6 Simple Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

Metabolism means all the chemical reactions in your body to keep you alive and functional. The word metabolism is often used interchangeably with metabolic rate or the number of calories you burn. A higher metabolism means you can burn more calories and you feel better and more energetic. Here are 6 easy ways to help boost your metabolism.

1. Drink plenty of water

If you want to lose weight and keep in shape, replace sugar-sweetened beverages with water. Those sugar-sweetened beverages are high in calories, so your calorie intake will automatically be reduced after you replacing them with water.

Drinking water will also temporarily speed up your metabolism. Research shows that drinking 17 ounces of water can increase resting metabolism by up to 10-30% for about an hour.

If you drink cold water, your body uses more energy to heat it to body temperature, and the calorie-burning effect will be greater. Drinking water half an hour before meals can help you eat less because water can also help fill your stomach.

2. Drink green tea or oolong tea

Green and oolong teas have amazing effect of increasing metabolism by 4-5%. They are also helpful to convert some of the fat stored in the body into free fatty acids. The process will increase fat burning efficiency by up to 10-17%.

These teas are beneficial for both weight loss and weight maintenance due to their low calorie content.

The dreaded weight loss plateaus may occur due to a drop in metabolism. However, these teas have special properties to boost metabolism thus helping with your weight loss.

3. Eat lots of protein for every meal

Eating has the effect of increasing your metabolism in a short time. It is also known as the thermic effect of food (TEF). When you have meals your body will use extra calories to digest, absorb, and process nutrients in food.

TEF will rise greatly if the food contains lots of protein. It significantly improves your metabolic rate by 15-30%, while the rate of carbs is 5-10%, and rate of fat is 0-3%. Compared with other nutrient, you will have a fuller feeling and avoid overeating. If 30% of your diet is protein you will be more likely to have 441 fewer calories per day.

4. Do high-intensity workouts

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) means performing short periods of intense exercise, such as cycling, sprinting, swimming, jumping, followed by a short rest period.

HIIT helps increase your metabolic rate and burn more fat. This effect will continue even if your workout is over. HIIT has been proven to be more effective to burn your fat than other types of exercise.

5. Stand up more

We all know sitting for long periods of time is not good for your health. The reason is that sitting burns fewer calories and you are easier to gain weight.

You will burn an extra 174 calories for an afternoon of standing work compared to sitting. If you work in an office, try standing for short periods of time. A standing desk is not a bad investment.

6. Lift weights

Lifting weights helps you preserve muscle and fight the metabolic decline that can occur during weight loss. Building muscle helps improve your metabolism. Even when you are not working out, the muscle in your body will burn more calories every day.