THE FIRE WITHIN! Boost Your Metabolism!

 

Are you jealous of those people you see eating constantly, but are as thin as a rail. This is most likely due to their fast metabolisms. Don't worry, it's not over for you! I am going to give you some tips to jump-start that sluggish metabolism of yours!

Your body burns calories in three ways: Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), Thermic effect of food, and activity. For some quick background information the RMR is the number of calories your body need just to keep your brain, heart, and cell functions going. This accounts for 60% of your metabolism. You burn somewhere between 50 to 200 calories a day by digesting and processing the food you eat. This is the thermal effect of food and accounts for 5% of your total caloric burn. Activity includes all daily movements, from going on a run to typing on your keyboard, and it accounts for 35% of your total caloric burn. 

Here are 10 easy ways to burn more calories all day long.

1. Drink Green Tea! Green Tea contains a phytochemical called ECGC, which can cause the body to waste calories as heat, thus speeding calorie burn.

2. Spice things up! Add hot peppers to your meals.

3. Eat protein at every meal! Your digestive tract has to work harder to break down protein than it does to break down carbohydrate, which increases caloric burn during digestion. This doesn't mean you should switch to a high-protein diet, however, since runners need carbohydrates for muscle fuel. Instead, include some low-fat protein with every meal or snack to boost calorie burn. 

4. Eat fish and flax. New research shows that omega-3 fatty acids encourage your fat cells to send the "we're full" signal to your brain. This, in turn, causes the brain to send the signal to your metabolism to burn more calories. 

5. Switch to healthy fats. Switching from saturated fats (such as butter) to monounsaturated fats (such as olive or canola oil) increases caloric burn.

6. Consume more dairy products. Calcium plays a key role in regulating fat-cell metabolism and fat storage.

7. Eat Regularly. 

8. Eat more. Chronic calorie restriction trains your body to survive on fewer calories. As you eat fewer and fewer calories, your body adapts by slowing your metabolism.

9. Run Harder. If you add more miles to your current running program, you'll burn more calories. If you don’t want to run more mileage than increase the intensity by adding 60 to 90 second surges. 

10. Lift Weights. The more muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn all day long. And it only takes two workouts a week to make a difference.