Some Suggestions for Boosting Your Metabolism

One of the hardest things to accept about getting older, and one of the reasons that people tend to gain weight as they grow older is an ever slowing metabolism. Many people would give a lot to be able to increase their metabolism because it enables you to burn fat and lose weight faster.

In order to support life, the body has a rate by which it produces and consumes energy and calories, that rate is called metabolism. There are several factors that can affect your metabolism, such as how often you eat meals, your acitivity level, genetics, your stress levels, and your diet in general to name a few. Metabolism begins slowing because there is a loss of muscle because you aren't active enough, the decrease of activity because of aging, and the body's tendency to basically eat its own tissues when it doesn't have enough food energy to keep it going.

In spite of these drawbacks there are several ways you can boost your metabolism.

1. Work on building up your lean muscle mass. Even though your metabolism does slow as you age, it is still possible to counter these effects. The amount of muscle you have can be a strong determinant in your ability to burn calories and thus to shed fat. In order to build up your lean body mass, exercise is absolutely essential. You can build your strength and resistance up by working out with weights twice a week. In between the weight workouts do easy exercising such as walking, and using the stairs instead of the elevator. The key to making this all work is to match the amount of eating you do to the amount of activity you perform. Some guidelines to getting your exercise program right follow.

For Cardiovascular Training:

*Combine your exercises and do cross training.

*Work on increasing your resistance and speed gradually.

*Insert intervals between the different exercises

For Strength Training:

*When possible utilize advanced techniques.

*Gradually increase your level of resistance.

*Increase the number of times you do the exercise.

2. Stay away from sugar. Sugar makes it possible for your body to store fat. Doctors recommend that you consume food that helps keep your blood sugar level even. In addition, progressive exercise 2-3 times a week will help your blood sugar stabilize.

3. Eat breakfast every day. Many people ignore breakfast, either because they are not hungry when they wake up, or because they are in a hurry. People that eat breakfast are thinner than people who don't. Your metabolism will actually slow down if you eat breakfast mid-morning or if you wait until the afternoon to eat for the first time during your day.

4. Consume spicy foods at meals. Eating spicy foods can increase your metabolism.

5. Get more sleep. Research suggests that it is risky for people to not get enough sleep and rest because they can gain weight if they don't. The reason for this is that muscles are generated during your last couple of hours of sleep.

6. Drink more water. Water will flush out any toxins that are produced whenever your body has burned fat. The majority of your body's functions involve water, and not drinking enough water can cause the body's systems to decrease and increase stress that you don't need.

7. Eat small meals. If you eat 4 to 6 meals a day that are timed at 2 to 3 hours apart you will be more likely to increase your metabolism and to keep your blood sugar level.

8. Don't skip meals. Those who skip meals thinking it will help them to lose weight actually get the opposite response. It slows down your metabolism and your body thinks you are starving it, so it starts hanging onto fat.

9. Plan your meals ahead of time. If you prepare the right amount of food to be eaten at different intervals, then you will be more likely to stick to your plan of eating several small meals throughout the day. If you eat meals in sporadic patterns this will only slow down your metabolism.

10. Reduce or eliminate your stress. Stress whether it is emotional or physical triggers the release of a steroid called cortisol, and cortisol decreases metabolism. In addition most people when they are stressed, eat more than they should.

11. Drink green tea. Green tea can easily be substituted for coffee. Unlike coffee, tea has the ability to stimulate your metabolism, plus you won't have any side effects if you drink too much of it as you would with coffee, unless of course you drink caffeinated tea.

12. Add more energy foods to your diet such vegetables, beans, whole grains and fruits.

If you have determination then you can achieve your desired body weight, it is not impossible. However, in order to do that you have to increase your metabolism. It's important to realize that eating right and working out have to become a way of life if you want to lose weight.