Your metabolism is the rate at which you burn calories to produce energy through a series of chemical reactions in your body. There are several easy ways to speed up your metabolism, and they are all geared toward decreasing body fat and increasing lean muscle mass, which is the most efficient calorie-burning machinery in your body.
Eat
Your metabolism slows down while you are sleeping and speeds up again with your first meal of the day. In fact, every time you eat, you set the process of metabolism in motion. While you want to eat often enough to keep your metabolism at top speed, you don't want to overeat and take in excess calories, or eat too many high-fat or high-sugar foods that are easily converted to body fat. Excess body fat will only slow down your metabolism.
As you get older, your metabolism naturally slows down so you must cut calories slightly to maintain your energy balance and not gain weight. It is important not to cut back too much on calories, however, or your metabolism will slow down even more to compensate for the lack of calories it needs to produce enough energy.
Play Games
Active video games that feature interactive sports, dance or exercise and get you up and moving for an extended period of time have been shown to increase heart rates to the point of revving up the metabolism and burning a significant amount of calories, according to David Bickham, Ph.D., a researcher in the Children's Center on Media and Child Health at Children's Hospital Boston. Interactive video exercise can become part of your regular physical fitness routine.
Exercise
Getting regular exercise is an easy way to speed up your metabolism, especially if you cross-train to include both aerobic and anaerobic exercises, and increase the speed or difficulty of your activity over time. Aerobic exercises, such as swimming, bicycle riding, dancing, rowing, running, jogging and even walking, not only burn off calories while you're active, but also keep your metabolism in high gear for several hours after you stop. Anaerobic exercise, such as using strength training equipment and light weights, also speeds up your metabolism because it reduces body fat and builds muscle mass. The more lean muscle tissue you have on your body, the more efficiently you burn calories. Weight training can boost your metabolism by up to 15 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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