Jump Start
Metabolism
How to jump start metabolism seems to be the burning question these days. Everyone with a desire to lose weight or even maintain their ideal weight wants to know how to increase metabolism so their body will burn fat calories for energy.
How the metabolism works is completely unique to you. We get the energy we need for our bodies from the food we eat through the process of our metabolism which no two people metabolize the food the same way. We all utilize the calories we consume differently producing different results. Your metabolism is like your fingerprint, it‘s uniquely yours and no one else has it.
What Is Metabolism?
Metabolism is the process where the food you consume is converted into the energy necessary for your body to function. This energy is necessary in order to perform our bodily functions and stay alive beyond simply sustaining life.
A more simplified version is to think of your body as an engine. Engines need fuel to run. In our case, fuel is food, or the calories we eat. Without a certain number of calories everyday we starve our body affecting our bodily functions. We would run out of gas, much like a car.
As we cut down on our calorie intake per day, our metabolism slows down to compensate for the lower intake. Contrary to what many believe, this isn’t the best way to burn fat however it is if you’re interested in burning lean muscle mass.
How To Increase Your Metabolism
One of the best ways to increase metabolism is to eat three nutritious meals a day combined with healthy snacks in between satisfying your hunger throughout the day. We eat to supply our bodies with the energy it needs to keep our hearts beating, our cells regenerating and countless other activities going on inside us. We can naturally increase metabolism simply by eating right; one of the best ways to jump start metabolism.
Protein, carbohydrates, and fats all contribute to your caloric intake, but not all calories are created equal and how your body processes these different foods has a large impact on your metabolism.
Simple carbohydrates in the form of refined sugars and other processed foods require very little energy during digestion and are quickly stored as fat. To boost metabolism stay away from the high fat, high sugar and processed foods you find on your supermarket shelves.
Foods that speed metabolism are high in complex carbohydrates like fruits and vegetables, lean sources of protein, and fiber from whole grain foods. These foods increase metabolism and have a high nutritional value and take a large amount of energy to breakdown and process. In fact one of the most energy demanding foods to digest is high fiber foods.
Water is an essential element when it comes to speeding up your metabolism as it will flush out toxins in your body that are hindering your metabolic rate. Also, drinking cold water will actually raise your body temperature causing your body to burn more calories.
Also, if you think you are doing yourself a favor by skipping breakfast, think again. Jump start metabolism by eating breakfast; the most important meal of the day. When you skip breakfast the body perceives this as a fast, therefore begins conserving fat and burning muscle tissue starting your day off on the wrong foot. Eating breakfast will jump start metabolism; like putting some kindling on the fat burning fire.
Exercise and Metabolism
The benefits to exercise are immeasurable. It‘s also a key component in determining the rate at which your metabolism works. Our bodies require more energy when we exercise therefore our metabolism increases in order to supply it. How many calories you burn depends on the frequency, duration and intensity of your exercise. The best ways to lose weight is through a combination of strength training and cardio exercise.
Cardio is short for cardiovascular, which refers to the heart. Any movement that gets your heart rate up and increases blood circulation throughout the body is considered cardio exercise. In addition to cardio exercises strengthening your heart and overall health, it also contributes to weight loss by burning calories and raising your metabolism. Even though regularly scheduled cardio exercise like walking or jogging for thirty minutes is the best way to jump start metabolism, try to incorporate your everyday activities into cardio like taking the stairs verses the elevator.
At least two to three times a week, you should do strength training exercise to build muscle as well. The more muscle and less fat you have, the more calories you will burn. When we strength train our muscles contract requiring more energy. The increase in energy is acquired by burning more calories usually from stored fat.
It is essential that you increase your amount of lean muscle mass if you want to speed up metabolism. How much strength training will increase metabolism will vary depending upon the amount of muscle tissue involved in an exercise and the level of resistance weight that is used.
Metabolism is a constant process that begins when we're conceived and ends when we die. It’s a complicated chemical process, so it's not surprising that many people think of it in its simplest sense: as something that influences how easily our bodies gain or lose weight. It is not some magical fire that burns up fat. The fact is the definition of metabolism is really quite complex. Nonetheless, if we all understand that it is essentially the speed at which our body's motor is running and how to jump start metabolism, we’ll do just fine.
