Metabolism is a frequent word in the topic of weight loss and weight gain. Many people talk about their struggles with their body and express that their metabolism is not working well. Online healthy lifestyle guide Provenance Vie Saine describes some of the steps you can take to help speed up your metabolism.
Understanding metabolism
There are scientific ways to increase the rate of metabolic change, and thus enable the body to burn more calories. To eat specific foods can improve metabolic health of the thyroid, while another technique to visibly lose weight may be sweating and perspiring (which can be done through many different approaches).
To eat the right foods is a real, proven weight loss method through increased metabolic change. Perspiring is a temporary expenditure of calories through burning food energy you did not use.
What is metabolism?
Metabolism is a process where the body converts food into energy and fuel. If you had no metabolism, you could not convert food into energy, so individuals often have a poor slow metabolism but ideally still functioning.
Weight loss and calories
Calories are a measure of energy that we eat as food. When there is an excess of energy (you eat more calories than you need), and the body can’t use this energy at the time, it will be forced to create larger/increased cells with that extra energy. When there are too many calories in the body (when there’s too much energy from food) then the body transforms those calories into fat stores.
Ways to boost your metabolism
- Exercise
- Lifestyle
- Diet
Exercise
Exercising does boost your metabolism and the burning up of calories. Cardiovascular (aerobic) exercise is an important part of boosting your metabolism. It increases heart rate, blood circulation, body temperature, and oxygen intake/carbon dioxide exchange which uses energy.
Build muscle
Some people are not too keen about muscle building or are concerned they will become very large and bulky. As long as you are not supporting your workouts with specific muscle-building supplements or excessive calories, you are unlikely to create bulky muscle.
Muscle building is an efficient way to boost metabolism because a kilo of muscle burns more calories than a kilo of fat. Also, at rest, fat is the preferred fuel/energy for muscle. The more muscle on your body, the more calories as a result will be used. Once you start building muscle through any kind of strength training, your body will start burning more calories.
Interval training
You may be at a stage where you can jog for 20 minutes every day, putting your heart into a cardiovascular ‘training zone’. This helps boost your metabolism and burn more calories. You can actually burn even more calories if, during that 20 minute jog, you can add a 30 second or 1 minute sprint to change it up.
If you add interval sprints, your body will burn more calories as it will suddenly need to find more energy to sustain this higher range of your aerobic training zone.
Lifestyle
Your lifestyle is the basic day-to-day habits and routines which can influence the speed of your metabolism. Balancing work, family, hobbies, and other commitments often means that our lifestyle isn’t so much of a choice, as it is a necessity.
The little things that you change in your regular, day-to-day lifestyle can have the most profound influence on the speed of your metabolism, and the achievement of your short and long-term weight loss goals.
Sleep
Most of us don’t have as much control over the amount that we sleep as we should. Work, family, education, housekeeping, and so many other tasks can prevent us from getting the amount of sleep that we need.
Getting enough sleep actually improves metabolism. On the other hand, people who are constantly sleep deprived typically find that they have less energy to do regular, daily activities; including digestion. Sleep-starved people often lower their metabolism as they don’t have the strength to break down food efficiently, particularly carbohydrates.
Relax
Stressful situations can send signals to our body which can lead to slower metabolism. When the body is under constant stress, it releases stress hormones that flood the system and tell the body to create larger fat cells in the abdominal area. The result can be both increased weight (through increased fat cells), and a slower metabolism.
It’s important to remember that stress negatively influences metabolism, as there is a link between how much stress you experience and your ability to break down cells and lose weight.
Diet
Metabolism-friendly foods are foods which promote thyroid health. A high plant-based diet supports thyroid health; try to have small frequent meals with some fresh plant foods.
If your body needs 2000 calories a day to survive, and you suddenly give it only 1000, it won’t burn off the missing 1000 calories. Instead, your body will slow down its metabolism. Physically, you’ll naturally feel more tired because your body is rationing its energy, and will devote everything it receives to essential systems, like blood and oxygen supply. Metabolically, you won’t be burning off extra calories. In fact, you can actually gain weight by dramatically reducing your calorie intake!
You need to determine the amount of calories that you need via a qualified nutritionist or dietician.
Eat more
Eating small meals frequently throughout the day can be very good for boosting metabolism as people who do this tend to snack considerably less. As a result, they tend to avoid the potato chips or candy bars that they might otherwise consume if they suddenly felt hungry. People who eat throughout the day don’t tend to experience severe hunger pangs, because they don’t reach that stage.
The second reason, you are constantly keeping your metabolism in motion, feeding it with appropriate nutrition for health and function (thyroid).
Low fat labels
Some low fat foods can play a role in an overall healthier eating plan but it is only a small fraction of the equation to improve metabolism. Some low fat fat products can actually make you gain weight if eaten too much.
Eat early
Studies have shown that metabolism slows during sleep and doesn’t typically get going again until you eat. This means you’ll actually burn more calories throughout the day, simply by eating breakfast. Not only that, breakfasts that are high in fibre take longer to digest, which means the body won’t be hungry again for a while. Because of this, people who eat breakfast are much less inclined to snack throughout the morning.
Protein and good carbs
Studies have shown that having enough protein in your system can increase the speed of your metabolism because protein requires more energy to break down, using up more energy/calories.
Different people will require different amounts of protein on a daily basis. Those who exercise and build muscle will typically need more than the average amount.
Carbohydrate that are high in fibre, including those from fruit and vegetable sources, are better to eat as they don’t score high on the glycaemic index. This means they don’t cause a spike in insulin levels, and are therefore, less likely to promote fat storage.
Image / FreeDigitalPhotos.net – wandee007
