Kick Starting A Slow Metabolism

The process in which the body converts what you consume, whether it be food or drink, into energy is called metabolism. Everything that you eat or drink contains calories that are combined with oxygen, which causes the body to release the energy it needs to function during the biochemical process, according to the Mayo Clinic. In some people this happens very fast as they have active metabolisms, while others suffer from slow metabolisms.

The body needs energy and uses it for many things some of them are even unconscious functions like digestion, breathing, and repair cells even while the body is resting. Basal metabolic rate is the specific number of calories that your body uses to carry out basic functions. Personal basal metabolism is based on sex, age, and body size with it varying for different people.

Being unfortunate to suffer with a slow metabolism it may seem like a gloomy outcome, but it is not irreversible. There are apps for the tech inclined, and there is no shortage of research and literature available on the subject that may provide advice on how to accelerate and enhance the metabolism to assist in weight loss. There are many things that can be done to acquire a charged metabolism that will assist in burning off unwanted and troublesome fat. That being said, even though there is an overwhelming amount of advice and tips, the true secret on how to kick start the metabolism lies within the foods you eat in your lifestyle. Food plays an important role in how fast or slow the metabolism is.

Avoid yo-yo diets that offer big gains quickly, those are never healthy. The results are tempting but almost never affect the body positively with the results not happening, and if they do it’s not a healthy loss nor is it long lasting. Try to prevent the body from experiencing damaging lows and highs by avoiding these diets such as low calorie diets, or any diet void of health carbs and proteins which are actually metabolism slowing. Slow and steady does indeed win the race, and it applies to healthy, sustainable weight loss efforts. To speed up the metabolism in a safe manner it will take time, it is important that you consume adequate amounts of food, water, and exercise daily to prevent the loss of muscle during weight loss. Quick diets, yo-yo diets and such only serve to hurt the body in the long run by decreasing muscle mass. Yes they may help you lose weight rapidly, maybe, BUT they are deceptive, when you lose weight too quickly you are losing muscle mass which is crucial to the body’s ability to lose weight. It becomes harder for the body to maintain and produce muscle tissue with age, consuming enough protein will help to build and maintain muscles keeping the metabolism regulated.  Studies show that every pound of muscle will use around 6 calories a day to sustain itself alone, meaning that the more muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate will be, and you don’t need to be a bodybuilder to benefit from this.

Make time to fit in exercise, you can’t really go wrong with exercise. You need for fancy clothing and equipment, or a gym membership if that’s not your thing, it’s the exercise that matters, which can be done just about anywhere, even at home. Incorporating aerobic workouts such as kickboxing and Zumba will help you burn more calories, the more intense the workout is, the more calories you will burn helping to boost the metabolism. Strength training increases muscle mass, which will not only make you stronger, but it adds to muscle which burns calories even when you are not moving. Studies show that regular exercise has huge health benefits such as the alleviation of lipotoxicity which can decrease lipids in the body which will improve metabolism.

Hot showers are most enjoyable and relaxing that is true, but cold showers can serve to rev up the metabolism. Cold water can be somewhat shocking to the body helping to kick starting the cardiovascular system which can boost metabolism for the day. Significant generation of biochemical and physiological changes in the body such as increasing blood pressure, heart rate, peripheral catecholamine concentration and metabolism are known to occur by submerging in cold water.

Not only is green tea delicious and soothing but it provides a big metabolism boost. For certain people one study has shown that drinking 4 cups of green tea each day led to reductions in weight and systolic blood pressure, as the catechins found in green tea are an antioxidant that triggers the release of fat from fat cells, and helps to speed the liver’s ability to turn fat into energy.

Sleep plays an important role in the way the metabolism functions. Not getting enough sleep can affect how the body is able to metabolise energy from food that contain carbs. Lack of sleep causes changes to upregulation of appetite, glucose metabolism, and decreased energy expenditure in the body. Upwards of 30% of adults between 30 to 64 years of age report getting less than 6 hours of sleep per night, unfortunately this correlates with the spreading obesity epidemic. Weight gained by lack of sleep will be caused by the upregulation of your appetite from insufficient sleep which will create more time in which to eat and a decrease in energy expenditure. If you have ever noticed that the less you sleep the more unhealthy foods you crave, now you know why.

There are many way to fix a slow metabolism in a healthy way. Find what works best for you and stick with it, remember slow and steady wins the race.