Metabolism is the process of how your body expends energy. For fast and safe weight loss it is important to know how metabolism works, what is your BMR – basal metabolic rate and how to stimulate your metabolism to improve the effectiveness of your weight loss programme or plan.
Eat more protein:
Add more protein to your diet. Protein is hard to digest. It can take over three hours for your body to break down and assimilate protein and burn calories. Which means your body is working harder and your basal metabolic rate increases. Protein also increases satiety, so you will feel full longer. Include plenty of protein rich foods – lean meat, eggs, nuts and pulses in your weight loss diet plan.
Do not skip breakfast:
Eat breakfast to start up your metabolic processes and keep your body from going into hunger overdrive and starvation mode. Eating also improves your mood and concentration.
Eat often:
Eat every 2 to 3 hours in smaller portions. Each time you eat, you stimulate your metabolism. Eating every 2 to 3 hours feeds muscle and starves fat. It also means you have to eat the right foods which are not going to overload you with fats, sugars and calories. Good lean protein, vegetables and fruit are the best options. Your body will work hard to try break them up and digest them which stimulates weight loss.
Get a caffeine boost:
Try coffee or black tea to help your weight loss. Caffeine boosts metabolism and gives you an energy boost. You feel more active and therefore exspend more energy. You have to be careful with milk and sugar. Black coffee or tea with no sugar is the best option. If you choose to have white coffee add a little skimmed milk.
Dark Chocolate:
Well, this is fantastic news! Dark chocolate also contains metabolic boosting ingredients, which can help you lose weight. But, don’t over indulge to keep calories and fat down.
You can’t beat exercise:
Exercise is a major metabolism booster. Do any kind of exercise .When you exercise, your muscles wake up, demand more calories and this helps burn calories faster.
Try interval training, which will involve changing the intensity of your workout throughout each session. For example, if you walk for fitness, try jogging for one minute every five minutes. High intensity exercise revs up your metabolism which burns calories for long after you’ve finished exercising.
Increase your daily activity:
There are dozens of ways you can fit more activity in your day. Take a walk during your lunch break instead of sitting down at the table. Park your car a little bit further from your destination. Walk to your local shops instead of driving. Take the steps instead of using the lift. Walk your dog to the park.
Consider weight training:
Muscles burn a lot of calories. The more muscles you build the higher is your Basal Metabolic Rate. Muscles constantly burn calories even if you are asleep. Resistance training activates all the muscles in your body, increasing your average BMR.
Drink water:
Yes, you’ve heard it thousands of times before, but scientists have found a connection between the amount of water you drink and your metabolic rate. So make sure you drink those 6-8 glasses of water every day. The energy burning process of metabolism needs water to work effectively.
If you are even mildly dehydrated, your metabolism may slow down. Try drinking a glass of water before every meal and snack. This will also help you to curb your hunger cravings.
Get good nights sleep:
There is also a link between metabolism and sleep. Not getting enough sleep may seriously slow down your metabolism. Lack of sleep doesn’t allow your metabolism to function properly. Even worse, poor sleep causes an increase in the hormone ghrelin, which signals the body to eat more.