How to Burn More Calories by Speeding Up Your Metabolism
Caloric intake versus caloric expenditure – that is how your body determines whether you gain, maintain, or lose weight. Essentially, your body burns a set amount of calories per day based on three criteria and this ultimately affects the speed of your metabolism.
Factors that affect your metabolism include:
a.) Basal Metabolic Rate –
This is the rate at which your body burns calories while in a neutral state. Basically, if you were lying down all day, your BMR would be the amount of calories you burned. Your BMR accounts for almost 60% – 70% of the total amount of calories burned in one day. Because it has the greatest effect on your weight, it is usually the first thing that people attempt to change when speeding up the metabolism.
b.) Physical Activity –
The amount of physical activity that your body undergoes throughout the day also has a significant effect on the rate of your metabolism accounting for roughly 20% – 30% of the total calories you burn in one day. Depending on how active (or inactive) you are will determine the significance of this particular factor. Making sure to exercise and strength train on a regular basis will help make the most out of speeding up your metabolism.
c.) Thermic Effect of Food –
The process of digestion has an effect on the body called the ‘thermic effect of food’ which is the rate at which your body burns energy through eating, digesting, and absorbing food.
You can speed up your metabolism by making small changes in your life. Here are some examples of things you can do to speed up your metabolism.
1.) Gain more muscle –
Lean muscle tissue at rest burns more calories than fat tissue – hence making it possible to increase your metabolism through adopting a strength training plan. Get involved in a weight training class or create your own program and perform it at least three times per week. Gaining muscle is the ideal way of speeding up your metabolism naturally.
2.) Become more active –
As many people can become bored with monotonous cardio sessions, opt for high intensity interval training or uphill power walking to get the most out of exercising. High intensity cardio sessions not only burn calories for the duration of the exercise period, but for up to 24 hours following it.
3.) Eat more often –
By eating smaller meals more frequently, you will be able to speed up your metabolism for 3 – 4 hours after eating. You will avoid the cravings to overeat because you will relieve blood sugar elevations and steady insulin spikes.
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Article Source: How to Burn More Calories by Speeding Up Your Metabolism
