The term metabolism refers to a chemical reaction that happens in your body. It is this chemical reaction that is actually responsible for keeping your body functioning and staying alive. With that said, the actual word ‘metabolism’ is very commonly interchanged with the term ‘metabolic rate’, more commonly referred to as the number of calories that your body burns on a daily basis.
What this means, is that the higher your metabolism actually is, the more calories that you are going to burn and the easier that it will be for you to lose any excess weight, as well as maintain keeping that weight off. In fact, when you have a high metabolism, it has even been known to give you much more energy than normal and can even make you feel much better when compared to somebody who has a slower metabolism.
Here are some of the top ways that you can help increase your metabolism naturally.
Be Sure That You Get Enough Protein with Every Meal
Whenever you eat food, you are naturally going to boost your metabolism for at least a few hours, depending upon what it is that you are eating. This phenomenon is actually known as TEF, or the thermic effect of food. This happens because of the extra calories that your body is required to digest and then absorb, finally having to process all of the nutrients that were consumed during the meal.
Studies have shown that protein is going to cause the largest jump in your TEF. It is going to increase your metabolic rate by a minimum of 15-30 percent, which is much higher when you compare it to that of carbohydrates at 5-10 percent, or fats which are 0-3 percent. On top of that, when you eat protein, it has been proven to help you feel fuller faster, meaning that you will have a much harder time overeating at any given meal.
Also, a huge benefit when you eat protein, studies have shown that it will help you to reduce any drop in your body’s metabolism that is very common among those who are trying to lose weight. This is mainly due in part to protein helping to reduce any type of muscle loss, one of the most common side effects of going on just about any type of diet. And in case you didn’t know, muscle is actually going to help boost your metabolism to help your body burn more fat while doing less work.
The big takeaway here is that when you eat more protein on a daily basis, it is going to help to boost your metabolism, which will help you to burn more fat and calories while not necessarily increasing your physical activity. On top of that, it also has the potential to help you eat much less too.
Start Drinking More Cold Water
It has been scientifically proven that when you drink more water instead of the sugary drinks that are readily available everywhere you go, the people who drink more water are going to be much more successful at losing their excess weight and keeping it off. This is because of the fact that sugary drinks are going to contain many more calories than a cup of water, that being that a cup of water does not contain any calories at all. That being said, when you replace the sugary drinks with water, you are going to automatically reduce the number of calories that you are consuming.
If that weren’t enough, studies have also shown that when you drink more water, you may also be temporarily boosting your metabolism at the same time. In fact, it has been proven that when you drink at least 17 ounces of water, or about .5 liters, you will actually boost your resting metabolism by a range of 10-30% more than it regularly is for up to a full hour.
Studies have also shown that this same exact calorie burning effect can be increased even further if the water you are drinking is ice cold, as your body is going to utilize the extra energy required to heat up your body temperature in the way of burning even more calories. Plus, studies have also revealed that drinking a lot of water can actually make you feel fuller for longer. What this means, is that if you are to drink water about 30 minutes prior to eating a meal, you will more than likely feel much fuller faster, which means that you are not going to eat as much and save yourself from eating many extra calories.
As an example of how powerful this can be, there was actually a study done in adults who were overweight who drank half a liter of water before they would eat a meal. Those people lost an average of 44% more weight than the people who did not drink any water before eating their meal.
The big takeaway here is that when you drink water, you can expect to lose weight and actually keep it off. On top of that, it will also help to increase your metabolism and keep you feeling full for a longer amount of time.
Start Doing High-Intensity Workouts
HIIT workouts, better known as high-intensity interval training, is a workout style that is composed of very quick and intense bursts of exercise. It not only is able to help you burn fat faster by boosting your metabolic rate, but it will even help you to burn more fat for up to 24 hours after your workout tis over.
It is for this reason that it is believed that HIIT workouts are far better than any other style of workout when it comes to burning fat through exercise. What this means is that you are going to be burning even more fat, but after you have already finished with your workout. In fact, one of the studies that was done in younger men who were overweight revealed that after 12-weeks of HIIT training, the average fat loss was an incredible 4.4 pounds of pure fat overall, and a drop of belly fat of 17%.
What this all means is that when you mix up your exercise routine and start incorporating different high-intensity exercises, you will be able to boost your metabolism, as well as your ability to burn fat faster.
Start Lifting Heavy Things
When you have more muscle, your body is going to be much more metabolically active than if your body was composed of more fat. When you are able to increase your muscle mass by working out, you are also going to help your body burn more fat through an increased metabolism.
What this means, is that you can expect to burn even more calories every day, even though you are not doing any more activity. Yes, when you have more muscle mass, your metabolism is naturally going to be higher, meaning that you will burn many more calories without doing any more work.
If you are trying to lose weight, lifting heavy weights is able to help combat any muscle loss, meaning that you will be able to retain your muscle and keep your metabolism in fat burning mode. For example, one study that was done with 48 overweight women who were placed on a daily diet of just 800 calories per day and either had some resistance training or no type of exercise at all, revealed that the resistance training group maintained all of their muscle mass, strength and metabolism. The group that was not allowed to exercise however, not only loss much of their muscle mass, but they also experienced a huge decrease in their metabolism.
The big takeaway here is that when you lift weights, you are going to help build new muscles, as well as retain the muscles that you already have. And again, when you have higher amounts of muscles, it is going to naturally boost your metabolism to burn even more fat.
Start Standing More
Oddly enough, standing has actually been dubbed as the ‘new smoking’. This is mainly due in part as sitting for an extended period of time is actually going to burn fewer calories when compared to standing and is actually able to lead to excess weight gain. In fact, when standing is compared to sitting, standing for an afternoon is actually able to burn about 174 more calories than sitting for the same period of time.
This means that if you have a desk job, you are going to want to try and stand for short periods of time to help break up the amount of time that you are sitting for. And if you are more committed to the stand, you can even invest in a standing desk so that you are able to get all the health benefits of standing but are still able to get your work done at the same time.
All of the tips mentioned above are great ways to boost your metabolism without doing much extra work at all. By following the tips mentioned above, you will help to boost your metabolism and burn more fat on a regular basis. Just be sure that you check with your primary care physician before you start any type of lifestyle change to make sure that it is safe for you to do without any negative consequences.