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10 Foods & 10 Ways You Can Efficiently Boost Your Metabolism
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Activities To Boost The Metabolism
1. Interval Training
We all know that we need to exercise to see the results we want when it comes to weight loss, but did you know that certain types of exercise is more effective than others? High intensity interval training (HIIT) is a type of exercise where you alternate between periods of high intensity exercise and periods of rest (or lower intensity). This not only gives you some time to rest during your workout but also helps to burn more calories and keeps burning them even after your workout.
2. Bulk Up
Muscles burn more calories in our bodies than fat – because they need a lot more energy to maintain themselves. So adding just a few pounds of muscle to your body will increase your metabolic rate and the speed at which the calories you consume are used up. One pound of muscle burns about six calories a day, so adding five pounds of muscle (and keeping it on) will help you to lose about three extra pounds of fat over a one year period.
3. Carbs At Night
There’s been a lot of talk about carbs lately, but there’s a misconception going around. Eating carbohydrate-packed foods at night actually helps your metabolism instead of packing on the pounds as most fear. Eating your carbs at night was shown in one study to help people have a higher thermogenesis, which means that they burned more calories digesting their food the following day. As with everything though, eat in moderation.
4. Stand More
Our bodies weren’t meant for the sedentary lifestyle that we lead today and it shows. But adding just a few hours of standing to your day, especially if you work at a desk, can help your metabolism. You burn about 50 more calories per hour if you’re standing versus sitting down. You can invest in a standing desk or just take more, brief, breaks and walk around.
5. Reduce Alcohol
Ingesting alcohol regularly can wreak havoc with your metabolism rate. When alcohol is added to the picture, the body makes sure to break that down first and any food that is still undigested is set aside for later digestion. Some researchers have found that alcohol can slow down the body’s fat burning process by as much as 73% (!) Limit your alcohol intake and alternate with water to keep your metabolic process running better.
6. Dim Lights At Night
Sleep is very important for the body to run efficiently and that includes the metabolic system. The circadian rhythm of your body relies on the amount of light there is to tell your body when to sleep and screens, bright lights, and other light sources can interfere with that. Dim the lights at night to set up your circadian rhythm for the proper time and limit your time in front of the television or with your phone in bed.
7. Laugh More
We’ve seen numerous studies now that show how healthy laughter is for our bodies. But did you know that laughter can also help you burn fat? Laughing for 10-15 minutes can burn as much as 100 calories! Laughing does this by increasing our resting heart rate which in turn increases the metabolic rate for a short period of time. So get out there and find something funny!
8. Cut Stress
On the opposite end of laughter is stress – and it can hurt your body in many different ways. One of the hormones that’s released when your body is stressed, cortisol, causes your metabolic rate to slow leading to an increase in weight which can stress you out further. To combat the effects of stress, studies have shown that you simply have to laugh. Laughter has been shown to reduce the levels of stress hormones in our bodies. Also, reducing or eliminating the reason for your stress would be helpful as well.
9. Sleep Earlier
You might have a circadian rhythm running, but sometimes it needs a reset. Going to sleep earlier, or sleeping longer, has been shown to help reduce the amount of visceral fat in our bodies. Lack of enough sleep can also lead to glucose intolerance (the body’s ability to use sugar for energy) which leads to a host of problems all by itself. In addition, staying up late can also make you snack and eat more which will pack on the pounds also.
10. Lower the Temperature
Not only sleeping more, but also sleeping at the right temperature is important. When you decrease the temperature at which you sleep, your body has to work just a bit more to keep you warm so it burns more calories. Not only is this literally burning calories in your sleep, but your body also transforms ‘bad’ fat into ‘good’ fat, or brown fat. This brown fat is what keeps our bodies warm and it does this by burning the ‘bad’ fat stored in our bodies.
Losing weight doesn’t have to mean going on a restrictive diet and watching other people eat donuts while you chomp kale. However, this isn’t to say that kale is bad or that donuts should be ingested daily. It takes a combination of healthy, filling food and daily exercise for weight to come off and stay off. Following the twenty tips above can help you shed a healthy one or two pounds a week and get you ready for whatever life has for you.
