Ways to Supercharge Your Metabolism
1- Eat a meal or a snack every 3-5 hours. By eating 5-6 small meals and snacks per day the blood sugar stays fairly level and your body will stay fueled for daily activities and exercise.
2. Eat Breakfast Everyday. This cannot be stressed enough. We are running on empty in the morning and need to give our bodies fuel to start the day. When we skip breakfast our bodies go into starvation mode and our metabolism slows down. By eating a healthy breakfast, we are more likely to eat healthy the rest of the day. Foods like complex carbohydrates and low fat quality protein give the body the fuel it needs to begin the day.
3- Drink plenty of water, 8-10 8oz. glasses a day. Keep the body hydrated so that all of your organs and metabolic processes can function properly.
4- Eat Fat! Yes you read right. Eating the proper fats regulate every body function at the cellular level including fat metabolism. What kinds of fats? Essential Fatty Acids or EFAs . These can be found in Flax Seeds, Walnuts, Cold-water Fish and their oils, Hemp seed, Wheat Germ, Leafy Greens (Omega-3s) and Safflower, Sunflower, Corn, Borage, and Evening primrose oils (Omega-6s) as well as many other sources not listed. Of course you still need to be mindful of the amount you consume because fat is fat. Replace the bad fats in your diet with these healthy ones.
5. Eat over 1000 calories a day. Our body needs fuel. Eating a low calorie diet sends a signal to our body that we are in starvation mode and slows our metabolism down.
6. Include protein on every meal. Concentrate on low fat proteins, nuts and seeds. You should be consuming 50% of your body weight in protein every day. In other words, if you weigh 120 pounds you should consume 60 grams of protein in a day. This is especially important if you are following a quality exercise program.
7- Eat plenty of fiber. Fiber slows down the rate at which sugar enters your system.
8. Perform aerobic exercise 30-60 minutes a day, 6 days a week (preferably in the morning) to kick start your metabolism. Interval training is especially good for raising metabolism.
9. Do weight training 6 days a week. Toned muscles burn fat and calories 24/7. Train each muscle group no more than 3 times a week so you could do upper body 3 times a week and lower body 3 times a week alternating days. Warm up first for 5-10 minutes, do your weight training and finish off with your aerobic exercise to increase your fat burn.
10. Exercise 15-30 minutes in the evening. Yoga, stretching or taking a walk are great evening exercises that will increase your metabolism and allow you to wind down at the end of the day.
11. Be less efficient when doing daily activities. For example, park farther away from the building, take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. Bring your groceries in one bag at a time. Make more trips up and down stairs in your home. Anywhere and anyway you can increase body movement; do it! Our bodies are meant to move and sometimes we get way too efficient in our activities for our own good. Look for the HARD way to do things instead.
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