How To Increase Your Metabolism and Burn More Calories

Speed Up Your Metabolism

First of all get the word diet out of your head, forget the diet and just learn to eat healthy. What is wrong with a diet? A lot, well first of all a "diet" is something temporary which means you have an intent of coming off it, and we know what that means, when you come off the diet, the fat comes right back on.

Learn to just really eat healthy and not starve yourself. Starving yourself and overkilling the cardio will result inmetabolic damage, which we will get into in a different blog. In a nutshell, when you damage your metabolism you essentially slow it down or shut it down. This means that your BMR, your caloric output while resting is lowered. If you naturally burn 1500 calories throughout the day while sedentary, that may lower requiring you to do more work and diet harder to get the same results. The problem with this is that you will always be playing cat and mouse until eventually you are left with eating 800 calories a day, doing 2-3 hours of cardio a day and a weight training workout and still the fat is not coming off. This is a clear indication of metabolic damage.

However, lets focus on the positive and how we can increase the metabolism, as now you understand what not to do.

Tip # 1

Don't get caught up in the traditional bodybuilding workouts. If your goal is to get lean and ripped, you do not need to train like a bodybuilder. Perform metabolic conditioning workouts. HIIT, and circuits are perfect for this, as hey push your body forcing your body to burn more calories throughout the day, not just in the gym. You should still do strength training workouts such a as bodybuilder as the more muscle you have on your body the more calories you will burn on a daily basis, this is why its important to not only do cardio. Having said that, do not base your whole regimen around that, mix it up and think outside the box.

Tip # 2

Eat a well balanced diet. We recommend carbohydrate cycling, this means gradually tapering carbs or doing 3:1 low-high carb ratio. Never go more then several days on a low carbohydrate diet, and the good news is that if you train with intensity and start to add in the metabolic circuits into your program your body will actually allow you to consume more carbs and still lose weight. If you find that your calories are already fairly low and you are still not dropping any weight, it may be time to have a high carb day or even increase your carbs all together. Ensure that your diet is well balanced and that you have a nutrient dense meal plan. This means lots of micronutrients as well as a good balance of macronutrients.

Tip # 3

Always ensure you are getting adequate sleep. Lack of sleep could slow down your metabolism as well fatiguing your adrenal glands. Ensure you are getting a minimum of 7 hours of sleep per day

Tip # 4

Hydrate your body adequately. People often underestimate the benefits of drinking enough but not too much water. If you drink enough water, you will burn more calories and your body will be able to focus on burning fat rather then trying to cleanse the body of toxins. This is why it's also important to consume healthier foods.

Tip# 5

Consume herbs and spices. Dressing your foods with herbs and species will acts as a natural thermogenic on the body and even regulates the bodies blood sugar levels. This means that by simply adding some spices you can raise your body's temperature, burning more calories.

Recommended Spices

Cinnamon

Ginger

Cayenne Pepper

Mustard

Follow those 5 simple tips to a leaner and healthier body, naturally. That is the key, to get your body in a state where it wants to burn calories and fat, and where it wants to stay lean, not the opposite.

Calculate your BMR. This is the amount of calories your body expends at rest.

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

Metric BMR Formula

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 9.6 x weight in kilos ) + ( 1.8 x height in cm ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 13.7 x weight in kilos ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) - ( 6.8 x age in years )

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Vitamins That Increase Weight Loss

Recently, research has reported that over 90% of ALL Americans do not get their nutritional needs on a daily basis! This is largely due to modern farming practices and never-ending love-affair with highly processed, nutritionally empty Western Diet. This includes the over-use of sugar, sugar alternatives, including High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and sugar substitutes. Recent warnings by many medical, health and nutrition experts include the comparison of simple sugar and HFCS as addictive and as great a risk to your health as alcohol and tobacco abuse! You should also know that vitamin and mineral deficiencies lead to a variety of chronic diseases, disabilities and dysfunctions. These include, but not limited to:

Vitamin D Deficiency = obesity, decreased immunity, memory loss, high blood pressure, type II diabetes and cancerVitamin A Deficiency = night blindness, defective teeth, stunted growth in childrenVitamin E Deficiency = cataracts, Alzheimer's, heart disease, and cancerCalcium Deficiency = osteoporosis, colorectal cancer, and PMSIron Deficiency = anemiaVitamin B-12 = anemia

You and everyone you know should focus on getting as much nutrient dense food as possible. While it may seem easier to get your nutrition from supplements, it is impossible to do! Supplement means in addition to! You cannot get benefits from supplements if your diet is terrible. You need to consume lean proteins, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, beans, pure water, green tea and other natural and unsweetened teas that are high in anti-oxidants.

Healthy foods, non-processed, nutritionally prepared and free from sweeteners and artificial sweeteners along with a healthy exercise program are absolutely essential to achieving optimum health, performance and longevity.

If you want to lose weight and please correct the misunderstanding of the weight concept: the GOAL is to lose FAT... NOT WEIGHT! If you are thinking about a FAT LOSS Program, lifting weights is not an option... IT IS A REQUIREMENT! When you begin to restrict calorie intake and/or increase exercise activity without a weight lifting program, research shows 22% or more of your WEIGHT LOSS will come from muscle!

Food for Your Fat Loss Program:

Recent research shows that diets high in Vitamins D and Calcium increases FAT LOSS, these include:

Grilled Wild Salmon: 6 oz = 900 IU of Vitamin DMonterey Mushrooms: 3 oz = 400 IU of Vitamin DEggs from Grass-Fed Chickens (OMEGA 3 - enriched)Milk: Organic-Grass-Fed-Cows (OMEGA 3 - Vitamin D enriched)

Recommend a minimum of 4,000 I.U. per day. (Use of more than 4000 IU per day should be under doctors' supervision). Sunlight on un-protected skin produces a highly usable form of Vitamin D that lasts twice as long in your bloodstream as when you consume it through food or a supplement, but you still need caution due to the risk of skin cancer.

Recommended: 20 minutes/day of sunlight on unprotected skin if you live down South. It is much more difficult to get your Vitamin D from sunlight if you live up North, particularly in winter.

Considering a career as a Personal Trainer? Learn more about the IFPA PFT Certification Program.

If you are already a personal trainer and you are looking to take your career to a new level, learn to train special populations including kids and elders. Also learn how to train the major muscle groups and offer flexibility & strength training to solve issues like Lower Back Pain in our Sports Medicine Trainer Certification.

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Your Metabolism - What It Is And How To Increase It To Lose More Fat

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Many people talk about metabolism, "Oh, I have a slow metabolism and that's why I gain weight easily." or "She has a fast metabolism and can eat anything she wants without getting fat." However, many people aren't familiar with what your metabolism actually is, what contributes to it and how you can use this information to stay lean.

4 General Components of Metabolism

I'm going to share with you the 4 general components of metabolism and how you can use them to improve you fat loss.

1. Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

First is your Basal Metabolic Rate. This is the minimum amount of energy required to maintain vital functions of the body. In other words, this represents how many Calories it takes to keep you alive without moving or digestion (digesting food actually takes Calories to do as we'll see below). Many people think exercise is the most energetically costly thing we do, but our basal metabolic rate accounts for around 70% of our daily energy. More Calories get burned just to keep you alive than any other activity your body does. Because BMR is very difficult to determine, it is usually estimated with a mathematical equation. A true measure of BMR requires the use of something like Indirect Calorimetry in a laboratory.

How to increase your metabolic rate?

Easy. Build more muscle. Muscle is metabolically expensive to maintain. If you build more muscle, it will take more calories just to keep it from shrinking away and will contribute to your overall metabolism. Another thing you can do is to make sure you eat a nutrient-dense diet high in vegetables, high quality proteins like grass-fed beef and wild caught fish, will help to make sure your metabolism is working at it's best.

In addition, hormones also play a big role in your basal metabolic rate. Get a full hormonal panel from a doctor that specializes in optimizing hormonal physiology for health to make sure your sex hormones, growth hormone, thyroid hormone, and insulin are in proper balance.

2. Thermic Effect of Feeding (TEF)

As I mentioned above, the act of eating, digesting and using the digested food to replenish energy and rebuild tissues is an energetically costly process. It is estimated that around 10% of your daily Caloric energy is spent to digest and assimilate your food.

How to increase TEF to burn more calories?

Proteins tend to have the highest thermic response when eaten. Making sure all your meals contain a serving of high-quality protein. Grass-fed beef, free-range chicken, omega-3 eggs, wild caught fish and grass-fed whey protein are all examples of good sources of protein.

3. Purposeful Exercise

Purposeful exercise is more than just "being more active." We're talking about exercising to increase markers of performance. For example, to improve your aerobic conditioning or to build muscle and strength through a specific exercise program. Exercise programs are estimated to make up around 10-15% of your total daily Caloric needs. In highly physically active people, Caloric expenditure through exercise may be around 30% or more. Although, as we'll see ahead, things like taking the stairs instead of the elevator are helpful, it is not what we're talking about.

How to increase your metabolic rate through exercise?

The best ways to to exercise to increase your Caloric expenditure are strength training and interval training. Because of the intensity involved in strength training and interval training, you get a higher level of excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). What does that mean? It means after you perform high intensity exercise, your metabolic rate stays elevated AFTER your done working out. This could be many hours depending on the intensity of exercise you performed.

IMPORTANT -Does this mean you should go do intervals or strength train if you've been sitting on your butt for the past 6 months? No. You want to work up to this if you've been sedentary. I recommend you start slowly and develop an aerobic base and movement skills before you start with any for of intense exercise to get the best results without risking injury.

However, if you've been doing predominantly aerobic exercise, you will see quick improvement in your body if you switch to higher intensity exercise. In my experience, aerobic endurance athletes are the easiest people to get physique improvements with once we make dietary and exercise modifications.

4. Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)

NEAT is another contributor to your overall metabolism. This would include walking the stairs, going for leisurely walks or bike rides, mowing the lawn, and just being more active in general. Although NEAT is the smallest component of your metabolism, it is still considered to be an important factor in weight gain and weight loss.

How to take advantage of NEAT to improve your metabolism?

Examples would include taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking farther away and walking to your destination, carrying groceries instead of using the cart, taking your dog for regular walks, going for a leisurely bike ride, getting up and moving around the office regularly, adopting a standing work place, etc. These are just a few of the possibilities. Find the ones that work best for you.

Summary

Understanding the components of your metabolism will help you make better choices in exercise, nutrition and everyday activity to improve your wellness and maintain a healthy weight and body fat to lean mass ratio.

Ted Ryce is a Miami Beach Personal Trainer who specializes in exercise and nutrition information for fat loss, performance and injuries.

Visit my website for more information on Online Personal Training and Nutrition programs and In-home Miami Beach Personal Training.

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