Boost Your Metabolism
Some people can wolf down calories without ever gaining weight.
I, unfortunately, am not apart of this group.
Finding ways to boost my metabolism has been challenging with time constraints but it can be done! Our metabolism is basically the rate in which our body breaks down fat, protein, and carbohydrates in order to maintain the needs of our body.
Every person is different and has different requirements based on their age, weight, height, daily activity, genetics, and diet.
If you are looking at the word genetics with a sinking feeling, only 5% of our metabolism comes from genetics.
There is hope that you can change your body and your metabolism.
This will take work but it will pay off in the end.
The first step is to clean up that diet.
I can not stress point enough.
Our diets make up our bodies composition.
Another reason to eat healthy is that high protein foods take almost twice as much energy to breakdown than carbs and fat.
Stick to lean sources like chicken, fish or vegan options to decrease the fat content on your protein choices.
Next step, hit the weights! Using heavier weights than what you normally use will increase the amount of calories you use the rest of the day.
Not only do you get that awesome after burn, but building up muscle will involve burning more calories all day long.
However, keep in mind that some websites will overestimate this amount greatly.
The amount of calories per pound of muscle burn is about 6-10 calories/pound.
So if you gain 10 pounds of muscle that would be 320-700 extra calories a week, 4-12 pounds over a year period! That doesn't seem like much but if you add cardio and better nutrition to the mix it could add some serious loses! For more info on building muscle email for an individualized strength training program.
Kick up the intervals.
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has also been shown to increase calories burned the rest of the day.
Adding an interval program to your cardio one or two days a week will jack up your calorie burn.
An example workout would be 3 minutes of walking with 30-45 seconds of an all out sprint.
This can also be done on a bike, elliptical, arc trainer, stair climber, swimming, or any other cardio equipment.
Switching it up can decrease boredom and work different muscles to prevent injuries.
Eat Frequently.
Eating small meals throughout the day will keep your body working all day and prevent your body from going into "starvation mode".
"Starvation mode" is when a person waits too long to eat and the body clings and stores fat more easily.
Keep healthy foods at your desk to snack on every couple of hours.
Veggies, hand fruits, peanut butter sandwich, and small portions of nuts are all great examples that can be put in a small lunch cooler and kept in a drawer at your desk.
Try to stay away from processed "healthy" foods that come from a box.
These foods can have extra additives that are unhealthy.
Get Up and Get Moving! Take small breaks to stand at your desk every 30 minutes, walk over to a desk to bring a paper copy instead of email, stairs instead of elevator, park farther away or bike/walk to work.
Find reasons to be active.
Technology has slowly worked exercise out of the day by making things more convenient.
This has caused so much activity to be taken out of the day.
Our metabolism is what makes us what we are as far as body composition.
Working with your metabolism instead of against it will not only make you feel better but also shed some pounds along the way.
Changing diets and making these changes to add small amounts of exercise throughout the day will add up and in return make you a healthier version of yourself.
I, unfortunately, am not apart of this group.
Finding ways to boost my metabolism has been challenging with time constraints but it can be done! Our metabolism is basically the rate in which our body breaks down fat, protein, and carbohydrates in order to maintain the needs of our body.
Every person is different and has different requirements based on their age, weight, height, daily activity, genetics, and diet.
If you are looking at the word genetics with a sinking feeling, only 5% of our metabolism comes from genetics.
There is hope that you can change your body and your metabolism.
This will take work but it will pay off in the end.
The first step is to clean up that diet.
I can not stress point enough.
Our diets make up our bodies composition.
Another reason to eat healthy is that high protein foods take almost twice as much energy to breakdown than carbs and fat.
Stick to lean sources like chicken, fish or vegan options to decrease the fat content on your protein choices.
Next step, hit the weights! Using heavier weights than what you normally use will increase the amount of calories you use the rest of the day.
Not only do you get that awesome after burn, but building up muscle will involve burning more calories all day long.
However, keep in mind that some websites will overestimate this amount greatly.
The amount of calories per pound of muscle burn is about 6-10 calories/pound.
So if you gain 10 pounds of muscle that would be 320-700 extra calories a week, 4-12 pounds over a year period! That doesn't seem like much but if you add cardio and better nutrition to the mix it could add some serious loses! For more info on building muscle email for an individualized strength training program.
Kick up the intervals.
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has also been shown to increase calories burned the rest of the day.
Adding an interval program to your cardio one or two days a week will jack up your calorie burn.
An example workout would be 3 minutes of walking with 30-45 seconds of an all out sprint.
This can also be done on a bike, elliptical, arc trainer, stair climber, swimming, or any other cardio equipment.
Switching it up can decrease boredom and work different muscles to prevent injuries.
Eat Frequently.
Eating small meals throughout the day will keep your body working all day and prevent your body from going into "starvation mode".
"Starvation mode" is when a person waits too long to eat and the body clings and stores fat more easily.
Keep healthy foods at your desk to snack on every couple of hours.
Veggies, hand fruits, peanut butter sandwich, and small portions of nuts are all great examples that can be put in a small lunch cooler and kept in a drawer at your desk.
Try to stay away from processed "healthy" foods that come from a box.
These foods can have extra additives that are unhealthy.
Get Up and Get Moving! Take small breaks to stand at your desk every 30 minutes, walk over to a desk to bring a paper copy instead of email, stairs instead of elevator, park farther away or bike/walk to work.
Find reasons to be active.
Technology has slowly worked exercise out of the day by making things more convenient.
This has caused so much activity to be taken out of the day.
Our metabolism is what makes us what we are as far as body composition.
Working with your metabolism instead of against it will not only make you feel better but also shed some pounds along the way.
Changing diets and making these changes to add small amounts of exercise throughout the day will add up and in return make you a healthier version of yourself.
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