Donnar's Two Cents:
The wellness industry loves to talk about “boosting” and “revving up” metabolism, but what does that actually mean? Though your metabolism is always working (even while you’re sleeping), it may not be working as efficiently as you’d hope. A reset of your metabolism may be just what you need to start feeling more energized on a daily basis, such as having more stamina during workouts or an improved ability to lose weight. How can I do this, you ask? You can get this fresh start by developing healthier lifestyle habits.
Point to note: Workouts and a Healthy Diet will always be included in most of my articles. It's what us trainers do ;) But, it's also been proven that it has too, so many amazing benefits to our body.
Let's have a look below:
Power Up with Protein:
Your body burns many more calories digesting protein than it does eating fat or carbohydrates. Through a process called thermogenesis, your body actually uses about 10% of its calorie intake for digestion.
Protein causes the largest rise in thermic effect of food (TEF). It increases your metabolic rate by 15–30%, compared to 5–10% for carbs and 0–3% for fats. Because it takes longer to burn protein than carbs or fat, your body uses more energy absorbing the nutrients in a high-protein diet. Eating more protein can also reduce the drop in metabolism often associated with losing fat.
Do a High-Intensity Workout / Step Up your Workout:
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) involves quick and very intense bursts of activity. A HIIT session will boost your metabolism for up to 24 to 48 hours after your workout is finished. During this time, your body burns more calories than it normally would, even after you stop exercising.
Here’s the thing: The better shape you’re in, the less benefit you’ll get because your body learns to become more efficient with time. You can try to get around that by working out more or harder with a combination of strength training to reap the full benefits.
Strength Training/ Build those Muscles:
Not only does muscle look more attractive on both guys and girls and keep you from getting the skinny fat look, adding muscle also gives you a higher metabolism. Lifting weights will also help you retain muscle and combat the drop in metabolism that can occur during weight loss.
Experts estimate each pound of muscle burns 6 extra calories a day, compared to 2 calories burned by fat.
Eat Smaller Meals Throughout the Day:
One of the best ways to keep your metabolism working is to eat a small meal every three hours. The plate should have three small portions – one protein, one carbohydrate or fat, and unlimited vegetables. Small, frequent meals keep things moving; the simple act of eating stimulates your metabolism by triggering digestion. Every time your body digests food, it ramps up your total metabolic rate.
Drink Green Tea:
I know, you’ve heard this one before. But did you actually realize that drinking green tea can increase your metabolism by 4% over a 24 hour period? Green tea has also been shown to suppress fat absorption, support healthy glucose levels after eating a meal, prevent insulin spikes (which can cause fat storage), and reduce overall appetite.
It’s thought their metabolism-boosting properties may help prevent the dreaded weight loss plateau that occurs due to a decrease in metabolism.
Sip some Black Coffee:
Studies have shown that the caffeine in coffee can boost metabolism by 3–11%. Like green tea, it also promotes fat burning. Taken in moderation, one of coffee's benefits may be a short-term rise in your metabolic rate. Caffeine can help you feel less tired and even increase your endurance while you exercise.
Improve Your Sleep:
Lack of sleep is linked to a major increase in the risk of obesity. This may partly be caused by the negative effects of sleep deprivation on metabolism. When you’re sleep deprived, your body produces more cortisol, the stress hormone that slows your metabolism and makes it more difficult to properly digest food and lose weight.
Drink More Water:
Water is the key to life, and it turns out it's also one of the easiest ways to help your metabolism. Drinking water increases your metabolism by up to 25% for nearly an hour after drinking it. That means if you drink a few cups of water every hour, you'll keep your metabolism at peak performance all day.
If you feel you’re a victim of your slow metabolism, you’re hardly alone.
Most people believe that they’re brought into the world with a certain metabolism, and that as they age, it’s inevitably going to get slower—and there’s absolutely nothing they can do to stop it.
But what most people don’t realize is that while genes certainly come into play, you’re not actually stuck with your slow metabolism for life. Making small, simple lifestyle changes plays such a huge difference to your body.
Just for kicks... Although stated in some of my research, I believe more scientific prove needs to be done for absolute clarity. However, Here are a few additional hacks to boost your metabolism :)
Drink Chilled Water first thing in the Morning: German researchers found that doing so boosts metabolism by 24% for at least 90 minutes afterward.
Spice up your Meals: Spicy foods have natural chemicals that can kick your metabolism into a higher gear.
Sprinkle Cinnamon on Everything: A researcher found that eating about one and a half teaspoons of cinnamon a day can help regulate glucose levels, which in turn helps control weight gain.
Drink lemon before meals: Drinking lemon water whenever possible and especially before meals can lower blood sugar peaks by about 10%—making it less likely your body will store carbohydrates and sugars as fat. Plus, lemon water can help detox your liver, helping your metabolism to run more efficiently.
Guys, the path to resetting your metabolism begins with a commitment to make change and learn to listen to your bio-individual needs. Each of our bodies work differently, so it’s important to experiment and find what works best for you! The only way we can make that difference to ourselves is simply by integrating healthy lifestyle changes that can improve your mood and productivity on a daily basis.
I can't say I'm an absolute expert as I too am learning as I research, write and share my findings. But I can say that with almost 20 years in the fitness industry, learning to understand what your body needs, and making that difference goes a long way.
Drop me a line if you feel a need to discover more insights on what your body might possibly need, or to make that simple difference in your life.
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