Thermogenic basal metabolic rate, or BMR, is the rate at which your body burns calories when you are sitting or lying down, motionless. According to the Discovery Health website, basal metabolic rate slows down as you age. This, in turn, can make you more prone to pack on extra weight. To boost your BMR, make a few changes to your diet and become more active.
Step 1
Eat a bowl of cereal before leaving for work. If you approach the day without eating, your body may sense starvation and slow down to conserve energy, says Kristie Leong, M.D., from the Health Mad website. Choose some other healthy food if you do not like cereal, such as a high-fiber granola bar or a cup of yogurt.
Step 2
Sip on ice cold water throughout the day to give your metabolism a slight lift. When you drink ice cold water, your body needs to burn excess calories to heat it up.
Step 3
Graze throughout the day. Waiting long periods between your meals can cause your body to hold on to stored fat. Adopting a pattern of eating smaller, more frequent meals will cause your body to burn calories more efficiently says Megan Porter, R.D., from the Calories per Hour website. Balance each meal out with a portion of protein and complex carbs. Cottage cheese with fruit and chopped-up nuts mixed in is a meal example.
Step 4
Perform sprint training three days a week on alternating days. This will not only boost your metabolism for hours after your workouts, but it will also burn significant calories. Start with a light five- to 10-minute warm-up jog, and then sprint as fast as you can for 20 seconds. Rest for 40 seconds, and sprint again for 20 seconds. Repeat for 20 minutes. Finish with a light five-minute jog.
Step 5
Lift weights to add muscle mass to your body. By lifting weights and building muscle, you will burn more calories every day, according to the University of Michigan Health System. Focus on doing compound exercises which work more than one muscle at a time. Bench presses, shoulder presses, bent-over rows, dead-lifts and squats are examples. Aim for three weight training sessions a week on alternating days.
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