How to increase your metabolism
July 23, 2009 by Shaun
Filed under The Fitness Bug, The Food Bug
As i mentioned in the last post. For all you low metabolism types out there, i really do have your best interests at heart. So…how can you become more like us high metabolism types? Well before you do anything change your mind set from ‘i need to lose weight’ to ‘i need to increase my metabolism’. Over the years i have always heard people say that ‘they need to lose weight’. This is wrong, and i would frequently have to correct these individuals and get them to say ‘i need to increase my metabolism. Why? Yes… you will lose weight, but without increasing your metabolism, you will put that weight straight back on!
So what are the benefits of increased metabolism?
- Lose weight and burn fat with less amount of activity
- Process food a lot quicker which prevents your body from having unwanted fats during workouts
Oh…us high metoblism types have it good 
However, as i have previously mentioned, there are many factors that affect the metabolism such as age, gender, weight, hormonal changes, diet, genetics and daily physical activities.
Ok, that’s great. But how can i actually do this and become like you skinny people?
Heres How:
Build up lean body mass
Metabolism decreases with age. To improve metabolism and exercising is one way to offset this problem. Lean muscle burns calories and the more you have the more calories you burn, even while resting. The amount of muscle you have is a strong determinant to the ability to burn calories and fat. Doing cardio exercises can boost your metabolism rate, and doing resistance or weight training can help building muscle. Building muscle is one of the key ingredients in losing fat and it is more effective than any weight loss or diet plan. Besides doing the cardio exercises, you might first take some simple tasks as walking or going up and down stairs to burn off calories.
Eat breakfast daily
Many people do not eat breakfast (I still don’t understand how people can do this!). Most of them think that it might help in losing weight if they consume as less meals as possible a day. However, they don’t realize that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Breakfast boosts your metabolism rate and provides energy for the day. Alternately, the metabolism decreases if you don’t eat breakfast or eat later in the day. Haven’t you noticed that those people who eat breakfast are thinner than those don’t?
Don’t skip meals
Skipping meals is a wrong concept to most people who want to lose weight. What they don’t realize is that skipping meals will only make your metabolism slower, making the food you eat digest slower. This in turn will pack on the fats and turn the excess energy to unwanted fat.
Have a well planned meal
It is much easier to lose weight if you have a daily or weekly meal plan. You may plan what, when, where, and serving size daily. Also, you might want to write down what you have eaten for every meal, and check whether it is as healthy as possible.
Have smaller portion meals
Consuming 4 to 6 meals a day every 2 to 4 hours can increase your metabolism rate. It also gives the body a steady supply of energy and prevent over eating. You should increase your intake of healthy meals rather than stuffing your face full of junk food!
Drink more water
Water is not only a lubricant of the body, it also flushes the body out and keeps the kidneys operating at maximum efficiency. Lack of water causes the operation of the body’s functions to decrease and lower the metabolism rate. You should drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
Sleep well
Getting a good night’s sleep can boost the body’s operations and metabolism. According to some researches, it stated that people who do not get enough sleep tend to gain more weight. In addition, the body uses sleep to heal and muscles are regenerated.
Sugar is bad
Taking too much sugar might overload the body and cause many serious health problems such as obesity and diabetes. Sugar might transform into fat and stick onto your body if it is excess. The human body cannot deal with a large amount of refined sugar that maybe present in your meals.
Spicy food
Spicy food is a good friend to boost the metabolism rate and help losing weight because of its ingredients. Therefore, eating some spicy food is good for your body. (Nandos anyone? 
)
Green tea is good
As we all know, the Japanese have healthier body’s and live better than most of us over in the West. Drinking green tea is one of the key reasons behind that. Both green tea and coffee contain caffeine, however green tea can boost metabolism without any side effects to the body, and it can prevent oxidation to the skin.
Take higher energy foods - including whole grain, beans, fruits, and vegetables
Taking these meals can provide more balanced energy to your body and assist with losing weight. It can also improve the process of digesting food.
Increase daily activities
Increasing your daily activities not only gives you a higher level metabolism rate, but also tend to burn more calories.
Reduce fat consumption
Increasing metabolism and losing fat is a simple equation. The fact is that you must always burn more fat than you take in, so let’s start by reducing fatty and oily food. You should also reduce your intake of sugar and carbohydrates.
By doing the above, it might improve your metabolism rate. If you stick to it you will start to see result within 3-4 week, and then you will truly be on your way to entering the world of the skinnys. Don’t stress over each little thing, but if you eat right and exercise, you should see a decrease in body fat. Most importantly you will have a healthier lifestyle and a much more energetic and happy YOU!
Link to this page
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Hey great tips thanks for sharing it..I am also doing body building..could you suggest me what are the food item really good for gaining muscles….
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admin Reply:
August 3rd, 2009 at 3:50 am
No problem ‘body builder’. Here are some good foods you should start to include in your diet:
SPINACH: Is muscle fuel and helps repair muscles after working out (but you have to eat loads of it
)
PINEAPPLE AND PAPAYA: Speeds up muscle recovery and helps breakdown and digest protein
SALMON: Good for cardio
PASTA WITH MEAT SAUCE: Building and repairing muscle
PORK TENDERLOIN: Reduce fat around your waist
CHOCOLATE MILK (yes: water isn’t the best): Hydration: chocolate gives milk the perfect balance of carbs, protein, and fat for speedy muscle recovery.
COFFEE: Good for pain relief after workouts
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admin Reply:
August 3rd, 2009 at 3:52 am
COLD WATER: Endurance
GREEN TEA: Muscle recovery
You should be just fine now
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Great advice. I should aware of these, I have too much bad habits
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Shaun Reply:
August 28th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Good stuff Jacob… you have to stay fit
. feel to share some of those habits? I’d love to know, for everyone’s sake
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Breakfast is the best way to “kick start” your metabolism in the morning, then, frequent, small meals or snacks to “feed the flame”… Great article. BK
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Shaun Reply:
August 30th, 2009 at 2:38 am
Sure is BK!
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I think I need to drink more green tea but make me sleepy, maybe at night I guess
Greetings from Kansas!
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I agree, in order to have a high or pretty much normal metabolism for your weight. You need to be able eat small meals, increase lean muscle mass and take on new challenges. Very straight forward and simplified.
Looking to learn more from you.
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Shaun Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Correct. Any time Liz, RSS or Email updates, take your pick. I’ll always try to bring something new and interesting to stayfitbug
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After reading you blog, I thought your articles is great! I am very like your articles and I am very interested in the field of weight loss. I have also wrote some articles about weight loss in my blog, if you have time, welcome to my blog, I am very appreciated that you can share your idea with me. Acturally, I am still a student, and I am bury myself in weight loss’s study. Your blog is very useful for me .I bookmarked your blog! I trust you will behave better from now on; I hope she understands that she cannot exepct a raise.
My secret of weight loss foods
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This is another great post, That’s what I try to tell people how important it is to increase your metabolism if you are trying to loose weight.
Even if you just start by doing one of the items you mention and work your way up. It’s a start to get people on the right track.
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Shaun Reply:
March 22nd, 2010 at 6:32 am
For sure. What some people might not realize is that the body will store fat around the body. There is no real way to focus where you want your fat to go. So again, the best way to keep your weight off is to increase your metabolism. Keep it up Patrick.
P.S Also check out killer foods for fitness to see if you find anything new there. Otherwise just dig through the archives
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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.
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Shaun Reply:
April 16th, 2010 at 8:31 am
Correct!
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Green tea is the answer for fast metabolism. I drink it every morning and after first cup I must run to the toilet
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Shaun Reply:
July 14th, 2010 at 2:04 am
It sure is Andy!
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I have searched all over google for info on this topic, I finally found a good post, looking forward to coming back!
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