I hope you all are staying healthy and safe during these uncertain times. With many folks gaining unwanted pandemic weight over the last year, I wanted to take some time to talk about healthy ways to boost your metabolism. Let’s dive in now, shall we?
Boost Your Metabolism: Drink Lots Of Water
This first point is more for weight loss and overall health. Drink at least 8-10 cups of water a day. This will not only help with flushing out toxins in the body and skin quality, but will also help reduce the chance of food sitting in the body and turning to fat.
While one shouldn’t rely on water alone for weight loss, it can definitely help.
Plus, it’s going to be summer soon, which means heat exhaustion and dehydration can be more prevalent than ever. So please, drink your H20!
Lastly, cold water can help with weight loss too. The body burns 75 calories turning cold water into body temperature water once in the body.
While one can’t rely on this to keep the fat off, I find these tips something to ponder on and utilize in healthy quantities.
Green Tea
Green tea and green tea supplements have been proven to help with boosting one’s metabolism.
I recommend drinking a cup of tea or taking a green tea supplement (as directions suggest) in the morning.
Furthermore, I highly recommend getting a green tea supplement that is purely green tea. The more natural the better, in my opinion, when it comes to this stuff.
Most fat burning supplements contain a lot of synthetic ingredients that could be unhealthy for one to consume short and long term. Always check the ingredients list on supplements before taking them, and be sure to ask a fitness and/or medical professional if you have any questions.
Lastly, it’s always a good idea to consult your doctor before taking any new medications, vitamins, or supplements. Not all products are good for everyone. Please imbibe carefully and mindfully.
Cardio First Thing
Doing cardio in the morning has also been proven to keep one’s metabolism ramped up. 20-45 minutes of cardio can really help set you up for success for the whole day.
Some cardio ideas could be:
- Running
- Jogging
- Plyometrics-exercises that require explosive bursts of energy usually involving some kind of hop or jump
- Cycling
- Power walking
- Swimming
Any foods you are likely to consume within two hours of performing these types of activities will most likely just burn off. In short, the body is in “burn mode” after cardio.
This doesn’t mean one should eat whatever they want after exercise. However, it should create a bit of a failsafe for you knowing this info.
With this being said, it could be a good idea based on one’s schedule, fitness level, and goals to do 20 minutes of cardio before breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Doing this, in theory, would help keep one’s metabolism on-point all day. I say “in theory” because everyone’s body operates differently, and something that works for one individual might not work for another.
Eat Often
Many of us have heard that it’s best to eat 4-6 smaller meals throughout the day. This is absolutely true in my opinion.
Eating 200-400 calories every 2-4 hours keeps the body/metabolism satiated.
It avoids the body going into starvation mode. In short, this is when too few calories are consumed, the body gets “freaked out” that it won’t get fed again, and turns food consumed into fat. This can lead to weight gain or lack of weight loss even though the individual is consuming less than needed calories.
I recommend meal prepping small snack bags with healthy snack options if you’re a person on the go.
It can also be helpful to have foods on hand such as carrots, celery, broccoli, rice cakes that contain few calories that you can consume even when you aren’t hungry, if you are about to go over the four hour mark. Consuming 100 calories will suffice if this situation occurs.
Doing this will keep your metabolism happy and will not affect your weight loss goals. Setting a timer could be helpful too.
Put On Some Lean Muscle
Believe it or not adding muscle can actually speed up your metabolism. Every pound of muscle on the body burns 50 calories at rest.
Again, not something to solely rely on, but definitely can create another failsafe within one’s self.
In short, resistance training is not only great for functionality, mobility, and aesthetics, it can also aid with weight loss, weight management, and boosting one’s metabolism.
Wrap-Up
I hope this has given you all some helpful advice on how to achieve the bodies you have always wanted. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or comments you might have here.
As always, thanks for reading and stay tuned!
Alexis is grateful to be a NASM-certified personal trainer and a Mad Dogg Athletics-Certified Spin Instructor. Her mission is to help all individuals achieve their best selves, and have the happiest and healthiest lives possible. Her specialities are resistance training, TRX, bodybuilding, HIIT/VIIT/LIIT, spin, corework, functional moment, nutrition, and weight loss.
She is honored to be a guest contributor for DIY Active and wishes to inspire and motivate all readers. Please feel free to email her at [email protected] for more info about wellness, fitness, and personal training including virtual options.
