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Why boosting your metabolism is the key for losing weight

To lose weight you need to burn up more calories than you take in – we all know that.  But depending on how fast or slow your metabolism will make the difference between burning 1500 calories during the day and 2000 (and there could be an even larger difference between the two)

We all hear that we need to boost our metabolism but what is your metabolism anyway?
In very simple to understand terms, it is the process of converting calories into energy. A slow metabolism means you burn fewer calories, and more fat gets stored. When you have a higher or faster metabolism you’ll burn more calories and less fat, no fat or even lose fat.

The good news is that there some very simple ways to boost your metabolism:

1)  Eat more often during the day
One of the reasons why your metabolism slows down is that you may not be eating often enough.  Are you one of those people who can go most of the day without eating and then gorge on a large meal at dinner time? Bad idea!

Your body thinks you’re starving so slows down its burning of calories and you end up storing more fat.  When you start eating small portions of nutrient-dense foods every 3 to 4 hours, your body kicks up the fat burning mechanism.
Research has shown that those who skip meals are more likely to be over weight. Eat more often but in smaller quantities.

2)  Drink plenty of water
Remember that in order to burn fat, your body’s organs need to be performing well, and they require hydration to do that.  Drink at
least the minimum recommendation of 64 ounces daily – more if you are overweight or if you engage in intense workouts. You should also drink more during the summer as you are more likely to sweat some off.

If you don’t like plain water, try drinking it at different temperatures, add lemon slices, or “sneak” it into other beverages like diluting a 1/4 cup of fruit juice with 8 ounces of water.

3)  Weight training
Even if you already do cardio workouts, you may want to include some weight training workouts a few times a week, because the more lean muscle you have, the faster your metabolism will be.  That’s because just having more muscle on your body requires more energy to sustain, so you burn more calories.  Muscle also take up less room but weighs more , so when you start weight trining you may see the scale move up a bit. Don’t be concerned – it’s how you look and feel that matters not a number on a scale.

Consult your doctor to be sure weight training is safe for you – and then be sure to educate yourself on proper form to prevent
injury.  The great thing about weight training is that you don’t need any fancy equipment to start – you can use the resistance of
your own body by doing ab crunches, leg lifts, push-ups – or get a small set of dumbbells for added resistance.

4)  Avoid sugar and processed snack treats
When you eat excessive amounts of sugar, your body automatically shifts into fat storage mode.  Your blood sugar levels spike and dip erratically and if this goes on for long enough, “insulin resistance” can result – which means your body has a harder time processing sugar and more of it will get stored as fat.

Reducing your intake of refined sugar isn’t hard as you may think; just replace those sugary treats with moderate servings of fresh fruit and vegetables, lean protein, and nuts and seeds.  Over time, your cravings for sugar will fade substantially – it’s only when you keep eating sugar that you keep craving it!

5) Drink  Green Tea – without sugar or high fructose corn syrup
Green tea has long been believed to be a metabolism and fat burning booster.  It does contain caffeine – but less than a third
of the caffeine in coffee.  Even better, green tea is loaded with antioxidants that contribute to the prevention of cell damage,
which helps prevent serious diseases.

Remember that boosting your metabolism isn’t a one-time event, but if you do things like the above on a regular basis, you can
train your body to function much more efficiently than it may be doing currently.  Even by boosting your metabolism by 10%  can go a long way in burning more calories 24/7.