9 Ways to Jump-Start Your Metabolism

    By the time you hit 40, your metabolism starts to slow down 5% every decade, this makes weight loss particularly challenging.

     Metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories and breaks down food to produce energy. That said in order for your body to burn calories you must provide it with calories for it to burn. Without them your metabolic rate slows down and the rate at which you burn these calories slows down leading to deficiencies in your nutrition and the role it plays in losing weight.

 

Here are 9 ways to speed things up:

1. EAT Breakfast!

IT IS the most important meal of the day.  Your body has been on a fast from the night before. The sooner you feed it, the sooner your metabolism starts up. This meal sets the tone and gives your body a source to draw energy from throughout the day.

2. EAT! 5 Meals (at least)

Keep them small and spread them throughout the day.  This will keep your engine running without experiencing all the ups and downs in energy levels and mood swings. Eating less is not more here.  Starving the body will only slow your metabolism down as you wonder why that fat is sticking to your gut or thighs when you’re not eating anything. Give your body the nutritional requirements it needs and this will actually help you rid of that fat. DO NOT STARVE YOURSELF!

3. Build MUSCLE

Lean Muscle burns more calories when the body is at rest than fat. With age we loose muscle and this gives way to increasing body fat levels and yes a slower metabolism.  Ladies I am not talking about big bulky massive muscles I’m talking about Lean Muscle Mass for a tone sexy look.   2-3 times per week minimum.

4. Cardio

At least 30 minutes a day will get you to start burning fat. Add this to your resistance training routine and blast that fat.

5. SUGAR -avoid it

Beware of hidden sugars in your foods.  This includes Fruit.

6. No COMPLEX CARBS at night-

Yes eat your carbs throughout the day but NOT at NIGHT …fibrous veggies are ok.

7. Vitamins & Minerals

Be sure that you are getting adequate supplementation either from the foods you eat or the vitamins you take.  Especially The ‘B’s” (refer to previous posts)

8. Green Tea

The catechins in green tea help to speed up your metabolism and contains antioxidants. Though it does contain caffeine, significantly less than coffee, this caffeine creates a thermogenic effect and burns calories through heat production in the body. A great afternoon pick me up!

9. Water! Water! Water!-  eight 8 oz. glasses at least!

If you have been following my blog I can’t stress enough the importance of water. This flushes everything out and keeps your bodily functions working efficiently.

If you haven’t already started integrating these behaviors into your lifestyle, and it seems like too much to handle, take one step at a time.

If you’ve taken these steps and want more guidance, you are ready for the next phase, click on the nutrition tab above for your personalized nutrition plan.

GO for LIFE!

In peace, health & with much love,

Joycelyn Bejar
Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer

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