep you healthy, fit and trim.