Just like any car, your body needs fuel to work. With that being said, your metabolism is the engine that works to break food into components that your body can use. There are several things you can do to affect your body's metabolism. For example, increasing and decreasing the rate at which your body breaks down food can have opposite effects. While boosting your metabolism will be good for weight management, slowing your metabolism can lead to fat conservation.
How to Increase Your Metabolism
Step 1
Increase your muscle mass by doing resistance training.
Step 2
Slow down your strength training routine. Take three seconds during the eccentric phase, or tension-building phase, take one second in the middle to hold your position then three seconds to return to the starting position during the concentric, or contraction, phase.
Step 3
Eat smaller, more frequent meals to keep your metabolism active throughout the day.
Step 4
Do high-intensity interval training in your workouts to burn more calories and keep your metabolism high after your workout.
Step 5
Drink coffee to boost your heart rate, which will burn more calories.
Step 6
Eat a well-balanced breakfast of lean protein, complex carbohydrates and fruits.
Step 7
Eat foods containing capsaicin, such as chiles and peppers.
How to Decrease Your Metabolism
Step 1
Don't eat breakfast.
Step 2
Eat less frequently with larger, high-caloric meals.
Step 3
Do less overall activity, especially any muscle-building exercise.
Step 4
Decrease the amount of sleep you get each night.
Step 5
Avoid metabolism-increasing foods such as chiles, hot peppers or anything containing capsaicin.
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