Low metabolism is a problem for thousands of people, and everybody will deal with a decreased metabolism as they age, but there are ways to boost your metabolism and keep it as high as possible. Metabolism is basically the rate at which your body burns calories. If your metabolism is high, then the rate at which it burns calories will be high also (and vice versa).
Why is low metabolism a problem?
Having a low metabolism will mean you will burn fewer calories at a resting rate. If the amount of calories you consume exceeds your base metabolic rate, then you will experience an increase in fat stores and weight gain. Not only is this a problem for an individual’s aesthetics, it is also bad for their heart health. Over 50% of fatalities from heart disease are a result of obesity, and a low metabolism can make obesity inevitable if you don’t take measures in order to prevent it! If low metabolism is a problem for you, and you feel it is a burden on your health, then take a look at some of these proven ways to help boost your metabolism:
Eat Your Breakfast!
This is possibly the most important and most effective way to increase your metabolism naturally. If you regularly skip breakfast, as thousands of people do, you are not giving your body that good ‘kick start’ that it needs to burn calories throughout the day. When we sleep, our metabolism drops dramatically, and because of the hours of fasting overnight, your body needs a good meal in the morning, to get the metabolism revving once again, ready to tackle any foods you consume throughout the day. Whether you are not hungry, you can’t be bothered or you simply don’t have enough time, try and make sure you get some food in your belly in the morning.
Eat More Frequently:
When we leave a big gap between our meals, our metabolism drops, as it feels it is not needed after a few hours of being revved up. To prevent your metabolism dropping, simply swap the old routine of eating 3 set meals per day, and try to eat 5-6 times per day, every 2 hours or so. Doing so will keep your metabolism as high as possible for the whole length of the day, without having the need to drop down, and burn fewer calories.
Do Aerobic Activity In The Morning:
Exercise works wonders for your metabolism, and it works even better when done early in the morning. Just like eating breakfast will get your metabolism pumping, a good session of morning cardio will do the same. Not only is cardiovascular activity good for your metabolic rate, it also poses several other health benefits including reduced stress, weight loss, lower blood pressure, and a stronger heart!
Drink Plenty Of Water:
The process of using calories for energy requires a good level of water to perform adequately. Supplying your metabolism with the hydration it needs will have a massive effect on the effectiveness of it, and when you consider the difficulty of drinking water, surely it has to be worth it? The experts recommend that an adult should consume at least 8, 8oz. glasses of water per day, but if you take part in physical activity, then try and aim for more!
Do Resistance Training (Build Muscle):
Muscle burns up to 3 times the amount of calories as fat does, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn throughout the day. Resistance training requires a great deal of persistence, energy and motivation, but the amount of benefits you will receive will definitely outweigh the sacrifices. It is recommended that you take part in resistance training activities at least 3 times per week, in order to build a good amount of muscle.
Drink Green Tea:
The tasty Chinese leaves of green tea have been clinically proven to help increase metabolism, and aid in weight loss. Just 3 cups of green tea per day can help burn up to 500 extra calories per week! Green tea is cost effective, has a wide range of flavours and is also reported to help prevent the production of cancer. Green tea is available from most supermarkets, so be sure to pick some up the next time you visit.
Eat Broccoli:
Broccoli is a great way to help raise your metabolism levels naturally, thanks to its huge vitamin C and calcium content. Both of these nutrients have been shown to have a positive effect on your metabolism, and when you think about the amount of calories they contain (20, per cup), it would be silly to not add them to your daily diet!
Fidget more:
As silly as it may seem, fidgeting more often can lead to a great increase in the amount of calories burnt per day! Fidgeting can be anything from tapping your feet, to dancing, to constantly changing your seated position. Little actions make a huge difference, so try and implement more into your lifestyle. A good way to do this is to try and walk the long way to things, such as the fridge, the toilet or to the bus stop. Walking is a form of exercise, but when done on such a small scale, it is basically a fidget, so do more!
