3 Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

Synopsis: One of the best ways to lose weight and get healthy is to boost your metabolism to an active healthy level. Read on for 3 ways to do this.

The metabolism can be a tricky thing for many people to figure out.  Some people simply have a fast metabolism, which lets them eat whatever they want without really ever getting fat.  A moderately active lifestyle is enough to handle 2 Big Macs a day.  Most of us aren't that lucky.  But the good news is that although each and every person's metabolism is a little bit different, there are some constants that will let anyone boost their metabolism with just a little bit of smart eating and exercising.

Boosting Metabolism Tip #1: The first tip to boosting your metabolism is to break up the meals.  While there are arguments over how many calories the human body can digest in one meal before simply pushing the rest into storage (read: fat), there seems to be little argument that the body really isn't designed to take more than 6-800 calories a meal depending on size, metabolism, activity level, etc. 

So instead of eating three big meals, break it up into 5 or 6 smaller "snack" level meals of around 300-350 calories each.  Bigger guys who are really active might even be able to do 400 on average.  The key is that small meals every 3 to 4 hours keeps the metabolism fired up instead of letting it wind down – meaning you burn more of the calories from the food and more calories throughout the day.

Boosting Metabolism Tip #2: Spice it up, baby!  Since we're already on food, the next step is to jump to how to prepare it.  There are certain spices that studies have shown have an effect on boosting metabolism.  Many peppers or hot spices like cayenne will help boost the metabolism and burn more calories, but others such as ginger and cinnamon have also been shown to have that effect.  So find a way to sneak in some spices into those small meals and it'll be like giving your metabolism a double booster shot!

Boosting Metabolism Tip #3: Keep moving, and keep the workouts short and hard!  This is like a 2 in 1 piece of advice, so consider it a bonus.  When you workout, keep the workouts short but very high intensity, and very challenging.  You want that heart rate to jump up and stay up.  These exercises not only burn the most calories while working out, but they give the metabolism an "after burn" that continues to burn the calories even after the high intensity exercises are over.

And when you're not working out, move around.  Don't plop in front of the TV for 3 hours.  Get up and walk around every commercial break.  If you get a call on the cell phone, pace.  Do small household chores, find a hobby that requires a little bit of movement or concentration.  Just do something to stay moving at least a little bit each hour, and your metabolism will be far less likely to crash.

Follow these simple tips, and you may be surprised just how amazingly effective they are in boosting your metabolism and helping your weight loss or general fitness goals.