Increase Your Metabolism With Exercise
Metabolism is defined as the amount of calories, or energy, that your body needs to function. The higher your metabolism, the less likely you are to have extra body fat. Increasing your metabolism is a very effective way to lose weight.
Your body expends calories for everything it does including digesting food. It especially needs calories to maintain healthy muscle, to keep your heart healthy, and to keep your kidneys, liver and other organs in good working order. When you burn more calories than you take in, the result is lost weight and less body fat.
There are a variety of ways to boost your metabolism. The healthier you are, the more calories you will burn. Good nutrition combined with regular exercise, you can increase your metabolism enough to let you eat what you want without gaining too much weight.
Protein takes more calories for your body to digest and process. Many raw fruits and vegetables also need a lot of calories to fully digest. When the foods you eat cause your body to burn more calories to process them, you actually boost your metabolism by simply eating.
Exercise is key in boosting your metabolism. Muscles use more calories for the body to maintain, so you burn more calories when you have more toned muscle on your body. Participate in some type of aerobic exercise (walking, jogging, swimming, stationary cycling, aerobics) every day for at least 30 to 60 minutes. It is best to exercise first thing in the morning. The more you increase your aerobic activity, the higher your metabolism will increase! Try to do an additional 15 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise in the evening, five days per week.
Add interval training to more of your aerobic workouts. Intervals are a fantastic tool to help increase your metabolism. Interval training adds a short 1 minute interval of aerobics for each 10 minutes of your normal exercise program.
Do not skip meals and make sure you always eat a healthy breakfast. Skipping breakfast sends your body a message that you are in starvation mode since you haven’t eaten in nearly 18 hours (if you count dinner the night before to lunch the following day). Because of this, your metabolism will begin to slow down as a protective measure.
Look for creative ways to get active. Choose the farthest parking spot in the parking lot at work or the store instead of searching for the spot nearest the door. Try using the stairs rather than an elevator or escalator. The harder you make your body work every day, the more you boost your body’s metabolism.