Boost your metabolism

Have you been working out for a few weeks but found that your weight-loss has stalled. The reason might be you need to kick start your metabolism. Your metabolic rate is basically the speed at which your body burns calories by converting the energy from the food we eat to energy to keep our bodies functioning and moving. If you didn’t do anything at all, but just lay down with your body doing only it’s basic functions, the energy it would burn is considered your basal metabolism. How many calories your body burns in this state varies from person to person, depending on your age, sex, and weight. This could be around 1200 calories. If you want to burn more, you need to do more and boost your metabolism. The good news is that there are several ways that you can really rev up your metabolism. The more of these you're able to incorporate into your life, the more you'll boost the number of calories you burn per day. The more efficient you are at burning calories, the easier time you'll have dropping the extra pounds.

The first thing you should always do if you want to keep your metabolism running efficiently, is eat breakfast! If you skip food, your body compensates by slowing down the rate at which it burns calories. And as the night is when we normally have gone without food the longest, it’s important to get things up to speed quickly by breaking that fast! Similarly your body will again slow down if you don’t eat enough calories during the day, so make sure you don’t eat less than 1200 calories a day – that’s what your body needs to do the basics. To keep your metabolic rate up you also need to keep feeding the machine! So snack regularly, but just be careful what you choose to eat – stick to fruits, vegetables and grains.

Our bodies are designed to be active and when we get active, our metabolism gets a real boost. So on top of your normal exercise routine (whatever classes or visits to the gym you are doing at the moment), try and do a little bit more, even if it’s just a 15 minute walk in the evening, or taking the stairs instead of the lift.

Also consider trying to build muscle. I’m not saying we all need to become body builders! But muscle burns more calories, so the more muscles we have the more effectively we burn calories and lose weight. Some light weight training three times a week can be really effective in boosting your metabolism.

And finally, cut out the alcohol. It can seriously depress your metabolism as well as stimulating your appetite.