How Can I Increase My Metabolism?
It just is not fair. Your best friend can eat anything she wants and never seems to gain a pound. You, on the other hand, watch everything you eat, count your calories, gave up sweets and you cannot seem to lose a pound. The reason could be a slow metabolism, but you do not have to give up and think nothing can be done.
No matter your age, your weight, or your fitness level, you can increase your metabolism. Your metabolism is what breaks down proteins, fats, and carbohydrates and turns them into the energy your body needs to function properly. Your metabolic rate is the relationship between the number of calories consumed and the number of calories you burn during your daily routine, while exercising, and when eating. Many people believe that genetics controls the metabolism, but the truth is genes only account for about five percent of the metabolism’s function. The best way to increase your metabolic rate is to increase your need for energy.
You can increase your body’s need for energy in a few different ways. The first way is to increase your activity level. While most people cannot spend their entire day working out, you can continue to burn fat and use energy for at least a couple of hours after you have stopped working out. Practicing intense workouts, such as weight training, interval training, or strong cardio can create an “afterburn effect”. This afterburn can continue for as many as 24 hours following a fitness routine. Weight training with weights that are heavier than you are accustomed to will also use more energy and lead to afterburn. This is due to the fact that muscles need to repair themselves, and the body needs energy to make these repairs to the tissues. Being overall more muscular helps to increase your metabolism as well. For each one extra pound of muscle that you have, your body will need to burn an extra fifty calories. Consuming more protein is crucial to building muscle, but also helps burn energy; you burn twice as many calories while digesting foods that are high in protein than foods that are high in fat.
Finally, another great way to increase your metabolism is to get more sleep! A lack of sleep can greatly decrease the number of calories your body burns while resting. Resting includes not only lounging, but also basic life sustaining principles such as breathing, repairing tissues, and pumping blood. Your body burns 60% to 75% of the total calories burned each day while resting, so a lack of sleep can really do a number on your metabolism, as well as your entire body.
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