6 Ways to Boost Your Metabolism!

Overview

Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is a challenge for many people. The stress of having to balance work and family often supersedes sourcing the healthiest foods. And, finding the time and energy to exercise seems to require almost Herculean effort. Fortunately, Key Eats offers enormous amounts of flexibility so you can capitalize on the time you have. And optimizing other factors, such as your metabolism, can make losing those extra pounds even easier. So let’s examine the role metabolism plays in your weight and some tips to give it a boost!

Metabolism and Weight Loss

Your metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories to produce energy. Sometimes used interchangeably with metabolism, Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) are the calories your body requires to just “keep the lights on.” It excludes all other activities than those essential for life, such as breathing, cardiac activity, etc. Your BMR is influenced by several factors including age, sex, weight, medical conditions, medications, activity, muscle mass, and genetics.

If you are trying to lose weight, it’s advantageous to have a higher resting BMR because you burn more calories at rest. Which means you can eat more food without gaining weight. But it’s important to understand that your BMR is constantly changing and decreases as you lose weight. This explains why people often experience weight loss plateaus. Conversely, increasing your metabolism is a great way to help with weight loss over the long-term.

Ways to Boost Your BMR

1. Make sure to eat enough calories

This may seem counterintuitive, but drastic calorie reductions can sharply decrease your BMR. This is a protective adaptation during famine, but it works against you this case. Undulating the quantity of calories consumed each day can be an effective way to prevent unwanted slowing of your BMR. It accomplishes this by minimizing the hormonal changes that are responsible for slowing your BMR.

2. Drink enough water

Drinking plenty of water is essential for both optimal health and weight loss. Water helps ward off hunger, cravings, and even boosts your metabolism. Studies have shown drinking a large 17 oz glass of cold water can potentially increase your metabolism by 10-30% for about an hour!

3. Perform resistance training

Lifting weights (or even bodyweight-only exercise) promotes the building of the most calorie-hungry tissue, muscles! The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn at rest, i.e. BMR.

4. Stand up more and be active

Being more active doesn’t necessarily mean you have to exercise in a formal way. Taking short walks, taking the stairs, and even parking farther away are all ways to give your metabolism a boost without making drastic changes to your lifestyle!

5. Get Enough Sleep

Studies show obesity risk increases significantly when you are sleep deprived. Aside from feeling groggy and fatigued, inadequate sleep also negatively affects BMR.

6. Drink coffee or tea

These beverages are great for Key Eats! They taste great, support hydration, and contain no calories. And the caffeine boosts your metabolism and helps mobilizes stored body fat that can be turned into ketones.