You can naturally increase your metabolism quite easily. While it does matter what you eat and how much you exercise, the timing of these activities may actually prove more important for speeding up metabolism. The caloric approach to dieting does not account for the thermic (fat-burning) properties of certain foods, according to "The Fat Burning Bible." Slightly changing your lifestyle can naturally increase your metabolism to help maintain healthy body weight and improve body composition.
Step 1
Drink more water. According to "Combat the Fat" author Jeff Anderson, water acts as a natural fat-burner in the body. The body also requires water for nearly every process it undertakes, including digesting and assimilating foods, as well as burning fat and producing energy. Aim to drink eight 16-oz. glasses of water every day.
Step 2
Eat the right foods to optimize your body's natural metabolic functions. Certain foods store as body fat more readily, while others actually serve to increase your metabolic rate, according to "The Abs Diet." These metabolism-boosting foods include nuts and seeds, lean meats, whey protein, berries, vegetables, beans, dairy, oatmeal, eggs, peanuts butter, olive oil and whole-grain bread and pasta.
Step 3
Increase your meal frequency to speed up your metabolism. Rather than eating the traditional big breakfast, lunch and dinner, take in three smaller whole food meals, with three healthy snacks between them and following exercise. Not only will hunger become a thing of the past, but you will also enable your body to take in as many nutrients or more without storing as much body fat, according to "The Fat Burning Bible."
Step 4
Begin a resistance training workout program at least three days per week. This form of exercise increased metabolism in many ways: builds metabolically active muscle, which burns calories even when you're sedentary; and affects insulin sensitivity, the storage hormone which decides whether you will store body fat or build lean muscle. You can tip the scales in the direction of lean muscle by doing just a few short workouts per week. These workouts can boost metabolism for up to 48 hours, according to "The Abs Diet."
Step 5
Take green tea extract and caffeine 30 minutes prior to working out. The green tea extract should be standardized to a content of 300 mg of EGCG, a polyphenol antioxidant that increases metabolic rate, according to "Homemade Supplement Secrets." Moreover, taking a green tea supplement with 200 mg of caffeine boosts metabolism more than either supplement alone, says author Jeff Anderson.
Things You'll Need
- Water
- Green tea extract (standardized to 300 mg EGCG)
- 200 mg caffeine
References
- "The Abs Diet"; David Zinczenko; 2004
- "Combat the Fat"; Jeff Anderson; 2008
- "The Fat-Burning Bible"; Mackie Shilstone; 2005
- "Homemade Supplement Secrets"; Jeff Anderson; 2008
Member Comments