Increasing Metabolism Rates to weight loss

No matter your fitness goals, you can probably benefit from increasing your metabolism. Increasing your metabolism increases your caloric and energy expenditure while you are at rest. It will be it easier to lose weight or prevent fat gain while you are trying to put on lean mass. 

Although the suggestions to raise your metabolic rate are simple, you should still discuss any dietary and lifestyle changes with your health-care provider.

 

How to increase your metabolism

Exercise

You probably know that exercising burns calories, but you may not know that exercising also helps to burn calories by raising your metabolism long after you have finished exercising. Exercise can be particularly beneficial if you live a sedentary or inactive lifestyle; adding just a little exercise to your daily routine can help your metabolism. According to Dr. Len Kravitz, professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico, strength training with weights is especially good for increasing your resting metabolism. Lean mass burns significantly more calories than stored fat. Choosing compound exercises that involve major muscle groups, such as squats for the legs and pullups for the back, are the best exercises to build total body lean mass to boost your metabolic rate.

Eat Small Meals, More Often

Illinois State University and Penn State University explain the importance of eating small meals more often to increase your metabolic rate. When you eat, your metabolism is activated to process and digest the food. If you eat more often, your metabolism will increase by being more active. In order to do this, you will likely have to lower your portion size and consume fewer calories per meal. The Ohio State University Medical Center suggests that males eat 400 to 600 calories per meal and females eat 300 to 500 calories per meal. Between meals, you should eat snacks that in the 100 to 200 calorie range. Ideally, you want to eat five or six times a day.

Eat Breakfast Everyday

If you want to increase your metabolism, you should not miss meals and you should definitely not skip breakfast. Breakfast, unlike other meals and snacks, is especially important because it is the first meal of the day. While you are asleep and inactive, your metabolism slows down because your energy requirements are less. Upon waking, you ideally want to eat as soon as possible to start your metabolism up. Many people skip breakfast to cut calories in order to lose weight, but this is counter-productive because it slows your metabolism down.

Avoid Fad Diets

If you want to increase your metabolism, especially if you are trying to lose weight, you want to avoid fad diets or very low calorie diets that promise rapid weight loss in a short time. A very low calorie diet is considered a diet of 800 calories or less. According to the UCLA Health System, if you eat less than 1,000 calories, you are essentially starving yourself. Most people require approximately 2,000 calories a day. If you do not get an adequate amount of calories, your body will decrease its metabolic rate and energy requirements as a defense mechanism to preserve essential fat tissue.