Several Ways to Jumpstart your Metabolism and Lose Weight

The term metabolism refers to all of the chemical reactions by which complex molecules taken in by the body are broken down to produce energy. Simply stated, you metabolism is the way the human body burns up all the calories from the food you consume. Your metabolism has been proven to slow down as you get older, but that does not mean you have to live with it. Experts have identified several ways to jumpstart your metabolism.

In order to rev up your metabolism, you should avoid skipping meals or fasting. Limiting your food intake in this manner can trigger your body to go into starvation mode, which will actually slow down your metabolism. Eating less than 1000 calories a day means that you are denying your body of essential elements necessary for survival. Your body’s only defense is to slow down your metabolism in order to store energy in the form of fat. In order to jumpstart your metabolism you should eat 4 to 6 small meals a day.

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Keeping the body hydrated by drinking plenty of water is also a great way to stimulate your metabolism. Just like a lack of food a lack of water can actually trigger your body to slow down its metabolic rate in order to survive. Water is the body’s most essential nutrient. If the body is deprived of water the kidneys will begin to focus their attention on retaining water instead of burning fat. Experts agree that you should drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily.

Another way to jumpstart you metabolism is to start exercising. Becoming more active will stimulate your metabolism. Toning up your body is important because muscle is more metabolically active than fat. In addition, aerobic exercise will help you burn calories by increasing your heart rate. Experts recommend one hour of moderate activity a day, this can be a traditional exercise routine or something as simple as cleaning your house or walking the dog.

It is also important to eat the majority of your meals earlier in the day. This means you should not skip breakfast. If you do then your body is deprived of food from the time you went to sleep the night before until you decide to eat lunch. This is too long for your body to go without nutrients. It will go into survival mode and slow down metabolism. In addition, you should make dinner your smallest meal. Experts suggest not eating anything after 8 pm or at least 3 to 4 hours before retiring to sleep.

It is also important to watch your caloric intake as it directly relates to your metabolism. Because you metabolism naturally slows down, as you get older you should adjust the amount of calories you put into your boy accordingly.

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Some experts recommend spicing up your foods to give your metabolism a boost. While the actually stimulation of your metabolism by spicy foods is relatively insignificant it does encourage you to eat healthier foods such as vegetables and chicken.

If you are interested in speeding up your metabolism it is important to be aware of gimmicks that seem too good to be true. Avoid cleansing diets that require that you starve yourself. And don’t be conned by foods that claim to be fat burners, such as celery or grapefruit. There is no proof that either of these will increase your metabolism at all.

Scientists have determined that as you get older your metabolism decreases an average of 5 percent every ten years. Though this may be an inevitable part of aging there are plenty of simple habits that you can work into your daily routine to keep your metabolism stimulated.