How to Boost Your Metabolism in 7 Easy Steps by Eating the Right Foods and Exercising

Metabolism is your body’s thermostat regulating how many calories you burn along with body fat. The keys to successfully increasing your metabolism are in the foods you eat and the calories you burn from the amount of exercise you engage in daily. Fitness and nutrition experts will tell you, your body is the machine in which metabolism is the engine that provides you energy to burn calories whether you are sleeping eating or sitting reading your favorite fitness magazine.
Men and women with higher metabolisms will naturally have a much lower percentage of body fat. This is due to the fact that muscle burns more calories than fat. Many Americans typically have slower metabolic rates and have difficulties with weight issues because they store more fat and have lower muscle mass. Unfortunately, in your teen years you had a faster metabolism because your cells experienced increased activity daily because of gym class and sports. The down side to growing older is much more difficulty keeping an increased metabolism becomes much greater.
What Causes Low Metabolism?
The biggest cause of slowed metabolisms is dieting. Low metabolism generally surfaces when a person is dieting on extremely low calories or digesting too many sugary foods and beverages. Another cause of slow metabolisms is little or no physical activity (daily exercise). If you snack all day on foods with high sugar contents this too will slow down your metabolism. Snack decreasing your metabolism include candy, sodas, cakes, and cookies. While there are numerous causes that affect the metabolic rate of a body, an individual may also follow a few approaches towards improving or speeding up their metabolism.
Here are 7 ways to speed up your metabolism with exercise and nutrition:
1) Eat frequently: Skipping meals deprives your body of nutrition needed to fuel your metabolism. One of the worst things one can do in terms of eating is to skip breakfast this single meal is responsible for supplying the body with an effective metabolic jumpstart for the rest of the day.
2) Daily exercise: Light weight training, aerobics and stretching all help to keep your cells active. Keeping your muscles lean and at optimal strength will help you burn more calories than fat. Daily workouts will increase your body’s metabolic rate. Keep your workouts to no more than 30 minutes each session.
3) Avoid empty calories: avoid consuming alcohol, sugar and starchy carbohydrates. Eating and drinking foods with high sugar content is a sure fire way to slow your metabolism.
4) Eat high nutritional foods known to burn calories: Green vegetables and other fibrous foods make great low calorie selections (green beans, salad vegetables, cauliflower, asparagus, and broccoli). Also, include selected fruits such as grapefruit, lemons, blackberries, and pumpkins.
5) Eat lean protein: Protein foods provide your body thermogenic fat-burning elements know to super charge your metabolism: chicken breast, turkey breast, venison, elk, bison, buffalo, shellfish, egg whites, lean sirloin, top round, and almost any type of fish.
6) Simple vs. complex carbohydrates: white sugar is considered a simple carbohydrate and is an empty calorie and slows your metabolism. Whereas complex carbohydrates like whole grains (i.e. sweet potatoes, brown rice, and oats) helps boost metabolism.
7) Manage your day: Getting up an half hour early and getting in your workout will help you set your body up for increased metabolism throughout the day. Daily cardiovascular, weight training and stretching is essential in keeping you metabolism moving throughout the day and helps you burn more fat.