Whether you want to lose a bit of weight, tone up or simply adopt healthier habits, you have to work on boosting your metabolism first. While it may seem like the metabolism is to blame for our lack of energy or belly fat, it’s our habits that are to blame. The compound effect of our daily habits led to us having a slow metabolism. But, these habits can be reversed to boost your metabolism healthily and quickly.
Why is it bad to have a slow metabolism?
If you store more fat, feel sluggish, gain weight, you might have a slow metabolism. Even if you eat the same amount of food, you’ll still gain weight year after year. This can also be accounted by the fact that our metabolism naturally slows down as we age. But, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t’ steps we can take to speed up our metabolism and burn more calories.
Have a consistent meal schedule
Everything starts with the diet. Our body will show all the signs pointing to a poor diet and low metabolism. Thus, you can break the bad cycle by eating at regular times. Your main goal is to take hold of your eating habits by eliminating poor ones. A regular eating schedule can help you prevent eating more than you should. You won’t feel compelled to overeat or overindulge if you’re not hungry. With each meal, you’ll obtain a steady supply of energy. As a result, your metabolism will function properly and you will burn calories at a faster rate. Start your day with a nutritious breakfast, have lunch, snacks in between and end your day with dinner.
Enrich your diet
Nourish your body with a versatile and rich diet. Limit processed food as much as possible and replace these with whole foods. The main problem with processed foods is their nutritional value. These are rich in sugar, unhealthy fats, salt, additives and others. By swapping processed foods with healthier alternatives, you will enrich your diet and regulate your metabolism. As a result, you will eat to transform calories into a source of energy.
Supplement the right way
If you can’t get your vitamins, minerals and micronutrients through a rich diet, you need to supplement. Micronutrients are needed to enable proper metabolic rate and avoid developing issues like diabetes, high cholesterol and obesity. Vitamins E, D, C, B, zinc, omega-3, calcium, iron are all essential for a healthy metabolism. Don’t forget about your gut health, so make sure to include probiotics in your diet as well.
Avoid energy slump by eating enough protein
When we’re low on energy we get the urge to take afternoon naps which further slow down our metabolism. People who nap regularly are at higher risk of developing metabolic issues than those who don’t. Thus, if you want to avoid the fall in energy, eat protein-rich meals. Not only that, but you’ll also burn more calories by trying to digest protein. It appears that protein-rich meals can boost calorie breakdown by 5%. Protein is also an essential macronutrient to build muscle and burn more calories which further helps stabilise your metabolism.
Don’t drink your calories, eat them instead
Whenever we drink soft drinks we increase calorie intake. Soft drinks are packed with sugar which only leads to health issues. Of course, if you stay within daily sugar recommendations, there is no harm in having a treat. However, next time you get the urge to drink your calories, eat a healthy meal instead. A can of soda contains around 39 grams of sugar. Recommended daily intake of sugar is between 26 to 36g of sugar. If you drink between two and three cans of soda a day, you triple the recommended amount of sugar. These can significantly slow down your metabolism while leading to weight gain as well.
Mind your carb intake
We’ve already said that you shouldn’t drink your calories if you want to have a speedy metabolism. At the same time, you should mind your carb intake. Carb-rich meals can lead both to an afternoon slump and make you hungry quicker. The fact that they are easily digestible, has a fast impact on blood sugar levels causing you to feel hungry faster. Thus, you should swap refined carbs with fibre, whole grains, rice, beans and combine them with protein, leafy salads and vegetables. Just remember to consume carbohydrates from whole sources and limit sources of refined sugar to a minimum.
Moderate your alcohol levels
Alcohol, just like anything else, should be consumed in moderation. Not only will you drink your calories, but alcohol is also metabolised before anything else in your body. This means that your regular metabolic process will be slowed down until your body has processed those three cocktails you had. Since quitting cold turkey might be difficult, just learn to limit yourself to two drinks during social occasions. The key with everything in life is moderation, so just work on it and you’ll be able to enjoy life and have an optimal metabolism.
Build your muscles with training
The more muscles you have, the faster it will take for your body to burn calories. In other words, your body will burn more calories, even when you’ve slowed down to relax. This is called a resting metabolic rate during which you’ll burn calories, fat and reduce weight. This is also a significant indicator that your metabolism is working at a full speed. If your resting metabolic rate is slow, it’s high time you hit the gym. Weight training, high-intensity workouts and regular exercise are the first part of the muscle-building process. The second part happens in the kitchen, by preparing protein-rich meals that support your efforts at the gym.
Boost your metabolism with coffee
Most people out there enjoy a good cup of coffee every day. The effect of coffee on weight loss has also been studied and researchers found out that it can boost your weight loss. The key here is to drink coffee for its unique health benefits and not overdo it. One cup of coffee timed right in your day can give you a boost in energy. Some also use it as a workout boost to kill their workouts with added energy.
…but don’t forget about green tea
If you want an alternative to coffee, don’t forget about green tea. It can give you a boost in energy and stimulate your metabolic rate equally. A compound found in green tea, known as EGCC, was researched for its unique benefits on metabolism. The researchers found that this compound can help people lose weight by burning fat.
Get that heart rate up
Cardio exercise like riding a bike or high-intensity training can significantly boost your heart rate. When your heart rate hits that cardio zone you will burn more calories, fat and further boost your endurance and metabolic rate. Cycling as a cardio exercise will speed up your basal metabolic rate so you’ll burn more calories even when you rest. If you don’t have a bicycle, you can find one at Bikes Online and cycle your way to a faster metabolism. Take your bicycle for a 30 to 45-minute ride a few times a week and you’ll quickly notice the difference in your body fat and energy levels.
Get those steps
Getting into regular exercise is not the only physical activity that will help boost our metabolism. We should also commit to reaching at least ten thousand steps a day to keep our health in balance and our metabolism working right. While 10000 steps might sound like quite an effort, it will take around two hours to complete all at once. But, it’s easier if you spread your daily walk throughout your day. You can walk to and from work and take a short walk around the neighbourhood to reach your goal. While you walk, your body will need the right amount of energy, so your metabolism will work faster to provide the needed energy.
Drink plenty of water
You should start your day with a tall glass of water to jumpstart your metabolism. A glass of water will replenish your metabolic functions which slowed down during sleep. You must drink a glass of water right after you wake up and before your breakfast. Next, people who hydrate throughout the day and drink at least two litres of water daily, have a better metabolic rate than those who don’t. Proper hydration is essential to flush out toxins from our body and help it function the right way. So, take a bottle of water with you to manage your hydration levels.
Fix your sleep schedule
Sleep is like a universal medicine for many ailments. It comes as no surprise that people who sleep poorly and are sleep deprived, store more fat. This is an indicator of a slow metabolism. If you want to take control of your metabolism, fix your sleep schedule to get at least eight hours of sleep. Figure out when is the best time for you to fall asleep so you’ll get eight hours of healthy sleep.
Sit less to burn more calories
Sitting a lot means that we’ll burn fewer calories. If we sit for long periods and repeat the behaviour daily, we’ll slow down our metabolism. Inactivity and a sedentary lifestyle lead to poor metabolism rates because we’re not putting any effort to burn the energy. Thus, we should put in the effort to take regular breaks and stand more throughout the day to boost metabolic rate.
Adopt stress-busting activities
Stress can make us crave all the unhealthy food, while it also slows down our metabolism. The levels of cortisol are to blame and when we’re stressed, they’re running high. When cortisol is produced, your body is alert and in the mode to either fight the stressor or flight. Consequently, as our body produces cortisol, it halts other functions of the body. So, it slows down our metabolism to deal with other issues. To deal with stress, adopt regular stress-busting activities. Do things for fun, laugh, relax, meditate or anything else that distracts you end relaxes your body. Once you let go, your body won’t produce cortisol and your body will use food for energy and not store fat.
In conclusion – Keep a consistent routine
If you do the work and implement everything we said in this article, you will see significant changes quickly. But, the key is to remain consistent and adopt these tips as an integral part of your lifestyle to have a healthy body, great metabolism and plenty of energy.
