If you want to jump start your weight loss efforts, you're going to need to focus on your metabolism. For most of us, our metabolisms have either been slowed by yo-yo dieting or even genetics and it can be hard to get them back again. However, it is not impossible to kick start your metabolism once again. You just need to make sure you are using the right techniques.
Many people fall on the theory that caffeine is the easiest method you can use to increase your metabolism. While this is true in the short term, the drawbacks are numerous and it's not good for your body or your heart to take too much caffeine. You can actually end up with caffeine intoxication if you have more than 500mg of caffeine in a day. That's the equivalent of two large cups of coffee from Starbucks to put that into perspective.
Instead of relying on external ways to increase your metabolism, it's time to look inward. First, let's talk about blood sugar. If your blood sugar is out of whack, your metabolism is too. Your body is spending too much time processing the wrong kind of foods and your metabolism suffers for it. If you're constantly throwing your body through feast and famine when it comes to sugar, chances are your levels are far out of whack.
To fix this, you need to make sure that you are getting the right balance of proteins, carbs and fats. This gives your body the chance to actually start burning fat instead of working on handling all the sugar that you've thrown at it. Keep in mind however, that you do need some sugar in your diet to keep functioning properly.
Next, you're going to want to build lean muscle mass. It simply is more effective at raising your metabolism than anything else. You can start doing this by adding in some mild weight lifting into your exercise routine. Even women can benefit from lifting small amounts. As you build muscle mass, don't panic if the numbers on the scale go up a bit. This is perfectly normal since muscle weighs more than fat. It is only temporary and if you keep burning fat, those numbers will come back down.
You can look at it as though you are restructuring your body. You are removing fat, which slows down your metabolism, which lean muscle mass that will raise it. Over the long term, you're retraining your metabolism and getting it to speed up.
By learning how to manage your blood sugar properly and by building more lean muscle mass, you have the perfect recipe for increasing your metabolism. It won't happen overnight, but if you stick with it, you'll be able to burn fat quickly and more efficiently. Don't rely on supplements that make crazy promises and endanger your health. They may work in the short term, but unless you address the issues that caused the slowdown of your metabolism in the first place, you're not fixing the problem.
Photo Credits: 1
Originally posted 2008-06-18 05:02:18. Republished by Old Post Promoter
Related Posts- How to Stay Healthy When You Are Dieting So many of us get caught up in the push to lose weight that we let our health slide. There are a few ways that you can make sure that you are staying healthy when you're loosing weight, and they're not hard to do at all. You will need to......
- 4 Foods to Lower Your Blood Pressure High blood pressure is a problem that affects millions of Americans every year. Many of us are struggling with numbers that are too high and we cannot seem to get them down. Before trying any of the advice mentioned here it is vital to speak with your doctor. You may......
- The Art of the Cool Down So much focus is given to warming up for exercise, that the cool down period at the end of a workout is generally ignored. If you are not taking the time to do this after each and every workout, you can experience muscle soreness and it can be difficult to......
- How to Retrain Your Cravings Whenever you start a new diet, cravings are pretty much inevitable. It can get to the point where you feel as though you'll literally stop existing unless you cave in. Countless diets are broken due to cravings, but there are a few techniques that you can use to retrain......
- The Ultimate Tea Diet By Mark Ukra and Sharon Kolberg While many diets come and go, new ones spring up to take their place each year. Some go by without much notice, while others are fervently adhered to, at least until the next one comes along. Fad diets have their place, and will undoubtedly last longer than most of us......
The plateau is a dieter’s bane and even the best of us can end up at a stage in our weight loss where it seems like nothing works anymore. Even if you have been losing weight for sometime, it is incredibly discouraging to reach that point where you suddenly stop losing weight. This forces many to cut calories even further, but instead of losing weight, they may actually gain instead.
