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Posts Tagged ‘increases metabolism’

Metabolism is the quantity of calories, or energy, that your body needs to burn in order to function properly. The higher your body’s metabolism is the lower amount of body fat you will have. People with high metabolism have are able to lose weight faster and keep it off longer than people with slower metabolism.

Your body burns calories for all of its functions, including digesting the food you eat. It burns calories to repair and create muscle, to keep your heart pumping, and to help your kidneys, liver and other organs functioning effectively. When your body burns more calories than you eat, you naturally lose weight.

There are a variety of ways to boost your metabolism. The healthier you are, the more calories you will burn. Good nutrition combined with regular exercise, you can increase your metabolism enough to let you eat what you want without gaining too much weight.

Your body requires more calories to digest protein and raw fruits and vegetables due to their complex nature. If your body is burning up calories by just digesting your food, you will practically lose weight with each bite you take.

Exercise is the most important factor in increasing your metabolism. Your body’s muscles need more to function, and the more toned muscle you have, the more calories your body burns. Get involved in aerobic exercise such as walking, running, swimming, cycling, or aerobics for at least 30 to 60 minutes every day, especially in the morning hours. Increasing your aerobic activity will directly increase your body’s metabolic activity. Try to squeeze in an extra 15 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise in the evening hours at least five days a week.

Add interval training to more of your aerobic workouts. Intervals are a fantastic tool to help increase your metabolism. Interval training adds a short 1 minute interval of aerobics for each 10 minutes of your normal exercise program.

You should never skip meals and always eat a healthy, balanced breakfast. If you skip breakfast, you are sending your body a signal that you are starving, because you haven’t eaten anything in the nearly 18 hours between dinner the night before and lunch the next day. Your body’s metabolism will slow down and will also go into a protective mode to conserve energy.

Look for creative ways to get active. Choose the farthest parking spot in the parking lot at work or the store instead of searching for the spot nearest the door. Try using the stairs rather than an elevator or escalator. The harder you make your body work every day, the more you boost your body’s metabolism.