Boosting Your Metabolism

If you've spent anytime trying to lose weight or trying to boost your metabolism, you'll know that in order to lose weight you need to have "Total calories consumed to be less than total calories burned."

In order to understand how to boost your metabolism, we need to understand how calories are burned in your body.  There are three ways in which calories are burned and the two most important are:

1. Your basal metabolism, which is the part that basically keeps you alive
2. Physical exercise

Boosting your basal metabolism

Boosting your basal metabolism is one of the best things you can do to start losing weight.  Do not be lured into the mentality of slashing calories from your diet, because your body needs calories in order just to function.  Your body needs food.  It's just that it doesn't need the junky food or larger portions that are responsible for us being overweight.

In fact, if you cut back or worse, cut out, meals then it can backfire on you.  Your body needs a certain amount of food and when it doesn't get it, your body will start protecting itself by slowing down your metabolism.  And when your metabolism slows down, on piles the weight!

You know the saying, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day", well it's true.  Think about it.  You go from dinner at 6pm the night before until noon the next day.  That's eighteen hours without food - almost a whole day.  There's no way that can be good for your body.  So don't fall into the trap of ignoring this meal.!

Start with a food plan that enables you to eat every three to four hours.  You're looking to eat small portions of a well balanced diet on a regular basis.  Each meal should contain protein and carbohydrates, and make sure it's the good carbohydrates, not the ones made of sweets!

Exercise for your metabolism

Muscle burns more calories than fat does, and including aerobic activity in your exercise routine at lease three times a week is crucial, if not indispensable, to boosting your metabolism.  The fact is, you will never be able to come up with an effective method of boosting your metabolism if you're not willing to put some work into it. 

And even if you are not exercising, be sure to drink plenty of water.  Water is critical to boosting your metabolism becasue without it your body doesn't get the nutrients it needs, and your metabolism will slow down. 

Eight glasses of water each day is what's recommended, and although that can be hard to so, it's undoubtedly worth it if it boosts your metabolism.