Your metabolism is the sum of energy your body expends each day.
With a high metabolism, you can eat more and not gain weight. But raising your metabolism and keeping it elevated usually requires considerable effort. Luckily, there are ways to hack into the metabolic system, which, when combined with a healthy lifestyle, will help you quickly lose weight and feel great.
The Good
1) Build Lean Muscle
Five pounds of lean muscle burns through five pounds of fat annually via increased metabolism alone. That's saying nothing of all the calories burned while gaining and maintaining this muscle mass.
Most novices can gain about 10 pounds of lean muscle in one year after adding proper strength exercises to their workouts. One key is focusing on larger muscle groups, such as the thighs, gluteals, lats and pectorals.
2) Work Out Early
All workouts result in short-and long-term metabolic gains. To get more of the former, try working out in the morning when your metabolism is naturally just ramping up to face the day. Getting this early jump start will super-charge your metabolism to let you burn fat all day long. It's called the after-burner effect.
Whatever you do, don't work out right before bed when your metabolism will shortly slow to a crawl as you sleep.
3) Eat Often
Most nutritionists recommend eating at least five times per day to keep your metabolism running at an even keel. Besides spacing your allotted daily calories out evenly, also focus on eating more protein, which is slowburning to maintain fullness and helps build lean muscle. Above all, avoid the simple carbohydrates in white breads and refined sugars. These will take any excuse to become fat and hitch a ride on your hips.
4) Stay Hydrated
With so many good reasons to drink water, you hardly need another. Still, it should be noted that the chemical processes involved in burning fat actually require water to work effectively. Drinking cold water increases metabolism even more by forcing your body to expend calories warming the water to body temperature. To maximize this effect, ensure about half of your daily water is consumed ice cold.
5) Drink Coffee and Green Tea
A well-known stimulant and appetite suppressant, caffeine increases your metabolism by five to 15 per cent. If your unique body chemistry deals with caffeine well, consider drinking two to three cups of green tea or coffee per day. Of course, you should still go light on the cream and sugar! These brews each contain other healthy compounds as well, and it's even possible to buy concentrated green tea extracts.
The Bad
Alcohol
After a few drinks, your body understandably prioritizes alcohol digestion, which is especially a problem if you also order those amazing nachos to go with your drinks. Yeah, you know the ones.
The Ugly
Crash Diets
Skipping meals and prolonged calorie deprivation cause your metabolism to drop sharply and forces your body into the dreaded calorie conservation mode. This metabolic damage can take years to repair. So dieters beware!
Shaun Karp is a certified trainer and owner of Karp Personal Training and Rehabilitation. 604-420-7800 karpfitness.com
