There’s something working nonstop inside your body to help you burn calories and fat. It’s your metabolism! Every time you eat enzymes in your body's cells break down the food and turn it into energy that keeps your heart beating, your mind thinking, and your body moving! The faster your metabolism, the more calories you burn. The more you burn, the easier it is to release weight. And get this—you can make your metabolism work harder 24 hours a day.
To some degree, metabolism is determined by gender and genetics, but there's still plenty of room to improve. These tips from nutrition experts are simple but very effective for kicking your metabolism into overdrive, and have done the trick for many of my clients!
1. Eat (a good) breakfast. If you don't, your body goes into starvation mode, so your metabolism slows to a crawl to conserve energy. And the heartier your first meal is the better. In one study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, volunteers who got 22 to 55 percent of their total calories at breakfast gained only 1.7 pounds on average over four years. Those who ate zero to 11 percent of their calories in the morning gained nearly three pounds. In another study published in the same journal, volunteers who reported regularly skipping breakfast had 4.5 times the risk of obesity as those who took the time to eat.
Eat food that is slow to digest and leaves you feeling fuller longer. Try a mix of lean protein with complex carbohydrates and healthy fats. For instance: an omelet made from one egg and two egg whites and a half cup of mixed peppers and onions, plus a half cup of cooked steel-cut oats mixed with a quarter cup of frozen berries and a teaspoon of omega-3-loaded fish oil.
2. An apple a day is still good advice. Apples are full of fiber and antioxidants which help keep digestion humming along and make you stronger. The type of fiber – pectin – found in apples actually helps lower LDL (bad) cholesterol in your liver and the flavonoids (a cousin to antioxidants) can prevent inflammation and overproduction of fat in your liver cells.
3. Pick protein for lunch. Consuming protein at every meal helps build and maintain lean muscle mass. Muscle burns more calories than fat does, even at rest. Aim for about 30 grams of protein—the equivalent of about one cup of low-fat cottage cheese or a four-ounce boneless chicken breast—at each meal.
4. Drink green tea. "It's the closest thing to a metabolism potion," says Tammy Lakatos Shames, R.D., author of Fire Up Your Metabolism: 9 Proven Principles for Burning Fat and Losing Weight Forever. The tea contains a plant compound called ECGC, which promotes fat burning. In one study, people who consumed the equivalent of three to five cups a day for 12 weeks decreased their body weight by 4.6 percent. For maximum effect, let your tea steep for three minutes and drink it while it's still hot.
5. Get more iron. Women lose iron during their period every month. That can throw a wrench into your metabolic machine, because iron helps carry oxygen to your muscles. If your levels run low, muscles don't get enough O2, your energy tanks, and your metabolism slows. Stock up on iron-¬fortified cereals, beans, and dark leafy greens like spinach, bok choy, and broccoli.
6. Go fish. Fatty fish like salmon, tuna, and sardines are loaded with appetite satiating omega-3 fatty acids. These healthy fats help trigger the rapid transfer of "I'm full" signals to your brain, according to the National Institute of Health. Bonus: A 3.5-ounce serving of salmon nets you 90 percent of your recommended daily value of vitamin D, which will help preserve your precious metabolism-stoking muscle tissue.
7. Hit the rack early. When you sleep less than you should, you throw off the amounts of leptin and ghrelin—hormones that help regulate energy use and appetite—that your body produces. Researchers at Stanford University found that people who slept fewer than 7.5 hours per night experienced an increase in their body mass index. So make sure you get at least eight hours of rest.
