Running is an excellent way to burn calories. An average 150 pound person running for 40 minutes at an 8:30 minute pace can burn 522 calories. Not only can exercises such as running help you burn calories during your workout, but several steps can be taken after a run to continue burning calories.
Guidelines
Step 1
Add strength training to your routine. Lean muscles will burn more calories than fat throughout the day, so it's important to keep your muscle mass strong and functioning properly. As we age, we can lose up to 2 percent of muscle each year, so strength training can reverse this trend and keep metabolism high.
Step 2
Eat four to six small meals a day. Having several smaller meals throughout the day is better than eating two or three big ones. This keeps your blood sugar stabilized, helps you avoid over-eating and teaches your body to burn fat and calories more efficiently.
Step 3
Eat breakfast. Starting your day right with a healthy breakfast can increase your metabolism by 10 percent. Skipping breakfast can actually cause your metabolism to slow down because your body is in "starvation" mode from not eating all night, and it assumes it must conserve energy and burn calories more slowly.
Step 4
Drink plenty of water. Drinking at least six to eight glasses of water a day helps your body work optimally while also removing toxins that are released when you burn fat. In addition, cold water can burn more calories because energy is required to heat the body after cold water brings body temperature down.
Step 5
Get adequate sleep. Getting a minimum of seven to eight hours of sleep each night will keep your body strong and functioning properly. It allows enough time for your muscles to repair and maintain lean muscle mass, which burns more calories.
Step 6
Avoid stress. Physical and emotional stress releases a steroid called cortisol that can actually slow your metabolism, so avoid stress as much as possible.
Step 7
Make Dietary Changes. Decrease or eliminate sugar from your diet because it can slow your metabolism and cause more fat to be stored. Good choices to add include hot, spicy foods and green teas, which can stimulate and boost metabolism.
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