Easy, Natural Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

If your New Year’s resolution has been to lose weight, or if it’s just time to get back in shape, making the commitment to do so can be daunting. It would be nice just to just naturally rev up your metabolism and start burning fat without having to go on a strict diet.

I remember how I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted, including desserts and a daily dose of candy, yet I remained what every Auntie called, “painfully thin”. What happened?

Fitness experts say that the main reason why our metabolism slows down is because as we age, we lose muscle mass and gain a higher fat/muscle ratio. This unfortunate deterioration begins in our 20’s and accelerates through the years. When women start going through those widely popularized mid-life hormonal changes and guys get more sedentary (and probably go through hormonal changes not widely publicized), our muscle mass depletes even further.

I don’t know too many people over 30 who never think about dieting or losing a few pounds and inches. Even those people, (myself included) who are considered to be basically lean, have to watch the scales.

Whether you’re fat or just think you are, dieting is a drag, so here are some great tips on boosting your metabolism the natural way, without drugs, pills, or other supplements.

My first tip on naturally boosting your metabolism is to eat more! How’s that for a great diet tip? It’s amazing how many of us choose to skip breakfast. It’s the easiest meal to skip because many people focus on getting down a couple of cups of coffee and then don’t feel hungry. 

You’ve been fasting all night long, so your body metabolism has slowed down. A cup of caffeinated coffee may wake up your brain but it doesn’t sends nutrients to your cells, telling them to get moving. If the message doesn’t arrive, your cells will learn to function on fewer nutrients at a less efficient level. What’s worse is that your cells will start to store more fat to make up for the lack of breakfast nutrients. According to University of Sydney in Australia, the best breakfast contains protein and low-fat/high fiber carbs. "High-fiber carbohydrates take longer for your body to digest and absorb than fats; thus they don't cause rapid changes in your blood sugar, so your hunger is kept at bay longer," says study coauthor Susanna Holt, Ph.D.   So eat a healthy breakfast. Most healthy breakfasts are easy to prepare so you can skip the excuse that you don’t have time for it.

Some good breakfast choices are:

- A bran-rich breakfast cereal or oatmeal which curbs cravings for fatty food;
- Whole-grain toast topped with a bit of cheese;
- A sliced banana or berries topped with cinnamon (a spice known to boost sugar metabolism);
- A veggie omelets with whole-grain toast
 (note: pick one, not all!)

Here are some bad choices…but the Hubs are really entertaining!

Chocolate Breakfast - The Ultimate Indulgence - By Green Lotus

A Full English Breakfast: Bacon and Eggs, A British Tradition - by Nell Rose

Spicy foods like hot peppers and curries temporarily boost your resting metabolic rate, according to research done at Laval University in Canada.  Tumeric, another popular Indian spice, also helps your body metabolize fats.

Researchers at the University of Utah found that people who drank eight to 12 eight-ounce glasses of water per day had higher metabolic rates than those who drank only four glasses.

Some of the best foods to jump start your metabolism are fish, chicken, cheese, yogurt, dark green leafy vegetables, lentils, whole gains, blueberries and other fruits and green tea.

Why? The above foods are low in carbohydrates and high in fiber. (except for the green tea) *

Carbohydrates get converted into sugar and your body uses that for fuel first. That’s why sugary treats give you a quick energy boost and make kids go wild.  If you over-do it on the carbs and there are “leftovers”, your body turns those carbs into fat.  Fiber is harder to digest and actually uses up some of those carbs just to help digestion. What about protein?  It’s actually your body’s last resort when it comes to turning food into nutrients for your cells.  Lean protein foods are low in fat and carbohydrates.

*As for the Green tea, it was found to significantly increase energy expenditure (a measure of metabolism). It also had a significant effect on fat oxidation. Researchers at American Journal of Clinical Nutrition discovered that the tea actually has properties that go beyond those that would be explained by the caffeine.

It’s advised to limit high fat foods because your body is very efficient at turning the fat you eat into body fat. There are; however, some nutritionists who recommend avoiding fats when dieting, others (myself included) believe fats are important in metabolism regulation. If you avoid all fats, you will cause the hypothalamus to slow the metabolism down in the same way it slows down when you starve yourself. Your body has very stubborn but efficient survival mechanisms.

Exercise is great for jump-starting your metabolism. It not only reduces body fat, it increases muscle mass and muscle mass helps to increase metabolism. The reason for that is because muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue, which basically just sits there. When you move your muscles through any aerobic exercise, (even Yoga), you speed up your metabolism. Here’s the great thing about aerobic exercise; - it keeps speeding up your metabolism for 4 to 8 hours after you stop exercising so extra calories get burned off long after you leave the gym. It’s probably the only way you’ll burn calories sitting at the computer!

Here’s another tip: If you work out in the morning, you benefit from a faster metabolism throughout the day. If that’s not convenient, you can exercise in short spurts throughout the day. Exercising at night, especially before bedtime has the downside of giving you energy when you need it least and when your metabolism needs to slow down.

Some experts advise eating 5-6 small meals throughout the day - every 4-6 hours.  That’s good advice because eating does jump-start your metabolism, but you have to be extremely disciplined!  You have to avoid too many fatty foods, sweets and high carb foods; you have to limit your portions to one-third to one-half of what you’re used to consuming at mealtimes; and you have to remember that there is no real “lunch” or “dinner” that would allow you larger portions.  You should also stop eating at least 3 hours before bedtime since your metabolism will slow down while you sleep and you don’t want to have a stomach full of food to digest.

It sounds ridiculous, but this is certain -  If you’ve been dieting or skipping meals, your metabolism actually gets sluggish. Your body doesn’t care about your saddlebag thighs, or your other little pockets of unwanted fat. It thinks you’re starving and compensates by slowing down the metabolic or “fat burning” process.  It took me a long time to realize that skipping meals or just not eating enough was keeping me on a diet longer than necessary; like forever.

I kept telling people, “I don’t have a whole lot to lose, so it’s taking longer”…or “It’s harder for me to lose because I’ve got fat in ‘hard to lose’ places”. 

It wasn’t until I decided to eat everything I wanted to (without venturing into the gluttony zone), during a Thanksgiving holiday that I realized an important fact of body metabolism. When lean people suddenly overeat, their metabolism speeds up!  I actually lost a couple of pounds that Thanksgiving.  The trick is not to make it a habit of overeating or you will no longer remain lean.

It’s a natural. If you want an easy way to make dieting easier and more successful, boost your metabolism!   Following these simple healthy eating/healthy lifestyle habits can help you to reach your desired weight faster and more effectively.

Here are links to some calculators to help you determine your metabolic rate.

Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the rate your body uses energy when you are active and at rest. It is a guideline for your basic caloric needs.

Your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) tells you how many calories your body requires just to sit and do nothing. Of course your body’s is constantly active without your help; supplying nutrients to your cells and keeping you alive. If you eat fewer calories than your RMI indicates, your metabolism will naturally slow down.

Here are the calculators - http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php

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