Ways to naturally increase metabolism

How to jump start metabolism

A lot of people understand that they have a slow metabolism, and they have no hesitation to blame it for many of their fat loss failures, but just what is metabolism?

Metabolism, explained plainly, is the efficiency with which our bodies digest and assimilate food, and then convert that food to energy. Our bodies are like engines, some of us have clean running Nascar motors which we feed 'high octane' super food, others have sluggish 2 stroke motors with oil leaks and we feed them lumpy greasy stuff!

For the Scientific explanation (feel free to skip this paragraph) metabolism is the rate and efficiency of chemical and physical processes which are referred to as anabolism and catabolism.
In the Anabolism process (the constructive phase) our body's cells synthesize protoplasm and use this to aid growth and repair tissue.
In the Catabolism process (the destructive phase) our body breaks down complex substances into simpler compounds in order to produce energy.
During these processes nutrients are absorbed into the blood and distributed throughout the body.

Now, metabolism is directly related to our metabolic rate (the rate at which our body can burn calories daily). Our basal metabolic rate (BMR) is used to determine our daily calorie requirements and, simply put, is the rate at which our body uses energy to sustain basic body functions. It's a great indicator of how efficiently we burn energy during exercise and while we digest food.

To naturally increase metabolism we need to alter our eating habits and activity level.

1) Naturally increase metabolism through exercise.

Regular exercise not only has the immediate benefit of burning calories, but because muscle tissues burn more calories than fat, a medium to long term benefit of exercise is an increase in lean muscle tissue. The more lean muscle mean tissue you have the more calories are burned daily (a boost in metabolism) which means an increase in fat loss. An added bonus is that exercise will also boost your metabolism for many hours after you stop exercising.

When is the best time of the day to exercise? Most people disagree on this, but I say whatever suits your lifestyle. If you try do things at times that are difficult to integrate into your lifestyle you will drop them easier.
All in all though, mornings are a good time to exercise because:

• Energy reserves are higher after the body has had a chance to rest and recharge
• By exercising first thing in the morning you boost your metabolism immediately, and you could potentially reap the calorie burning benefits for much longer with your normal movement throughout the day.
• Getting the blood flowing early in the day increases vitality and mental acuity immediately and during the hours you need it the most.
  

Note: By exercising in shorter and more regular periods (if possible) throughout the day you will maintain a higher metabolism for a longer period of time.

2) Using foods to speed up metabolism

The U.S. Navy performed a study on the eating habits of some of their personnel and how it effected metabolism. The study demonstrated that those who ate breakfast had a metabolism of up to 10 percent higher than those who didn't.

Skipping meals, or fasting as a form of dieting, actually slows down your metabolism. It's telling your body to store fat and conserve energy. If our cells stop receiving sufficient nutrients they will store more fat, burn less energy and perform functions less efficiently.

And the opposite is true: Eat less, healthier, more often (even six time a day) more consistently and you will dramatically increase metabolism. Try not to eat just before going to sleep, have your last meal at least 2 hours before bed time. When you sleep your basal metabolic rate decreases and you may not burn all the food. Also, your body needs the time to recharge and you shouldn't overburden it with unnecessary workload.

Of course certain healthy foods (lean proteins and low calorie vegetables) can help naturally increase metabolism. For more information about what foods to eat see athlete nutrition guidelines, for info about negative calorie foods see low calorie foods and for the best fat burning foods see Top 15 fat burning foods

When you exercise and eat metabolism boosting foods you will not only lose weight and gain muscle , but also feel more energized to burn more weight, and so the healthy cycle begins.

 

Hopefully our advice to naturally increase metabolism has given you some great fat burning diet ideas.
Now navigate from naturally increase metabolism to alphabetical list of calories in foods, foods that speed metabolism , food that increases metabolism, foods increase metabolism or 15 fat burning foods.
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