Metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories for all the actions it goes through daily. This includes processes such as thinking, breathing, wound healing, digestion and body temperature regulation. Boosting your metabolism can help you manage your weight or promote weight loss. Achieve this goal with the help of food and exercise.
Step 1
Start your day with a healthy breakfast. When you skip breakfast, your metabolic rate slows and your blood sugar drops, causing you to become hungry, according to the Meals Matter website. Take the time to at least eat something quick, such as half a whole grain bagel, spread with peanut butter and an all natural fruit preserve.
Step 2
Graze throughout the rest of the day. Eating small, more frequent meals will provide a regular influx of energy and also will make your body more efficient at burning calories, says Dr. Megan Porter on the Calories per Hour website. Eat a meal every two to three hours; include a portion of protein and complex carbohydrates with each one. A bowl of cottage cheese with raw carrots, celery sticks and mushrooms is a meal example.
Step 3
Drink ice cold water throughout the day. Researchers at the University of Utah found that volunteers who drank eight to 12, 8-ounce glasses of water per day had higher metabolic rates than those who quaffed only four glasses, according to the Women's Health website. Spruce up the flavor by adding cucumber slices. And you will burn a few calories just to warm the icy water to body temperature.
Step 4
Perform high intensity interval training. Start with a light warm-up, then exercise at a high intensity for 30 seconds. Reduce your intensity to moderate for 60 seconds, then increase it to high again. Bounce back and forth for 30 to 45 minutes and finish with a light, 5-minute cool-down. This will increase your caloric expenditure and boost your metabolism. Aim for three interval sessions a week.
Step 5
Add more muscle to your body. By lifting weights and gaining muscle, you will burn more calories every day, according to the University of Michigan Health System. Do exercises that target your whole body, such as bench presses, push presses, lat pulldowns, triceps extensions, biceps curls and squats. Do strength training two or three days a week.
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