Remember how as teenagers we were thin and fat-free, no matter what body type we call ourselves now? We were always brimming with energy, were able to digest everything without having to say “I feel bloated”, and it seemed like no matter how much we eat, we will still be fine!
After all these years of eating without guilt, here we are measuring every calorie, and every sort of carb we put in our body. We still feel sluggish, constantly crave sugar, and have a body weight that doesn’t seem to die off ever! Well, blame your metabolism – Metabolism or your metabolic rate, to put it very simply — is how quickly your body is burning calories. When you have a slower-than-normal metabolism, it creates a cascade of negative side effects, including fatigue, mood swings, food cravings, and difficulty losing weight.
Thankfully, a slow metabolism can be done right with a few changes in your everyday diet and lifestyle. Here is a list of ten simple changes that can go a long way in increasing your metabolism, to incorporate into your lifestyle starting today.
Add Protein To Your Diet
Every place you go, every sane person is going to tell you this! Whether you are new to the fitness journey or know at least something about losing weight, protein is something you can’t stop raving about. Protein is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood. Along with fat and carbohydrates, protein is a “macro nutrient,” meaning that the body needs relatively large amounts of it.
Drink More Water
Again, we’ve being hearing this for ages. Drink water to lost weight, and guess what, it is true! People who drink more water have an easier time losing weight and keeping it off. Water not only speeds up your metabolism but also makes you feel full. A tall glass of water before eating a meal helps make your stomach feel full so you don’t end up overeating!
High-Intensity Workouts
HIIT or High-intensity interval training targets stubborn fat, and burns it like crazy. HIIT or High-intensity interval training is proven to be one of the most efficient forms of cardio training recommended even by the most well-known fitness gurus, and it is not just another gimmick, it really does work! Some studies have proved that a well-made HIIT routine burns fat 5-6 times more efficiently than steady activities such as running or walking. It is because it increases metabolism drastically, and that high metabolism level exists after the training for almost one day! You can literally achieve more by putting in lesser time. Want to know more about easy HIIT routines? Read here.
A Full 8 Hour Sleep
Never underestimate the body’s need for sleep. Pulling all nighters, getting very less amount of sleep or a disturbed sleeping cycle can greatly affect your body in several ways. Dark circles are the most obvious result, disrupted metabolic rates of both male and female adults is another impact lack of sleep has on us. Sleeping less than 5 hours a night can lead to probably obesity more than women who slept seven to eight hours each night. Therefore, sleep to burn off fat efficiently, let the body do its magic!
Never Starve Your Body
A calorie deficit will definitely make you lose weight, but don’t go restricting your calories too far. In order to speed up your metabolism, you must eat the right amount of calories. If you begin to under eat, you will start losing muscle mass and eventually your metabolism will slow down. The trick is to choose nutrient-dense, fat-free foods that will keep your body nourished and your hunger satiated.
Stand Up More Often
Sitting for long hours has been proven bad for your health. Sitting at one place for longer periods of time burns far fewer calories than being active does. If you are in an office setup where you have to work for long hours, stretch a couple of times in between every hour, go back and forth from the coffee machine, trying standing up in place for some time instead of just constantly sitting glued to your chair. This way you can burn an extra 150 to 200 calories which is not bad at all.
Sip On Some Green Tea And Coffee
For once those TV commercials aren’t deceiving you! Green Tea not only benefits in weight loss, but also helps increase metabolism by 4–5%. Green Tea helps convert fat stored in your body into free fatty acids, which may increase fat burning by 10–17%. And the best part – They are low in calories and effectively help manage belly fat and helps maintaining weight too. A good 2-3 cups a day is an excellent start. You can make green tea by adding a pinch of leaves in boiling water, and adding a natural sweetener later on.
Replace Cooking oils with coconut oil.
Oils like coconut, groundnut, and mustard have a very high heating point, which makes them an efficient deep fry oil. Indian foods generally have deep fried options more than sautéed vegetables, or boiled ones. You don’t have to give up entirely on these, just switch to healthier cooking options and you can easily integrate greasy food at times. Coming to coconut oil, it has relatively high medium-chain fats. So, Medium-chain fats can increase your metabolism more than the long-chain fats, which are found in foods like butter. All of these oils aid weight loss and are an excellent replacement for refined cooking oils.
These simple yet effective ways can help reset your metabolism and let you lose stubborn weight faster than ever.
