Metabolism basically means the count of calories you burn per day. Repeatedly you might have read articles about accelerating the rate of metabolism. The most common are consuming highly nutritious food and performing workouts. If your metabolism rate is slower, it shows you are burning less calories. In order to increase the rate, you must follow the below tips:

1) Do not observe fasting because you burn too many calories at once, which is really harmful to your body. In this process your muscles turn weak and you face dehydration rather than minimizing the fat content.

2) Dine about 6-8 times a day by consuming nutritious items such as fruits and vegetables.

3) A heavy breakfast is a key factor in increasing the rate of metabolism. Since you are awake for the whole day, the rate of metabolism is fast.

4) There are many kinds of healthy fats available such as nuts, fish, olive oil, and flax oil. They can be substitutes for processed carbs.

5) Consume less sugar so that the insulin production is regulated and you will thus burn calories easily.

6) Eat about 1 gm of protein per pound because the excessive fat content will be drained away.

7) Remember that alcohol is harmful for people planning to lose weight. It prevents fat burning and contains 100s of calories.

8) Green tea and water are the best forms of beverages that do not affect the metabolism process. So use them instead of tea, coffee and alcohol.

9) Night shifts are normally not advisable, but if you think they are unavoidable then follow the above-mentioned tips carefully.

10) Stay as active as you can. Run when you need to walk, do not keep sitting and working, move your arms, stand up once in a while etc. These small steps will also assist in your metabolism.

11) Eat at least six meals a day – If you eat only once or twice a day you body is going to slow down the metabolism to accommodate the infrequent feedings. When you eat six small meals a day your body gets the nutrients it needs while avoiding the “starvation period”.

12) Eat complex carbohydrates such as potatoes, yams and brown rice earlier in the day.

13) Switch to fibrous carbohydrates such as broccoli, salad, green beans for the later meals.

14) Eat fruit earlier in the day.

15) Avoid processed foods and sugars

16) Drink lots of water – Water passes nutrients and waste to and from the cells. You will want to try and drink at least a gallon of water a day.

Increase Your Physical Activity

This is no secret, but really works! Individuals who exercise regularly burn more calories and have more metabolically active, calorie burning muscle mass than those who are less active. Cardiovascular activity boosts metabolism by burning calories, while strength training slows the metabolically active muscle loss in aging people. Both of these activities have shown to increase metabolism immediately after participating in the activity, while the long term results of strength training help burn even more calories 24 hours a day, even while sleeping.

I recommend doing 30 plus minutes of aerobic activity, 3 to 5 days per week, in addition to doing 2 short, 24 hour metabolism boosting strength training sessions each week.

Protein Consumption

Some evidence suggests their is a slight metabolic boosting power in higher protein diets versus high carb, low protein diets. Please be aware that the vast majority of weight loss results from decreasing calories, and increasing activity, not by changing the percentage of carbs versus protein in your diet. Very high protein diets have shown to cause potential health challenges.

When you lose protein from your muscles, you not only lose muscle tissue, but you will also lose water. Protein holds about 4 times its weight in water. To lose 10 pounds of body fat, you would need to burn 35,000 calories (3500 calories = 1 pound). If you lose those 10 pounds in one week do you honestly believe that it was body fat? The answer is no, only about 2 pounds was fat and the rest was water (Do not be fooled by what the scale says!) When you increase your metabolism, your body has a reason to hold onto the protein (remember protein holds water) and use the energy to burn fat.

Yes you will lose some protein from your muscles even if you lose weight the right way. The key is to provide your muscles with enough protein each day so that it can not only replace your protein loss, but use he extra protein to help build new muscle tissue and stay conditioned.

Sleep

Getting 7+ hours of sleep each night may affect hormones that regulate body weight and appetite. In a current, rather large, ongoing study, people who slept less, have a tendency to weight more.

Don't Skip Meals

It is important not to wait more than 5 hours between meals to eat. Waiting longer and skipping them has a tendency to slow your metabolism down, and deprive you of crucial energy. It is also important to rev up your metabolism by breaking the fast at breakfast each and every morning to give you energy, and prevent binging at later meals. Please note: It is also always important to closely monitor your overall caloric intake.

Eat more frequently

Protein helps build muscle, but carbohydrates are your body’s main source of energy. When your body has a deficiency of energy (carbohydrates) and takes the protein from your muscles as energy, the protein is converted to carbohydrates before it’s used as an energy source. Therefore, when you eat, you must have the right amount of carbohydrates and proteins in your body so that energy can be used efficiently. You must also eat more frequently to fuel your metabolism all day long. Eating at least 5-6 small meals each day will give your metabolism the continuous supply of energy it needs to burn fat longer and faster. If you are short on time and not able to cook, do not resort to eating junk food as one of your meals; instead opt for a good meal replacement product to satisfy your body.

Type Of Food

• Most of the scientific research reports that the type of food you eat has no significant impact on your long term metabolism rate. So fats, proteins and carbs seem to affect metabolism similarly.

   

• Scientific data also tells that protein can slightly increase metabolic rate, but only temporarly.

   

• The more calories you cut, the lower your metabolism rate will drop. An extremely low-calorie diet with fewer than 800 calories a day could cause your metabolic rate to decrease by more than 10 percent.

   

• It is not what you eat but how much you eat what really matters. For a safe,sustainable weight loss, the average person shouldn't eat less than 1,200 calories a day.

   

• Spicy foods, such as chili peppers and curry can increase metabolism, but not enough to have a weight loss effect. It’s too small and short-lived.

Pills and Supplements

• No pills or supplements have proven to increase metabolism enough to help you lose weight.

   

• Some pills, have been shown to lower metabolism, and thus cause a weight gain. Examples of such pills are those used to treat depression and bipolar disorder.

Drink Green Tea

The phytochemicals in green tea are supposed to raise metabolism slightly by causing your brain and nervous system to run more quickly. Although not many sizable and conclusive studies have been done on this to date, drinking green tea rather than milky coffee or other calorie-laden beverages will definitely help you lose weight!

Workouts for increasing your metabolism

• A high-intensity cardio workout that really increases your heart rate will make you lose the most calories and represent the most significant short-term metabolic booster; between 20 and 30 percent. However, it won't have a permanent effect on your metabolism. After your workout, your metabolism will return to its previous level over several hours--but you'll continue burning extra calories in the meantime.

   

• Though weight training is the most effective way to build and preserve your lean muscles, the muscle influence on metabolism is pretty slight. Each pound of muscle gained, can raise your metabolism up to 15 calories per day.

The more you Increase your muscle mass the more your metabolism will increase

Your lean body mass is by far the most important factor of metabolism. Muscle burns up to 90% more calories than fat. For example, if you add three to five pounds of muscle and you could burn 100 - 250 additional calories per day. If you perform weight or resistance training as little as 2-3 times a week. Weight lifting can be anything from carrying your groceries home to training with weights at a Fitness Center.

By Terje Ellingsen, Paul Cris, Jim O'Connor & Janice Elizabeth Small

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