Ways to Increase Metabolism these increase metabolism and burn fat
Here are the very best ways to increase metabolism for weight loss. The higher your metabolic rate, the faster you'll lose body fat.
These fat-burning methods can literally transform your body!
If you stay at a higher metabolic rate, you will achieve real weight loss that will last. To cure weight gain, or to cure or avoid obesity, increase your metabolic rate.
Since it's more difficult to sustain weight loss than it is to lose weight initially, it's important to keep your metabolic rate high once you hit your percentage of body fat target.
First, what exactly is your metabolism?
Your metabolism is all those chemical processes in your body that result in energy production.
We do not here consider unnatural or unhealthful ways to increase metabolism. The ways to increase metabolism recommended here are not only natural but also healthful. Furthermore, they are effective. They have worked for many others, and they will work for you.
If you are tired of being tired, if you are tired of being too heavy, then you are ripe for a change.
The first critical step is to make a commitment to do what it takes to achieve permanent natural weight loss.
Changing habits isn't easy. If you are an adult, you undoubtedly realize that already. However, if you use the free psychological and spiritual tools we provide at this website, you will find it as easy as possible.
If you want to look at them later, you will find the Psychology and Meditation sections of our website, which are listed on the navigation buttons.
So, what should you do to boost metabolism for fat loss?
Here's how.
Dietary ways to increase metabolism
This is about how to eat well.
Consume only foods that speed metabolism.
Not surprisingly, some foods work well to boost metabolism and some do not. Avoid eating the ones that don’t; eat only the ones that do.
Which foods should we eat and which should we avoid?
For the answer, see our Foods that Speed Metabolism page. You'll find the link to that page awaiting you at the bottom of this page.
See also the list of Refined Processed Carbohydrates to avoid. You'll also find the link to that page awaiting you at the bottom of this page.
Feeding frequency to increase metabolism
Eat more frequently than most people, about once every 3 or 4 waking hours.
Never go more than 4 waking hours without a meal that has plenty of high quality protein -- preferably from natural sources. 'Plenty' means consume the same number of grams of protein as your lean body weight in pounds. (So if you are 200 pounds at 25% body fat, consume at least 150 grams of protein daily.)
Drink plenty of water—at least 2 or 3 quarts daily.
If you have not been eating this way, eat this way for just one week and notice how much better you feel!
If you have a mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and bedtime snack in addition to breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you are already eating this way! If you aren’t, it’s not difficult to do with a bit of planning.
Just by itself, this is one of the best ways to increase metabolism.
Why does it work?
It’s because, in terms of its "thermic effect," protein has twice the power as either of the other two macronutrients, namely, fats or carbohydrates.
Your body has to work much harder to digest proteins than to digest fats or carbs, which means that it will use many more calories in the process of digestion and absorption than otherwise.
Furthermore, eating sufficient protein frequently will keep you in a positive nitrogen balance, which indicates that your body is building lean muscle tissue.
This is very important, since muscle is your metabolic furnace that will increase the energy your body uses 24 hours a day. Building more muscle [see below] is the best of the ways to increase metabolism.
In addition, it’s psychologically easier to eat more frequently than less frequently. If you’ve been waiting too long between feedings, you’ll quickly begin to feel better.
By keeping your carb intake low, you’ll avoid blood sugar swings.
It’s important to drink plenty of clean water. Among other things, this will help your body process the protein. We suggest drinking at least 2 quarts daily and at least 3 quarts if you are exercising hard or doing a lot of physical work.
It's best to avoid other liquids, especially those that contain calories.
Create a metabolic furnace to increase metabolism
This is about how to create your own metabolic furnace.
It’s helpful to categorize physical exercise into different kinds, the kind that increases metabolism and the kind that does not.
There are two kinds of physical exercise that are not ways to increase metabolism, namely, stretching and balance exercises.
(However, we recommend that everyone do some stretching exercises twice weekly after either fitness or strength training. If you are over 50, we recommend doing balance exercises twice weekly whenever you feel like it.)
The two kinds of physical exercise that are both important ways to increase metabolism are fitness training (cardio) and strength training.
Strength training increases lean muscle and lean muscle is your metabolic furnace. Hence, we recommend that you do a strength training workout about twice a week. Proper strength training will fire up your metabolic furnace and burn calories 24 hours a day. Young or old, male or female, everyone can lose body fat by increasing lean muscle.
You are never too old to begin. For more information, go to the relevant sections for our free strength training and weightlifting programs. We are proud of them. Especially if you are a beginner, they provide a solid orientation.
Cardio exercise is either mild or intense. Both kinds are ways to increase metabolism because they cause you to burn more calories both during and, for a while, after exercising.
Brisk walking burns fat maximally at about 60 to 65% of your maximum heart rate. Up to 55% of the calories burned will come from fat after about 20 minutes (depending upon your fitness level).
So it's best to walk for at least 30 or 45 minutes. Since the injury rate spikes, it's best not to walk for more than 60 minutes. Walking before your first meal of the day accelerates fat burning from walking.
For more information, and our free Walking for Weight Loss Plan, visit the following section of our website:
Some people hate any kind of exercise. They may ask, "Is it possible to eat in certain ways to increase metabolism without doing any exercise?"
Yes. If you eat well, that's perfectly possible. Just follow the eating recommendations on this website.
So, even if you are unable or unwilling to exercise, there's good reason to be optimistic.
If, though, you are willing to walk (even if you don't initially enjoy it), that -- combined with eating well, of course -- is sufficient reason to be very optimistic.
Because brisk walking has psychological as well as physiological benefits, even if you don't like regularly doing it initially, don't be surprised if you come to look forward to it!
The best fat-burning exercise alternative, however, is not mild fitness exercise like brisk walking. It's reserved for those who enjoy exercise or for those who are willing to do it.
There are two problems with brisk walking or any kind of mild fitness exercise.
First, it takes quite a bit of time.
Second, because it is very good at burning fat while exercising, what you are doing is training your body to store fat for you next exercise session!
(If you have tried walking to lose weight and it hasn't worked, that probably explains it.)
So, in addition to eating well, the best ways to increase metabolism are strength training and intense fitness exercise (such as GXP or HIIT).
If mild fitness exercises are the best ways to increase metabolism during exercise, why are strength training and intense fitness exercise the best ways to increase metabolism using exercise?
It's because they both produce more fat burning after exercising. That's important because we spend a lot more time not doing exercise than doing exercise.
Since both strength training and intense fitness training are more intense than mild fitness training, they must take less time.
Ideally, we recommend two strength training sessions each week. Each session should take about 30 or 40 minutes. We recommend either two or three intense fitness workouts (either GXP or some kind of HIIT) weekly. Even including warm-ups and cool-downs, they only take about 10 to 20 minutes each.
That's less than 2 hours of exercise weekly. If you are willing to do that as well as to eat well, there's every reason to be wildly optimistic about your chances of achieving lasting weight loss!
That's especially true if you also throw in a brisk walk of 30 to 60 minutes once weekly.
We mentioned above how to find out exactly how to do strength training. What about learning how to do intense fitness exercise such as GXP and HIIT?
If you are not already doing intense fitness exercise and want to begin, we recommend GXP rather than HIIT. To learn exactly how to do GXP [Graded Exercise Protocol], go here:
You may or may not do any intense cardio. If you do it, it must be brief and infrequent, no more than three times weekly. For more information, visit this section of our website:
Once you are able to do a 3 minute work period of GXP, please don't stop there! Go on and, progressing slowly but steadily, build up until you are doing 5 and eventually 10 minutes.
If you then want to switch to HIIT [High Intensity Interval Training], go right ahead. Because it's so effective, it's very popular. They are many ways to do it, and, although we don't have a page on it, just do a search for it online and you'll quickly find many alternatives.
There you have it: eating well, walking, and strength training combined with either GXP or HIIT are the very best ways to increase metabolism naturally.
If you follow our suggestions about them (along with any special instructions your physician may have, of course), you will be able to use them all until your dotage. Doing them as we suggest is doing them in a safe, sustainable way.
If you use these best natural ways to boost metabolism, you, too, may enjoy lasting weight loss.
Web pages related to increasing metabolism
Now that you know about the ways to increase metabolism, we suggest the following related pages of our website:
