Let’s Fire Up that Metabolism
Did you know? After age 25, our metabolism-which is the rate at which our bodies change food into energy-begins to slow-in fact, it slows about 5% each decade. As the rate drops, and our metabolism slows, the food that is not converted into energy becomes excess weight, which becomes extra fat in our bodies. This explains those extra stubborn pounds that many gain as the decades march on.
But it’s not impossible to reverse this decline as you age! If you want to give your metabolic rate a kick, eating the right foods and doing the right exercises is a key. However, you also need to make sure you’re leading a lifestyle that promotes optimal calorie burning. In this article I’m going to be taking a deeper look at this topic and listing the top lifestyle tips for boosting your metabolic rate.
Don’t Overdose On Caffeine
When consumed in moderation, caffeine can actually give your metabolism a boost. However, overdosing on caffeine can interfere with your body’s internal processes and cause you to become dehydrated. This has a negative effect on your metabolism and reduces the amount of calories you burn each day.
To prevent this from happening, limit your consumption to less than five caffeinated drinks per day. This will still allow you to enjoy plenty of black tea, coffee or green tea during the day without adversely affecting the amount of calories you burn.
Look For Opportunities To Stay Active
Every day is full of opportunities to stay active, burn some extra calories and rev up your metabolism. However, most people don’t look for these opportunities and as a result they don’t use up as many calories as they could during the day.
To make the most of these opportunities, be more aware of the options available to you and choose the one that’s best for your metabolism. For example, if you have a choice between taking the elevator and the stairs, take the stairs. If you’re planning to use the car for a short journey, consider jogging or cycling instead. Doing this will significantly increase your metabolism and allow you to burn plenty of extra calories each day.
Moderate Your Alcohol Consumption
Like caffeine, alcoholic drinks are something that can be enjoyed in small quantities but when consumed excessively, they slow down your metabolism. The reason for this is that large amounts of alcohol cause your body to become dehydrated and this inhibits your metabolism and limits the total daily calories you burn. To prevent alcohol having a negative impact on your metabolism, limit your consumption to two alcoholic drinks per night and have at least two alcohol free days per week. Always drink plenty of water when consuming alcohol to avoid this dehydration-one glass of water for each drink consumed is great way to stay hydrated as well as lessen the after effects of the alcohol the next day.
Stay Hydrated
As mentioned above, dehydration slows down your metabolism and reduces the total number of calories you burn each day. Staying hydrated has the opposite effect, helps you maintain an optimal metabolism and maximizes the amount of calories you burn each day.
To ensure that you stay hydrated, consume the equivalent of eight glasses of water per day. There are plenty of different foods and drinks that can help you hit this target, so even if you’re not a huge fan of water, it’s still really easy to stay hydrated. Simply enjoy black tea, coffee, green tea, water rich fruits (such as grapefruit and melon) and water rich vegetables (such as broccoli and spinach) regularly and you’ll easily stay hydrated and burn the maximum amount of calories possible each day.
Get At Least 6 Hours Of Sleep Per Night
Getting six hours or more of high-quality sleep each night boosts your metabolism in numerous ways. First, it stimulates the release of growth hormone - a hormone which burns body fat and builds muscle (muscle cells burn three times more calories than fat cells, so naturally raises your metabolic rate). Second, it ensures that all your vital organs function optimally and prevents your metabolism from slowing down. So if you’re not currently getting at least six hours of quality sleep on a nightly basis, make the effort to improve your sleep patterns from today.
Eat When It Suits You Best
One of the biggest metabolism myths out there is that you need to eat five or six mini-meals at even intervals during the day. However, this is actually nothing more than a successful rumor created by supplement companies in order to sell more products. The truth is that as long as your total daily calories are consistent and in line with your basal metabolic rate, the timing and number of meals you consume isn’t important.
So instead of struggling to fit five or six mini-meals into your day, create a meal plan that suits your lifestyle. By doing this, you’ll not only enjoy your meals more but you’ll be much more motivated as you’re not forcing yourself to eat when you’d rather not.
Utilize Spices
Spices are a great way to add a kick to your meals and they also boost your metabolism in the process. When you consume spices, they temporarily stimulate your body’s fat burning processes and this can result in you burning more body fat after you eat them. In addition to this, eating spices raises your body’s temperature and your body then uses up more calories as it regulates this temperature increase.
If you don’t currently utilize many spices in your cooking, start making some changes today. There are plenty of different spices available with different intensities and flavors, so you can easily find one that you like. Spices are also incredibly versatile and can be used to season fish, meat, nuts, vegetables and seeds.
Base Each Meal Around Protein
By basing every meal you eat around protein, you give your metabolism a huge natural boost. Unlike carbohydrates and fats (which burn very few calories during digestion), studies that when you consume protein, your body uses up 25% of the calories it contains during digestion.
If most of your meals are rich in processed carbohydrates (such as white pasta or white rice), base them around a protein source instead (such as fish or meat) and then top up the meal with vegetables. By doing this you’ll still get some nutrient packed carbohydrates in your meal but you’ll cut out the excess carbohydrate calories and enjoy the calorie burning effects of protein.
Get Plenty Of Fiber
Like protein rich foods, foods that contain high levels of fiber require more energy to digest so naturally enhance your metabolism when you eat them. Fiber rich foods also increase the amount of nutrients you can absorb from your foods, protect against bowel disease and much more. Most plant based foods contain high levels of fiber. Therefore, to get plenty of fiber in your diet, simply fill up on whole grains, fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables.
Avoid Processed Carbs
As mentioned above, if your diet contains a high concentration of processed carbs and you want to maximize your metabolism, then you need to be replacing your carbohydrate rich meals with protein rich meals.
Processed carbs require very few calories to digest, so the more processed carbs you eat, the fewer total calories your digestive system burns off. In addition to this, processed carbs contain very few vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. These nutrients support numerous processes within your body (including metabolism) and by failing to get enough of them in your diet, you can slow down your metabolism and reduce the total amount of calories you burn each day.
To keep your nutrient levels topped up, increase the amount of calories you burn during digestion and maintain an optimal metabolism, cut back on processed carbs and instead fill up on fiber rich, nutrient packed, natural carbs such as fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables.
Eating as clean as possible, making a few lifestyle changes, and finding an exercise program that works for you is the key to all good health, and when combined with a diet that’s rich in metabolism boosting foods and drinks, with consistency, you can get your metabolism fired up in a few short weeks. For even more focus on revving up the metabolism, I’d suggest a good protocol of detoxifying the system, adding probiotics, or even adding intermittent fasting to your life. This are things that I specialize in, and offer programs that are designed just for YOU. Please reach out to me if you are interested in learning how this might work in your wellness journey!