Your girlfriend consumes fatty, sugary foods constantly and still fits into a size 2 pant, while you watch each calorie you consume and still haven’t lost a pound.  She must have a faster metabolism than I do, you conclude, and you are cursed with a sluggish metabolism.  Does it make you want to give up on dieting and resign yourself to being overweight forever? 

Don’t give up.  The key is to understand what metabolism is and how you can make it work in your favor.  Metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories.  This rate can be influenced by your age (metabolism slows about 5% per decade after age 40), your gender (men have a higher metabolic rate than women), your genetics, and your body composition (muscle burns more calories at rest than fat).  The good news is that there are ways to counteract the decreases in metabolism. Here are 10 ways to increase your metabolism in spite of your age, weight, and shape.

1.  Don’t deprive yourself of food.  Food deprivation is a signal to your body that there may be a food shortage, and so it stores fat quickly just in case and slows down your metabolism.

2.  Lift weights.  Muscle burns more calories at rest than fat, so add muscle to your body by starting a strength training program.

3.  Keep the home fires burning.  Eat small meals throughout the day to keep your fire stoked and metabolism going steady at a higher rate for a longer time.

4.  Move, move, move.  Park far away, take the stairs and walk whenever possible.  Instead of making things convenient for yourself, make them more difficult.  For example, carry a shopping basket instead of pushing a cart.   For extra motivation buy a pedometer and track your steps.  Make your goal 10,000 steps per day, which requires more effort than you would think.

5.  Eat breakfast.  Within one hour of waking find something to eat to get your body’s metabolism “revved up” for the day ahead.

6.  Sleep well.  Those who don’t get enough quality sleep have less energy, and thus move less.  Sleepy people aren’t energetic people.

7.  Do cardiovascular exercise.  This includes any activity that raises your heart rate for 20 minutes or more.  Not only do you increase metabolism during your activity, but your metabolism stays elevated long after the activity is over.

8.  Eat protein and carbohydrates together.  Carbohydrates burn more quickly than protein.  When eaten together you ensure an even metabolism.  A good example is peanut butter or string cheese with crackers.

9.  Drink lots of water.  Give the body the amount of water it needs to perform efficiently.  Water keeps food moving through the digestive tract which helps to maintain an even metabolism.

10.  Eat more foods high in B vitamins.  B vitamins are an important player in metabolism, and if you don’t have enough you may feel tired and slow.  Foods high in B vitamins include potatoes, bananas, lentils, spinach, milk, poultry, fish, eggs, and believe it or not, beer.

If following all of these tips at once seems overwhelming, start with one tip a week and try adding a new tip each week.  Those “too small” jeans hidden in the back of the closet will be fitting before you know it.

By Alice Burron
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