Metabolism Boosters To Help Burn Fat

Keeping your metabolism active and ramped up is a matter of consistently doing the things that work. You need to do the things that significantly speeds up your metabolism day to day and over the longhaul.

Metabolism is basically the rate at which your body burns calories. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the number of calories you'd burn if you did nothing all day (or the amount of calories your body needs to maintain itself). You don't need to strictly count calories but you do need to have a good idea of how many calories you need each day to reach your goals.

Here are my Top 3 Metabolism Boosters to Burn Fat:

1. Do not skip meals (eat 4 to 6 small meals a day). Eating regularly, or about every 3-4 hours, keeps your metabolism humming during the day. Starving yourself or severely cutting your calories will only slow your metabolism and cause your body to store fat as a survival mechanism.

The type of food you eat and timing of what you eat is very important for your metabolism to work properly. Your body needs adequate amounts of the macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) to function properly.

Some of you have thrown your metabolisms "out of wack" by consistently eating "like a bird." If you have been eating 900-1,000 daily calories (to lose weight quickly) for a long period of time, your metabolism is messed up.

Quick weight loss leads to slowed metabolism, a weaker immune system, hormonal imbalances, loss of lean mass, increased body fat, decreased energy levels, disrupted sleep patterns, short-term results and yo-yo dieting!

Eat protein with every meal. Your body has to work harder to digest protein. This burns more calories and also helps you eat less during the day (you will feel fuller for longer).

Protein is also critical to repair and build muscle after a tough strength workout. One of the knocks on fad diets is that you feel like you're starving most of the time.

For example, a study published in Nutrition Research shows that a breakfast including eggs reduces hunger pangs and decreases calorie intake for the rest of the day.

Get a healty meal plan based on foods that you like. You are more likely to comply with a meal plan that you like. Be prepared to eat more nutritious and sometimes more food with less calories.

You need to maintain a caloric deficit (burn more calories than you eat) to burn fat and lose weight.

2. Regular exercise (cardio 3 days a week/weight training 3 days a week). Building muscle mass will speed up your metabolism because your body has to work harder to maintain muscle. If you are doing mainly cardio exercise, you ARE NOT building muscle mass! You have to regularly hit the weights.

The more intense the exercise, the more calories you will burn during and after your workout. So, high intensity interval cardio and circuit weight training will give you more fat burn and calorie burn.

Exercise Post-Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) causes your body to burn more calories and fat after a tough workout. Your body has to work harder to get back to its pre-exercise state.

Breaking up your workouts also works well to speed up metabolism (i.e., two 20 minute workouts instead of one 40 minute workout). Research proves that two 20-minute workouts will burn more fat and calories than one 40 minute workout.

Doing a second workout during the day (even a short one) keeps growth hormone levels high throughout the day. This will give you even more body fat burn.

3. Get enough sleep and stay away from long-term stress. Experts agree that you need 7-8 hours of sleep each night. These two imposters will wreck your metabolism and health!

Psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Tracey Marks, has written a great book entitled, "Master Your Sleep: Proven Methods Simplified."

The book has helped me. In particular, my busy lifestyle can sometimes affect the quality of my sleep. You'd be surprised at how many disorders there are that can hinder your sleep patterns.

Do these 3 things on a consistent basis and you will get the fat loss and weight loss you want!