Tips for Keeping Your Metabolism High

 

Part of feeling good can include looking our best, and keeping the metabolism as high as possible at all times is an easy way to avoid any unnecessary weight gain. Some of this beyond our control, such as the fact that men naturally have a higher metabolism than women, that the metabolism slows as age, and muscle burns more calories at a resting rate than fat does. But luckily there are a lot of things that you can change! When your metabolism goes up, you can lose weight even without cutting calories.

Small Frequent Snacks
If you eat frequently throughout the day you can essentially keep the “fire” of your metabolism stoked instead of putting it out and relighting it for big meals. Just make sure that your snacks are actually small and not an excuse to shovel a hamburger in your mouth. Stick for small mixtures of protein and carbohydrates like a couple slices of apple with a dab of healthy nut butter. When you skip eating during the day your metabolism slows down in an effort to actually burn less calories. Its concern is that you might not be eating again for a long time and it’s trying to save your life. Until we can forge a communication staright with the metabolism and let it know a big dinner is on the way, don’t skip meals.
In similar fashion, do not skip breakfast! If you don’t feel hungry in the morning that might mean that your metabolism is in resting mode after you slept, but remember that resting mode is not where we want to find a metabolism during the day. Eating even a small breakfast can start up the metabolism and start burning calories. Just be sure and avoid breakfast favorites that contain added sugars otherwise you will be heading for a crash before lunch even arrives when your blood sugar drops too low. Go with yogurt, fruit and nuts, or oatmeal with coconut butter.

Exercise
This is a nonnegotiable part of the process. Engaging in aerobic exercise like jogging can increase your metabolism during and after the fitness session. For a longer type of burn, you need to be building muscle with weight training and resistance. Muscle naturally requires more energy to survive than fat does, so if you add on even a couple pounds of muscle it will up your calorie burn significantly. Both aerobic and anaerobic are crucial to keeping your metabolism high.

Get Your Vitamins
Adding some B vitamins to your diet can help increase your metabolic function as they can help metabolize carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, in addition to improving the function of the central nervous system. Get them from spinach, beans, broccoli, and eggs, or a supplement if you have determined that you are low.
Magnesium is a mineral that is used by your entire body for energy metabolism and muscle, nerve, and heart function. Get it from green leafy vegetables, oatmeal, halibut, and lentils.