“How do I fix my metabolism??!”
Please, please, please do not rely on doctor google for this one.
The number of scams and ridiculous product offers being shoved down your throat will make you sick.
Sadly, many people, particularly women who are dissatisfied with their body image fall victim to bogus offers and spend hundreds or thousands of dollars with no results.
Try the following practical tips instead…..
The metabolism is widely misunderstood, and for good reason. With all of the diet hoaxes and magic pills marketed to us, promising to ‘burn belly fat in 30 days without exercise’ or ‘skyrocket strength without lifting a weight!’, we have good reason to be stumped and confused.
Simply put, your metabolism is a series of complex chemical processes that occur in your body to keep you functioning. Your metabolic rate is the speed at which your body burns calories with the vast majority going to automatic processes—breathing, moving, eating, and sleeping. This rate varies for different people depending on one’s height, weight, body composition, and genetic variables.
There are four well-proven strategies you integrate in your life to help elevate your metabolism or even slightly raise your metabolic rate for hours on end. No one factor is “magic” but when combined and put into action consistently, you will begin to see some positive results:
1) Increase your NEAT (non exercise activity thermogenesis)
What does this mean? Well, your body actually burns quite a few number of calories just moving around! This includes walking, stretching, even figeting. When it comes to healthy weight management, NEAT is often over-looked as a source of a plateau—as a place to start, pay attention to your number of steps per day and stand up more often.
Several studies show your caloric expenditure increases by several hundred per day just from standing and moving a little more.
2) Do not eat too little, and add more protein in your diet.
The quick lesson is this: Eating less and exercising more is a recipe for disaster.
When people think of “weight loss”, this usually means only salads and low-calorie foods. While you do have to create a caloric deficit in order to lose weight, too large of one will result in a decrease in your overall metabolic rate, making it harder to accomplish your goals. In fact, dropping your calories too low for an extended time period can actually damage your metabolism and cause weight gain in the long term due to hormonal changes.
When you are eating with a goal of fat loss in mind, it is important not to neglect protein. Why? Well, protein is the one macronutrient that requires the most energy to digest by your body. This is called the Thermic Effect of Food, or TEF.
Protein is loaded with essential amino acids that help preserve lean muscle tissue while temporarily increasing your metabolic rate. Make sure you are eating protein from healthy sources (and yes you can do this being vegetarian or vegan) while minimizing your intake of processed and deep-fried meats that are linked to cancer and other health issues.
To make things easy and convenient is wise to invest in a healthy protein powder, free from artificial sweeteners and other nasty chemicals that are in the majority of supplements.
3) Work your body.
It should come as no surprise that people who workout regularly have a more robust metabolism. As we age it is common to lose a certain percentage of muscle mass if we do not directly work our muscles through resistance exercise. More muscle is directly correlated with an increased metabolic rate, which is one of the factors why keeping unwanted fat off as we age becomes more difficult. This is especially important as you grow older, as old age is associated with muscle loss and a decrease in metabolic rate.
4) High Intensity Exercise.
Short bursts of effort (such as fast squats, push-ups or sprints) are highly effective when it comes to your metabolism. This is due to an “after burn” effect that occurs when you are finished exercising—meaning your metabolism remains slightly elevated in the following hours. Aim to add in some sprints in the middle or end of your workout, or simply do some bodyweight exercises or walk at faster speeds if you do not do any running, biking or swimming.
