Sometimes losing weight and gaining muscle can be an uphill struggle. You can calorie count and exercise untill the cows come home but see minimal results for all your effort! This is often caused by a sluggish metabolism, and despite what many people believe, there are several simple ways to increase it massively!
Why Might Your Metabolism Be Slow?
Everybody’s metabolism works at a different rate, which is why some people struggle to gain weight no matter how much they eat and others find it difficult to lose weight even if they consume next to nothing. There is also a condition called hypothyroidism which causes the metabolism to slow right down and the sufferer to gain weight. This can be diagnosed and treated by a doctor, but medication only goes so far and there are other lifestyle changes that can improve the metabolism even more.
So what exactly is your “metabolism”? Put simply it is a measure of how many calories being burnt each day. If your metabolism is slow then that means your body is burning calories slowly, even if you are exercising and eating healthily. Unfortunately having a slow metabolism hinders fat loss, essential to health, body building and an attractive physique. Here are 10 ways in which you can boost your metabolism everyday, and burn the maximum calories possible.
10 Tips in which you can boost your metabolism everyday, and burn the maximum calories possible. By taking up some of these tips you should see an improvement in your potential weight loss:
Eat Breakfast: Some people skip breakfast because they live busy lives, to lose weight or because they don’t feel like eating first thing in the morning. However breakfast is essential to a fast metabolism and therefore to losing weight. By not eating breakfast you are setting your body into “starvation mode”, making it think that it needs to conserve energy and burn calories slowly. Add breakfast to your daily routine, with it consisting of around 300 calories, and eat eggs, beans or lean meat for extra protein.
Add Spices: Adding spices to your meals can vastly increase your metabolism. All spices have this effect, however Cayenne Pepper and Cinnamon have been shown in studies to be particularly effective. You only need to consume 1 tsp a day to speed up your metabolism. There are plenty of ways to incorporate it into your diet, whether you add to your meals at night, baking or health boosting drinks.
Eat More Food Earlier in the Day: The jury is out on whether eating late at night it is detrimental to your metabolism. However it is definitely true that you should eat bigger meals for breakfast and lunch. This is because you will need the calories the most during the day when you are active. The calories you eat after 7p.m will not burn as quickly at night since the body is at rest.
Increase Vitamin C Intake: Experts believe that by consuming 500 mg of vitamin C per day, you could burn up to 40% more fat when exercising. It is not recommended you vastly exceed this amount because it can result in unwanted side effects. You can find high levels of vitamin C in kiwi fruit, strawberries, orange juice or simply by taking vitamin C supplements.
Natural Fat Burning Pills: Many people worry about what fat burning pills are doing to their bodies, and whether they are safe. Natural fat burning pills only contain safe, natural ingredients such as herbs, which makes them a lot more reassuring to use. Syntrax fyre is a natural fat burning pill that claims to “stimulate every fat burning metabolic process in the body”. This particular brand stimulates the metabolism and increases energy, and has received many positive reviews online.
Eat up to Eight Meals Per Day: Eating smaller meals more often ensure your blood sugar stays stable and provides your metabolism with a constant flow of energy. Eat between five and eight meals per day to see positive effects.
Green Tea: Drinking green tea is a great way to boost your metabolism as well as staying dehydrated during exercise. If you don’t like the taste then you can take green tea extract tablets instead, available at most health food stores.
Follow Ayurvedic Techniques: The ancient Indian practice of Ayurveda is still followed by many people today. It incorporates lifestyle, exercises and medicine to build a healthy body and mind. Ayurveda has many lessons on how to boost metabolism through exercise and diet, however it recommends specific Indian herbs and recipes for boosting metabolism, such as guggulu.
Aerobic Exercise: Aerobic exercise, such as cycling, running or swimming is very beneficial to the metabolism. By doing half an hour of aerobic exercise in the morning you will not only be burning more calories whilst you are doing the exercise but you will be boosting your metabolism for the entire day.
Strength Training: It is a well known fact that muscle burns more calories than fat, so by having more muscle you will be improving your metabolic rate. Not only that but after you have done a resistance work-out your muscles heal and grow which continues to burn calories. Aim to do two or three weight training exercise routines per week. Soon you will be burning more calories, even when you’re not doing anything!
