Yesterday's meeting was all about metabolism. It was pretty interesting so I thought I would share some things I learned. It is a myth that your metabolism slows down when you get older - the fact is that we slow down and are not as active so in turn our metabolism slows down. There are 11 things you can do in increase your metabolism:
1. Eat enough - It’s extremely common for people on diets to eat too little. You will lose weight to start, but your body is smarter than you. Bottom line, starvation won’t work as a diet, your body will make sure you don’t burn too much and die.
2. Eat More Frequently - Try to eat 5-6 small meals a day. Don’t let yourself get too hungry in between meals. By getting food into your body regularly, you keep your metabolism firing, and leave your body in a much better state to burn some energy for you.
3. Eat Breakfast - This is a simple one, but is still not being done in a lot of cases. By getting something in early in the day, i.e. when you wake up, you are kick starting your body. Getting your metabolism going ASAP makes sense. You will burn more fuel if your metabolism is up and running early. Not only will this get your metabolism going, you will find that later in the day you aren’t as hungry and won’t make terrible food choices, or pig out as much.
4. Eat More Protein - This has lots more benefits than just metabolism. Protein is a muscle builder, you need it to grow. Lean protein is even better for that, more good stuff for fewer calories. Your body takes a bit more work to burn this stuff too, which is called the thermogenic effect. So, if you don’t get enough protein in, start eating.
5. Eat More Fiber - Same principle as above. Fiber is harder for your body to process, and you will get a small increase in metabolism through this effect. It’s also wonderful for your digestive system and keeps you regular.
6. Weight Train - Weight training is the ultimate exercise for firing up your metabolism. The more intense your exercise and the more muscles you get involved, the better metabolism increase you will get. Weight training is intense, you are pushing heavy weights around, and you will get a good post workout increase in metabolism and burn for much longer. Get on it.
7. Build Muscles - The more muscle mass you have the higher your metabolism will be. Simple.
8. Work Your Legs - Leg Weights are important for overall muscle balance, and do need to be done for many reasons other than speeding up your metabolism. However, it’s just another added benefit. Legs are often neglected; it’s the biceps that are overworked. Your legs have a big muscle mass, if you work this mass, you will burn more energy, and thus, increase your metabolism post workout.
9. Do More Higher Intensity Cardio - Getting on the treadmill for 30 mins at a slow pace is OK. But there are better options. Doing some intense work will burn more calories, and leave you with a better post work out metabolism boost than a long slow cardio session. A 10 minute bike interval session would be much more beneficial than a slow 30 minutes session. It’s the post workout boost that is the key, as with weight training, the more intense you work, the longer and stronger your increase will be and the more you will burn whilst you aren’t even active.
10. Avoid Alcohol - Alcohol is bad for your metabolism. It acts against it and will slow it down. Avoid drinking it too regularly.
11. Increase Incident Physical Activity - This is an important one. Being active will automatically give you a short term boost to your metabolism. Adding some extra things into the day that you hardly realize can add up. For example, make your bed in the morning, park your car a little further away than normal, take the stairs occasionally, get up from your desk frequently if possible. Just by simply being more active during the day, which is called incidental activity, you will get an increase in your metabolism.
Taken from laurensfitness.com Article: Increase Your Metabolism: 11 Hot Tips To Get Your Furnace Burning
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