increase metabolism lose weight

Increase Metabolism & Lose Weight

I know it definitely does not seem fair, some people have higher metabolism than others and you may have noticed that some people can get away with eating way more junk food than you and still not gain weight.

Metabolism is better understood if we look at it in this way: “The process of metabolism establishes the rate at which we burn our calories and, ultimately, how quickly we gain weight and how easily we lose it.”

Numerous factors influence an increase or decrease in our metabolism and this is what is the most troubling for most.

These factors include age, gender, amount of physical activity, nutrition, proportion of lean muscle mass.

The real kicker is that every individual has a different basal metabolic rate (aka BMR), hence, making generalized workout and diet plans for weight loss can be quite tricky.

With that said, let’s look at some general ways that have proven to be quite effective at boosting your metabolsim:

Increase Metabolism & Lose Weight #1: Exercise Regularly & Add Variation

Exercising is a big part of increasing you basal metabolic rate and subsequently burning extra calories. Cardiovascular/aerobic exercise is an excellent mode of exercise to lose body fat, but training with weights is equally as important and effective.

Some of you may be frustrated with this one principal especially since you have noticed that with exercise you get uncontrollable food urges particularly at night. This is why it is a great idea to try a slow digesting protein such as Optimum 100% Casein Protein since it is low in calories, takes a long time to digest and has less chance of turning into fat while at the same time really curbing your food cravings.

What about those of you who have been exercising regularly but still not seeing the results you think you should be getting? In this scenario, you will need to add variation to your workout. I’m not talking about just doing some extra reps either! You need to completely change your routine at least every 6 weeks.

One simple way of doing this is having workout plans which allow you to focus on heavier weights and the contrasting this with a plan which allows you to focus more on body weights and stability.

Increase Metabolism & Lose Weight #2: The Right Carbs at the Right Time of Day

When it comes to carbs, breakfast is the one time of day that you really need to make sure that you don’t skimp out on the carbs.

Remember, after a night of sleep your body has undergone over 8 hours of fasting and thus will start looking at breaking down muscle mass for energy (unfortunately it usually does this before breaking down fat – we can blame our ancestors for that!).

As a result of this our metabolism slows down to balance out this caloric deficit. Eating a morning meal energizes the body and revs up your metabolism.

To make your carbs really count in the morning you need to ensure that you are focusing on carbs that have a high fiber content. You will find my article on High Fiber Diets will help you chose the best foods with high fiber content.

Also, if you’re a smart cookie you will find adding natural Psyllium Husk Powder to your protein shakes or even cereal is a great way of boosting your daily fiber intake without increasing the calories.

Increase Metabolism & Lose Weight #3: Green Tea & Spicy Foods

Is it a myth that if you include green tea and spicy foods in your diet that your metabolism will also increase? Recent studies show that this is not a myth but may not be as much as some have been lead to believe particularly for a long-term strategy with increasing your metabolism.

The problem lies in the fact that our bodies can adapt after several weeks of eating spicy foods and drinking green tea. So why not switch it up and add variation with this method of losing weight as well?

Try one week of adding tons of spices to your foods (like cayenne, cinnamon, red pepper, curry), and then the following week reduce the spices and substitute drinking a few cups of green tea or a green tea extract like Irwin Naturals Green Tea Fat Metabolizer and alternating every other week.

This will keep your body guessing and your metabolism elevated, which means greater spikes in your metabolism and more weight loss.

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