Most of us have heard that an important way to speed up our weight loss is to increase our metabolism. However, most of us don’t have a good understand of how to make that happen. Sure, we’ve seen countless commercials advertising pills that will give us a boost but those drugs are rarely effective and can be expensive. The good news is there are better ways to speed up metabolism.

What is Your Metabolism?

The simplest way to explain metabolism is that it’s the process your body uses to change the food you eat into the energy your body needs. With a slow metabolism, less of what you eat becomes energy and more becomes stored as fat in your body. Faster metabolisms use up more of your calories so you have less leftover to add to your weight.

Maximize Your Metabolism

First, you should realize that lean muscles burn more calories than fat. When people try to lose weight too quickly, they usually end up losing muscle first and that actually causes their metabolism to slow down. So don’t try to cut your calories too much too quickly or you could actually sabotage your weight loss efforts.

Second, start doing weight training activities so you can build more lean muscle mass. The more muscle mass in your body the faster your metabolism is going to be. That’s why bodybuilders can consume so much many calories without gaining extra weight.

Foods that Increase Your Metabolism

When you want to boost fat metabolism, there are some food choices that are going to be better than others at helping you achieve that goal. Take strawberries, for example. Recent research suggests that Vitamin C is a necessary vitamin if you want to burn fat. You need at least 75 milligrams a day but if you eat a cup of strawberries you’re getting 90 milligrams. Other fruits rich in Vitamin C, such as oranges or no sugar added orange juice, would be good choices, too.

At lunch, make sure to have a healthy does of protein which is harder to digest than other macronutrients so it requires the use of more calories. Chicken, salmon, or roast turkey would all be good choices on sandwiches or as salad toppers.

If you want a snack that will amp up your metabolism, nuts are a good choice. Eating about a handful of nuts can not only stop you from snacking on worse for you foods but their protein and fiber are good for your metabolism, as is the high levels of monounsaturated fats they contain.

Other Ways to Lose Body Fat

Besides eating certain types of foods and building more muscle mass, you can also jumpstart your metabolism by eating a good breakfast every morning. You may not realize it but if you’re not eating anything until lunch you could be missing out on lots of great calorie burning opportunities that because your metabolism doesn’t really start going until you’ve eaten something. Just starting the day off with a 400 calorie breakfast can help you lose weight faster and can keep you from indulging in high fat, high sugar treats in the vending machines.

You can also boost your metabolism through natural supplements. Products like Super Fat Burner and Metaburn Weight Formula boost metabolism, burn fat and help you manage your weight.

Metabolism Boosters9 Dec 2008