3 Ways to Naturally Boost Your Metabolism

1. Exercise! The combination of resistance training and cardio is your best choice in revving up your metabolism.  We are typically focused on cardio and fat loss, but fail to realize what the importance of muscle mass and resistance training are to this subject. 

Building muscle is important as it requires energy - increasing your metabolism.  The more muscle one has, the more energy is required to maintain it.  One study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that older men and women increased their metabolism by about 100 calories after 6 months of strength training. The combination of both resistance training and cardio can lead to some great fat loss results, compared to just cardio alone.

2. Eat smaller, balanced meals more frequently and consistently throughout the day.  Space your meals out every 2 to 3 hours, and centre them around a lean protein source (egg whites, low-fat cheeses, yogurt, lean meats and poultry, and fish).  Side your protein with vegetables and/or fruits, beans and lentils, and some whole grains.  Eating these smaller, balanced meals more frequently throughout the day will keep you feeling fuller longer; preventing your blood sugar from spiking (discussed further in #3); and helping you from overeating.

3. Stay away from refined grains, and stick to low glycemic carbohydrates.  Products made from refined grains and sugars; such as cakes, cookies, pastas, and many breads are typically high glycemic.  Eaten alone, high glycemic foods cause a spike in blood sugar, triggering your body to secrete a flood of insulin; storing all the unused energy as glycogen (in your muscles and your liver), and as fat (in your adipose tissue), and likely causing you to feel hungry shortly after consumption.  Sticking to low glycemic index fruits, vegetables, bean and lentils, and whole grains (breads and pastas) will help keep your blood sugar levels more stable and keep you full longer.

Water and Weight Loss

Can water help me lose weight?

The answer is yes.

Water can help your body digest food, and also deceive it into thinking that its full.

Water and digestion
Before being distributed to the rest of your body for usage or storage, most of your food is temporarily stored in your stomach. Like food, most of the ingested water is also temporarily stored in your stomach. This food/water mixture together forms a great partnership. The water helps separate the food particles causing them to become more dispersed and spread out. This helps increase the efficiency of absorption.

.

Water and weight loss
As you know, your stomach is a temporary storage bin. Like a storage bin, your stomach reaches a fill point. At this point your stomach sends a signal to your brain letting it know that it has reached capacity. The sensation of being hungry then disappears.

.

Now that you are aware of this negative feedback mechanism, how can it help me lose weight. Again, this brings us back to the great partnership that food and water form with each other. As you may already know, water contains zero calories. This is important, because drinking water with your meal can result in you eating less food. Instead of solely eating, which plays a significant role is the amount of calories you consume, you are also ingesting water, which contains zero calories. What is happening is that you are replacing some of the food that you would normally intake, with calorie-free water. This will result in you consuming less food and less calories. In the long run, consuming less food and less calories will result in weight loss.