Increasing your body's metabolism is the quickest and most-effective way to lose weight. When your metabolism increases, you will burn more calories, turn fat into muscle and have more energy. While metabolism is generally based on your gender, age and activity level, you can speed up your metabolism in several ways.
Exercise
Experts at the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports say that exercise helps increase your metabolism both during and after your workout. This is because exercise increases your energy output, uses stored calories as fuel and burns them. The amount of exercise you need and how many calories you burn depends entirely on how much you eat and how intensely you exercise. Aerobic exercises burn the most body fat, since the heart is pumping and burning up stored calories.
Slow Down
It may sound strange, but slowing down while you work out can help you burn more calories. Try counting to three when lowering the weight to the original position, which will help break down your muscle's tissues. The process that your body goes through to repair the muscle's will help increase your metabolism for up to 72 hours after you are finished working out. Remember to use weights that make you tired by the end of the set so that you are shocking your muscles.
Eat a Healthy Breakfast
Eating a healthy breakfast is one of the most important steps you can take to jump-start your metabolism. In fact, without it, your metabolism slows down to conserve energy. A study titled "Association between Eating Patterns and Obesity in a Free-Living U.S. Adult Population," published in a 2003 issue of the "American Journal of Epidemiology," showed that the rise of obesity rates can be linked to skipping breakfast. You should eat lean protein with healthy fats and complex carbohydrates to boost your day's start and include eggs, vegetables and carbohydrates, such as cereals.
Omega Fish Oil Supplements
Combining a healthy exercise regime with fish oil supplements speeds up your metabolism and increases the activity of fat-burning enzymes, according to a 2007 study reported in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition." The study, titled "Combining Fish Oil Supplements with Regular Aerobic Exercise Improves Body Composition and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors," found that fish oil supplements and daily physical activity should be done in conjunction to optimally increase your metabolism.
Interval Training
Shorten your workout and increase your metabolism by doing interval training. The Women's Health website says bursts of speed may accelerate a fat-burning enzyme to work within the muscles. Begin by doing three 8-second sprints, integrating 12 seconds of easy walking between each sprint. Work up until you can do 10 sprints in 20 minutes.
Drink Coffee
The caffeine found in coffee increases your heart rate and breathing, and both help to speed up your metabolism. Combined with a cup of ice cold water, caffeine stimulates your nervous system and can increase your average metabolic rate.
References
- President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
- Women's Health
- "American Journal of Epidemiology;" Association Between Eating Patterns and Obesity in a Free-Living U.S. Adult Population; 2003
- "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition;" Combining Fish Oil Supplements with Regular Aerobic Exercise Improves Body Composition and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors; May 2007
- Women's Health
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