These simple tricks can boost your metabolic rate and help you lose weight
Ever wondered why some people eat constantly without gaining weight, while others can’t so much as look at a biscuit without piling on the pounds?
If you’re exercising regularly and eating a healthy, well-balanced diet, but the scales still aren’t budging, it might be worth considering another factor — your metabolism.
Our metabolism describes the chemical processes constantly going on inside our body to keep us alive and functioning. We all need a minimum amount of energy just to keep breathing, to keep our heart beating and our organs functioning. This is known as our basal metabolic rate (BMR) and it accounts for a huge amount of the calories we burn off each day.
The higher our BMR, the more calories we burn when resting or sleeping. But if our BMR is low and we’re eating more calories than our body needs, we’re likely to put on weight.
Unfortunately, the speed of our BMRs vary. Some of us are born with a slower metabolism and it can slow further as we age.
However, there are ways to help boost our metabolism.
Build muscles
One of the best ways to boost our resting metabolic rate — the number of calories our body burns while it’s at rest — is to build more muscle. Muscles burn calories simply by being there. Try muscle-strengthening exercises such as lifting small weights, hill walking or heavy gardening, such as digging and shovelling, two or three times a week. Research suggests that just 11 minutes a day, three times a week, may be enough to noticeably increase our resting metabolic rate.
Bump up your protein
When we eat, we use extra energy to digest, absorb and process the nutrients in our food. This means our metabolism temporarily speeds up for a few hours and is called the thermic effect of food (TEF).
According to research, protein causes the highest rise in TEF, increasing our BMR by as much as 15-30 per cent, compared to just five to 10 per cent when we eat carbohydrates. Protein-rich foods, such as chicken, fish, lean meat, eggs, nuts and seeds help us feel fuller and maintain muscle mass too, which is also useful in giving our metabolism a boost.
Stay cool
It might be worth turning the thermostat down a little. Research suggests that living or working in a cooler environment might speed up metabolic activity. This is because in response to the cold, our white fat cells, which in large amounts can lead to obesity, take on the characteristics of brown fat cells, which burn calories to keep us warm.
Drink more water
Try drinking a glass or two of water, half an hour before you eat each day. According to studies, drinking 500ml can help temporarily speed up our metabolism by as much as 30 per cent and drinking cold water is even better, as the body uses more energy to warm it up.
Get fidgeting
It might not seem like much but, whether you’re climbing the stairs or just fidgeting while watching TV, small movements will gradually increase your BMR. This is because all body movement requires calories, so the more active you are, the higher your BMR will gradually become.
Get better sleep
Sleep impacts our health in many ways and our metabolism is no exception. Research shows that poor or reduced sleep on a regular basis can reduce our metabolic rate. In fact, one study found that resting metabolic rate decreased by nearly three per cent when healthy adults slept for just four hours, five days in a row. Where possible, set a bedtime and wake time that gives you seven hours of sleep a night.
Don’t crash diet
When we’re trying to lose weight most of us reduce the number of calories we consume. But if we lower our intake too drastically, we can end up slowing our metabolism. Our body goes into preservation mode and lowers the rate at which it burns calories. Instead, reduce the number of calories you eat slowly. You’ll lose weight over time without causing your metabolism to lag.
Edited by Stephanie May