Boosting your Metabolism

August 16, 2011

Your metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories. Chances are good you’ve heard the myth that it’s something you can’t change. But in reality, you DO have the ability to boost your metabolism, no matter what your age or gender. Below are some of the factors that affect your metabolism and some tips for speeding it up.

Factors affecting metabolism:

• Muscle Your amount of muscle tissue has the biggest impact on metabolism because muscle burns calories at a high rate, even when you are resting. When you are inactive, you lose muscle and your metabolism changes.
• Eating The longer you go between meals, the slower your metabolism will work in order to conserve energy. Your body will also break down muscle tissue for energy when you skip meals or do any kind of extreme dieting.
• Hydration Inadequate water causes all of your body systems to slow down.
• Activity The more active you are, the higher your metabolism. But you must increase quality food intake to match the calories you burn.
• Nutrition Low-fat diets tend to result in poor hormone production, which leads to a slower metabolism.
• Stress Because of its effects on the nervous system, stress can slow your metabolism down. And most people tend to overeat when stressed.
• Hormones Your body’s sex hormone production decreases as you age. This directly slows metabolism and causes muscle loss and fat storage. Also, in very rare cases, your thyroid gland affects your metabolism.

How to increase your metabolism:

• Do some strength training. This is an excellent way to increase lean muscle mass and elevate key hormone levels.
• Adjust your lifestyle. Making subtle changes to your daily life, such as parking at the back of the parking lot, taking the stairs instead of elevator, can really add up
• Eat more fiber. Good sources are whole grains and fibrous/leafy vegetables. Eating these healthy carbohydrates is like putting more wood on the fire, while eating processed/refined carbohydrates is like dousing the fire with water.
• Eat more protein. Increasing protein can speed up your metabolism, but be sure to slightly decrease your carbohydrate intake so you don’t eat too many calories. Protein is used by muscles for repair and recovery. Good sources are fish, poultry, beans and nuts.
• Eat a pre-exercise snack. Eat a small balanced snack 30 minutes before exercising. A recent study from the National Strength and Conditioning Association found that metabolism will increase pre-, during, and post-workout if a small snack is consumed prior to exercise. Exercising on an empty stomach is not recommended.
• Practice high intensity cardio. The more intense your cardio session, the more calories you’ll burn.
• Eat frequent, small meals. Eat 5 to 6 evenly spaced, small meals each day. It may sound hard to do, but this just means you’re eating about every 3 hours. Also, eating food rich in lean meats, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats and whole grains will send your metabolism sky rocketing.
• Drink more water. For the general population, a half gallon of water a day is a good place to start. For athletes, it’s not uncommon to drink 1 to 2 gallons a day. Water helps keep your body flushed and hydrated.

Adding to the frustration is the fact that not all metabolisms perform equally! Where one person can just look at food and gain weight, another can eat whatever they want and not gain a pound? Some people just have to put a little more effort to get their metabolism to work for them, rather than against them. Hope these tips will help you!