Who, regardless of age or body type wouldn't want to burn calories more efficiently [1]? Boosting your metabolism is fairly easy and can be as simple as eating regularly, not sipping some super caffeinated energy drink [2].
Here are some ideas on how to boost your metabolism:
- Eat breakfast [3]. Eating in the morning will help to jump-start your metabolism for the rest of the day. Plus studies show that eating breakfast will help to increase your resting metabolic rate by 10 percent. I'm not talking about coffee and a danish here. Make sure it's full of fiber, protein, and whole grains.
- Don't skip meals [4] or deny yourself food when you're hungry [5]. Food fuels our bodies, and not giving your body the fuel it needs will slow down your metabolism, so you burn less calories.
- Make sure you're getting your fill of B vitamins [6] (B6, B12 [7], folate [8], thiamin and niacin [9]). These are important when it comes to metabolizing carbs, fats, and proteins. Not getting enough will slow down your metabolism, not to mention make you feel tired, depressed, and increase your risk for chronic disease.
- Get your fill of magnesium [10] since it's also important for energy metabolism. Eat dark green veggies, halibut, almonds, cashews, peanuts and peanut butter, soybeans (tempeh or edamame), whole grain breads and cereals, oatmeal, and beans.
What else can speed up your metabolism? To find out
- When you're hungry for a mid morning or afternoon snack [11], choose foods that will fill you up and give you energy. Go for foods that contain healthy carbs (not refined flours), protein, and fiber. Hummus and veggies, yogurt with granola, peanut butter on a banana, and apples and cheese are great options. That way you won't feel overly hungry and end up overeating later because of it.
- Since muscle burns more calories than fat, strength train [12] to build up your muscles. Every pound of muscle you have burns 35 calories a day. One pound of fat burns only two. So the more muscles you have, the more calories your body will need to burn to keep you going.
- Learn to love interval training [13]. Alternate between short bursts of fast, intense physical activity and slower, lower intensity activity. That means if you like to run on a track, you can sprint the straight parts and jog or walk the curves. Or you can work hard riding your bike up a big hill, and then cruise down the slope. Interval training is not only good for your heart and lungs, but it will help you burn more calories than a regular even paced workout, and increase your metabolic rate.
Source [14]