Many of the factors that influence your metabolic rate are the result of pure luck. However, there are certain things that you can do in order to boost your metabolism. This is good news for dieters, as a faster metabolic rate means more calories burned more quickly (as well as a reduced risk of future weight gain). Unfortunately, there are also certain things that you can do to slow your metabolic rate, and these habits can easily lead to unwanted extra weight or a failure to lose weight. Read on to discover some of the factors that have the most profoundly negative influence on your metabolism, and find out whether you are unintentionally making it harder for yourself to attain the figure you desire.
1) Excessively strict diets:
Starvation diets tempt some people who want to lose weight, as they allow for dramatic weight loss in a small amount of time. However, this enjoyable result is temporary. If you are consuming fewer than 1200 calories per day, you are prompting your body to panic and go into survival mode. Starved of the calories it needs, it starts to conserve as many as it can by establishing a substantially slower metabolic rate. While you will not be aware of this while you are on your strict diet, when you begin to eat normally again then you will find that it is extremely easy to regain the weight you have lost. Indeed, you will put on weight at a rate far faster than your previous rate. Further, it will typically take a long while for your body to learn that it can once again count on receiving the right amount of nutrients, so you will be waiting quite some time for it to initiate a faster metabolic rate.
2) Ignoring strength training:
Although forms of cardiovascular exercise (such as aerobics, jogging, and cycling) are vital to boosting your metabolism and burning calories, strength training has an important role to play in weight loss as well. People who do not take the time to build stronger muscles have slower metabolic rates. This is because every day, each pound of muscle burns four more calories than each pound of fat. These numbers add up and are accurate even when you are lying in bed or relaxing in a chair. If you focus solely on cardiovascular workouts (or do not exercise at all), your metabolism is slower than it could be, and weight loss will, therefore, be much more difficult.
3) A lack of protein in your diet:
Compared to fatty and sugary foods, your body finds foods that are rich in protein much harder to digest. Naturally, it is the case that you burn more calories the harder your digestive system has to work in order to break down your food. This means that if you do not eat enough eggs, beans, fish, nuts, and chicken, you can be certain that your metabolism is slower than it would otherwise be.
4) Avoiding green tea:
Although most people do not think that the flavor of green tea is as appealing as the flavor of other types of tea and coffee, avoiding green tea leaves you with a slower metabolism than people who drink several cups a day. Credible studies have revealed that drinking at least two cups of green day on a daily basis can boost the number of calories you burn by up to 18%.
5) Eating large meals:
Eating lots of small portions each day will improve your metabolism. In contrast, eating a couple of large portions teaches your body that it should conserve calories during the long gaps between meals, and so your metabolic rate slows in order to accomplish this goal. People who eat small meals every three to four hours burn more calories at a more consistent rate throughout the day.
6) Dehydration:
Everyone knows that we should all drink between nine and thirteen cups of water every single day. However, fewer people know that this water intake has an important connection to your ability to lose weight. Specifically, people who do not drink enough water have a slower metabolic rate and therefore find it harder to diet effectively.
If some of the things discussed above sound suspiciously like regular parts of your lifestyle, this means that you are encouraging your body to maintain a slower metabolic rate. You are therefore making it harder to lose weight or even to maintain a healthy weight. Once you amend your habits in response to what you have learned, you should slowly start to notice that you are losing weight at a more consistent and satisfying pace.
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