How to Naturally Boost Metabolism

Increasing your metabolism has some great benefits when it comes to weight loss. An increased metabolism means that you'll typically burn more calories on a given today compared to someone with a low metabolism. While a clinically low metabolism (or hypothyroidism) needs to be treated with specific medications, there are ways to naturally boost your metabolism if you are a normally healthy individual.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• To work hard in the gym
• To plan ahead

1. Devote yourself to a strength training plan in the gym. In order to naturally increase your metabolism, you need to increase the amount of metabolically active tissue in your body. This means increased muscle mass! It's true, the more muscle mass that you have, the higher your metabolism will be. This is especially true during exercise.

2. Conduct cardio exercise a little bit differently. Try interval style aerobic training in the gym to increase your metabolism naturally. There have been some studies to suggest that interval style training will actually give your metabolism a boost for longer throughout the day. An example of this style of training would be to do some cardio for one minute at a low intensity followed by one minute of high intensity. Repeat this process for 20 minutes.

3. Eat 5 to 6 smaller meals throughout the day. This is another way to naturally boost your metabolism. The idea here is to capitalize on what's know as the thermic effect of food. This is the calories required to digest food. The more often the digestive system is engage, the higher your metabolism will stay.

4. Eat breakfast daily. Eating breakfast will get your metabolism cranking at the beginning of your day. It also helps to sustain an increased metabolic rate throughout the day. Studies have shown that breakfast eaters manage their weight more easily than non-breakfast eaters.

5. Keep stress to a minimum and get plenty of rest at night. Lack of sleep and being over stressed are two ways to sabotage your efforts to boost your metabolism. Do whatever it takes to preserve a good night's rest and reduce stress wherever you can.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid expensive supplements claiming to boost your metabolism. They are often ineffective and downright dangerous.
• Consult a Registered Dietitian for all of your nutrition needs.
• Never overly restrict calories as an effort to lose weight. You will convince your body that it's starving. The body will then lower your metabolism to compensate. This is often the case with those that have eating disorders such as anorexia.
• Always consult a physician before starting an exercise program.

Resources

• Eat Healthy Anywhere Blog

[EarthMother]

on 5/26/2009 How to Naturally Boost Metabolism has features that I'm a big advocate in. Smile1