Boost Your Metabolism

How fast your body burns calories depends on many things that are out of your control e.g. genetics, age, and gender. Your metabolism begins to slow down around 40 years old, but all is not lost! There are ways to help your metabolism improve.

H2O – Drinking water daily has many health benefits and boosting your metabolism is one of them. Drinking water is the key to ensuring that your metabolism is working at its maximum and may slow it down if you become dehydrated. Some research claims that you can burn 12 calories per 8oz glass which is 100 extra calories a day by drinking the recommended 2 litres a day.

Enjoy a green cuppa – There is evidence that shows that green tea can help eliminate the toxins that slow your metabolism down and drinking 4 cups a day may help you burn up to 74 extra calories a day. Many people drink green tea following eating as they claim it helps with craving sugar (especially in the evening).  It is suggested that you drink between 3 to 4 cups a day only.

Flex your muscles – An effective way to boost your metabolism is to build muscle. This doesn’t mean you need to look like Rocky though! Muscles require more calories than fat to sustain themselves during the day, (even if you’re resting). Each pound of muscle uses about 6 calories in comparison to fat, which only uses 2 calories and soon adds up.

Don’t crash! – Following a crash diet may mean that you lose weight quickly, but you will also be losing muscle, which means your metabolic rate will slow down considerably, you may feel very tired, crave high calorie foods more and negatively affect your mood. Typically, when the crash diet isn’t achievable any longer, the weight will go back on, your body will be now burning calories at a slower rate and your body will be gaining weight quicker.

Smart Snacking – By eating every 3 to4 hours keeps your metabolism working at its peak. Leaving long gaps between meals, slows your metabolism down. Starting the day with breakfast kick starts your metabolism for the day. After all it’s not called the most important meal of the day for nothing.

Power Up On Protein – More calories are used in (digesting our food) when we eat protein, rather than fats or carbohydrates. It has been reported that a higher protein – lower carbohydrate diet speeds up weight loss too. Protein can be found in lean beef, poultry, fish, Quorn, eggs, beans, nuts and various cheeses.