10 Feb Speed up your metabolism to lose weight

Boosting your metabolism is one of the biggest keys to staying fit and trim, but many variables go into what speed our bodies burns calories.
Some people are blessed to have genetics that include a fast metabolism, and other factors such as age and gender – men burn calories faster – play important roles.
However, there are things we can all do to speed up our metabolism. Here are the top five ways to boost your metabolism:
1 Drink lots of water – Studies show adults who drink eight or more glasses of water a day will burn more calories than those who are less hydrated. It will also fill you up and help you eat less.
2 Eat more often – Having a small meal and/or snack every 3-4 four hours helps keep your metabolism working faster than eating one or two big meals every day. By snacking, you’ll also likely eat less when it comes to dinner time.
3 Eat more protein – Your body will use up almost twice as many calories digesting proteins than fat or carbs. Try to include lots of protein-rich food in your diet, such as chicken, eggs, nuts and beans.
4 Exercise with strength training – Even when we’re resting our bodies are burning calories, and there’s more action going on for people with better muscles mass. Every pound of muscle uses about six calories a day, while each pound of fat utilizes only two calories daily. So if you build more muscle, you’ll burn more calories even when at rest.
5 Get cardio training – Higher impact cardio training will also jump-start your metabolism, by increasing your resting metabolic rate. Use interval training to add bursts of added speed or exertion during treadmill or elliptical machine workouts instead of cruising along at basically the same speed for the duration.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com