Simple Ways to Increase Metabolism
Here are some simple ways to increase your metabolism. First, metabolism is the body’s ability to convert calories into usable energy. The more calories you burn and energy you produce the higher your metabolism. And, the higher your metabolism the easier it is to control your weight.
Be Cool, Stay Cool
Drink plenty of ice-cold water. The body likes to keep its temperature around 98.6 degrees. If the body is cooler than that set point it will produce energy to warm itself up. Something as simple as drinking 2 liters of ice-cold water a day can lead to the burning of an additional 95 calories a day. Over the course of the year that 95 calories a day equates to the burning of nearly 10 additional pounds.
Also, lowering the thermostat at night or sleeping without a blanket keeps the body cooler and can lead to increase metabolism too, plus you save some money on your heating bills.
Add Muscle
Muscle is 2-3 times more metabolically active than fat and takes up about one-third the volume. To build muscle you need to do resistance training, obtain adequate protein in the diet, and have optimized sex hormone levels especially testosterone. Resistance training serves as a stimulant for the body to make more muscle, but to do so it needs adequate levels of androgen hormone, mainly testosterone (this is true for men and women).
In terms of protein, a good rule of thumb is to eat one gram of protein per day for every pound of body weight. So if you are 200 pounds you need to eat 200 grams of protein a day.
When it comes to resistance training, brief workouts using heavier weights will increase metabolism far greater than low intensity strength training. Hook up a personal trainer to develop a calorie burning resistance/strength training program.
Sleep and Burn More Calories
Sleeping seems like the last thing you would do to increase metabolism, but getting enough quality sleep keeps our circadian rhythms in sync. And, this keeps our many hormones at optimal levels. Some of these hormones control appetite and regulate energy. We actually overeat when we are tired, and we tend to eat snack and comfort foods. Everybody’s need for sleep is different, but most need 7 to 9 hours of sleep.
