Speeding up your basic metabolism helps you burn calories even when you're resting. Your metabolism is in charge of burning calories for energy throughout the day. For whatever reason, some people have slow metabolisms, and instead of burning calories, the calories are stored as energy and fat. Obviously, speeding up your metabolism is preferable, and a helpful way to lose weight. While metabolisms are basically a product of your body type and genes, you can do a few things to help speed up your basic metabolism.
Step 1
Eat more often. It might sound counter-intuitive to eat more in order to speed up a metabolism and lose weight, but eating five or six small meals throughout the day benefits a slow metabolism. The more often you eat, the more apt your metabolism is to burn those calories. Pamela Peeke, M.D., author of "Fight Fat After Forty" explains that eating more often keeps your metabolism revved up. When you stretch out time between meals, your metabolism stores fat instead of burning it to help keep your energy stores high.
Step 2
Try adding some jalapeno to your foods. Spices and foods such as chili powder, hot sauce and jalapenos contain the acid capsaicin, which stimulates the glands that tell the metabolism to start burning more calories. Choose foods that are slightly spicy for a quick boost in a basic metabolism.
Step 3
Avoid drinking alcohol. Not only does alcohol make you feel hungry or cause you to eat more because your judgment is shaky, but your body also burns alcohol in the body faster than it does sugar or fat. This is because your liver is working overtime to remove alcohol from your body. Because of this, calories consumed from food are stored while the alcohol is burned, leaving you with a slower metabolism.
Step 4
Drink milk. Studies published in a January 2003 American Society for Nutritional Sciences Journal of Nutrition found that women who drank milk and ate dairy products three times per day lost 70 percent more weight than women who did not. The simple reason is that calcium, found in dairy products, speeds up the metabolism, burning more calories.
Step 5
Exercise. While your metabolism is largely affected by the things you consume and how you eat, exercising can also keep it burning. Johns Hopkins Weight Loss Management Center explains that weight lifting builds muscle, and the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism burns energy, even when you aren't working out. Hit the weights three times per week for a faster metabolism.
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