Tips To Increase Your Metabolism

Metabolism is the sum of all the cellular processes in your body to use the food you eat. Some cells, like muscle cells, are more metabolically active than other cells, like fat cells. Muscle cells use up more food energy than fat cells because muscle cells require more energy to function properly.

Move More

Engage in regular exercise like walking, running and weight training to increase your exercise metabolism. Your exercise metabolism increases during and after your exercise session because your body must process the nutrients in your blood, muscles and liver to give you the energy for your workout. The higher the intensity of your activity and the longer you do the activity, the more the rise in your metabolism.

Eat Small and Frequent Meals

Digesting, absorbing and using the nutrients from food increase your energy metabolism, especially one hour after consumption. Energy metabolism is commonly referred to as the thermic effect of good, or the amount of energy it takes for your body to break down food into a usable form of energy. It does take more energy to break down protein than it does to break down fat and carbohydrates; hence, your metabolism increases more with a larger amount of protein in your diet.

Exercise in Extreme Climates

In cold climates, your metabolic rate increases up to five times because your muscles create shivers to maintain a stable temperature at your core. Walking in 20-degree weather will burn more calories than walking in 75-degree weather. But when it's hot outside, your metabolism increases some functions to keep your body from overheating---increasing the activity of your sweat glands, for example.

Strength Training

The American College of Sports Medicine reports regular strength training induces an increase in resting energy expenditure or resting metabolic rate. The increase in resting metabolism is due to an increase in repairing and remodeling muscle tissue damaged from the strength training program.

Muscle Mass

Muscle cells require more energy to function properly. The more muscle cells or the bigger your muscles are the more your metabolism increases. Complete a strength training routine (also known as resistance or weight training) four times a week to build your muscles and boost your metabolism.

Brain Power

Your brain uses as much oxygen as your skeletal muscles do when you are just lying in bed. Your brain and your skeletal muscles each contribute 19 percent to your resting metabolism. The next time you are lying around, pick-up a crossword puzzle or get started on the book you have wanted to write. You brain will use more energy, increasing your metabolism.