How to Boost Your Metabolism and Lose Weight

How to Boost Your Metabolism

and Lose Weight

Introduction

Metabolism. There isn’t perhaps a more frequently used word in the

weight loss (and weight gain) vocabulary than this.

Indeed, it’s not uncommon to overhear people talking about their struggles

– or triumphs – over the holiday bulge or love handles in terms of whether

their metabolism is working, or not.

Doctors, too, often refer to metabolism when they try and explain why

starvation and water-loss diets aren’t scientifically of medically

responsible; since, alas, they do not influence or take into account

metabolism (there’s that word again!).

So, for all of the usage that this rather daunting and biologically-charged

word enjoys in our world, you’d comfortably assume that people

understand it, right?

Or, at least, they have some fundamental information when it comes to

how to speed up their metabolism, right?

Wrong!

Towards Understanding Metabolism

Regrettably, many people simply don’t understand the concept of

metabolism and metabolic change. This, equally as regrettably, is hardly

their fault.

There is so much information floating around out there, much of it over

the ‘net or through a “friend of a friend who has a personal trainer”, that

there’s bound to be some confusion and conflicting messages.

Furthermore, many people (quite understandably) mistake their own

weight gain and loss episodes as a matter of metabolic change.

Sometimes this is true, and sometimes it isn’t.

For example, as we will discuss in this book, there are scientific ways to

increase the rate of metabolic change, and thus enable the body to burn

more calories.

Eating certain foods more frequently is one way to do this (again, we look

closer at these in this book). Yet another way to visibly lose weight – at

least on a perceived, temporary level – is to sit in a steam room for a few

hours.

Whereas the former method (eating the right foods) is a real, proven

weight loss method through increased metabolic change, the latter

method (the steam room) is just temporary because the lost weight is

merely water, and will return as swiftly as it “melted away”.

The point to remember here is that some people mistake their own weight

loss attempts as being related to metabolic change; and, as you can see

with the steam room example, that isn’t always the case.

Low Fat Labels

Another big reason that people don’t have clear, consistent information on

this topic is because, unfortunately, there are a lot of food and

supplement companies on the market who don’t want you to know fact

from fiction.

They want you to believe that constantly buying “low fat” foods is going to

somehow speed up your metabolism.

While, yes, some low fat foods can play a role in an overall eating program

that is designed to speed up metabolism, merely eating foods that come

from packaging that screams “LOW FAT!” won’t do anything.

In fact, believe it or not, but many people actually gain weight when they

eat too many “low fat” products. Many of these products are laden with

calories from carbohydrates or proteins (which are still calories and still

must be burned off or they turn into body fat).

As you can see, and probably feel from years of trying to unravel this

whole metabolic mystery, this is a confusing, stressful, and indeed,

potentially depressing situation.

Each year, tens of millions of people attempt to retake control over their

health and the shape of their body; and each year, tens of millions of

people feel that they’ve “failed” because, try as they might, they just

can’t speed up their metabolism.

This book is the antidote to that way of thinking and feeling because the

perceived failure is not a failure in any of these hard working dieters and

exercisers (of which you may be one).

The failure is with the medical and nutritional sector as a whole, which

has simply not provided people with the information that they need to

know in order to speed up their metabolism.

And given the size of the nutritional field and the fact that so much of it is

influenced by money-making enterprises (not all of the field, of course,

but enough of it to make a difference), there’s really no sense in playing a

“wait and see” game for when clear, consistent, and helpful information

starts to flow out to people like us.

What’s Inside…

And that’s why this book exists. It’s been created for the millions of

everyday people like us who simply want to know how to speed up

metabolism, and how to lose weight the right, healthy, and responsible

way. We want to know:

•

What the heck a metabolism is, and what role it

really plays on weight loss and gain

•

The proven, scientific ways to speed up metabolism

– not myths and fitness club “speculation”; but the

real deal.

•

Specific diet and food items and promote a faster

metabolism, so that once unwanted weight has been

lost, it can be kept off through a responsible eating

plan.

And in the pages ahead, that’s precisely what we cover!

Part 1: What is Metabolism?

Some people think that the metabolism is a kind of organ, or a body part,

that influences digestion.

Actually, the metabolism isn’t any particular body part.

It’s the process by which the body converts food into energy.

Hence, you’ve likely heard of the phrase metabolic process used

synonymously with the term metabolism, because they both mean the

same thing.

The Medical Mumbo Jumbo

This isn’t a complicated medical text (which should be great news to most

of you!), and so we don’t need to spend an unnecessary amount of time

and space focusing on the layered complexity of the human body and its

extraordinary intelligence.

Yet without drilling deeply into medical details -- which are not relevant

for our general understanding purposes -- it’s helpful to briefly look at the

biological mechanisms behind metabolism.

Metabolism, as mentioned above, is the process of transforming food (e.g.

nutrients) into fuel (e.g. energy). The body uses this energy to conduct a

vast array of essential functions.

In fact, your ability to read this page – literally – is driven by your

metabolism.

If you had no metabolism – that is, if you had no metabolic process that

was converting food into energy – then you wouldn’t be able to move.

In fact, long before you realized that you couldn’t move a finger or lift

your foot, your internal processes would have stopped; because the basic

building blocks of life – circulating blood, transforming oxygen into carbon

dioxide, expelling potentially lethal wastes through the kidneys and so on –

all of these depend on metabolism.

Keep this in mind the next time you hear someone say that they have a

slow metabolism.

While they may struggle with unwanted weight gain due to metabolic

factors, they certainly have a functioning metabolism.

If they didn’t, they wouldn’t even be able to speak (because that, too,

requires energy that comes from, you guessed it: metabolism!).

It’s also interesting to note that, while we conveniently refer to the

metabolic process as if it were a single function, it’s really a catch-all

term for countless functions that are taking place inside the body. Every

second of every minute of every day of your life – even, of course, when

you sleep – numerous chemical conversions are taking place through

metabolism, or metabolic functioning.

In a certain light, the metabolism has been referred to as a harmonizing

process that manages to achieve two critical bodily functions that, in a

sense, seem to be at odds with each other.

Anabolism and Catabolism

The first function is creating tissue and cells. Each moment, our bodies

are creating more cells to replace dead or dysfunctional cells.

For example, if you cut your finger, your body (if it’s functioning properly)

will begin – without even wasting a moment or asking your permission –the

process of creating skin cells to clot the blood and start the healing

process. This creation process is indeed a metabolic response, and is

called anabolism.

On the other hand, there is the exact opposite activity taking place in

other parts of the body. Instead of building cells and tissue through

metabolism, the body is breaking down energy so that the body can do

what it’s supposed to do.

For example, as you aerobically exercise, your body temperature rises as

your heart beat increases and remains with a certain range.

As this happens, your body requires more oxygen; and as such, your

breathing increases as you intake more H2O. All of this, as you can

imagine, requires additional energy.

After all, if your body couldn’t adjust to this enhanced requirement for

oxygen (both taking it in and getting rid of it in the form of carbon

dioxide), you would collapse!

Presuming, of course, that you aren’t overdoing it, your body will instead

begin converting food (e.g. calories) into energy. And this process, as you

know, is a metabolic process, and is called catabolism.

So as you can see, the metabolism is a constant process that takes care of

two seemingly opposite function: anabolism that uses energy to create

cells, and catabolism that breaks down cells to create energy.

Indeed, it’s in this way that the metabolism earns its reputation as a

harmonizer. It brings together these apparently conflicting functions, and

does so in an optimal way that enables the body to create cells as needed,

and break them down, again as needed.

Metabolism and Weight Loss

By now, you already have a sense of how metabolism relates to weight loss

(catabolic metabolism, or breaking cells down and transforming them into

energy).

To understand this process even more clearly, we can introduce a very

important player in the weight loss game: the calorie.

Calories

Calories are simply units of measure. They aren’t actually things in and of

themselves; they are labels for other things, just like how an inch really

isn’t anything, but it measures the distance between two points.

So what do calories measure?

Easy: they measure energy.

Yup, the evil calorie – the bane of the dieter’s existence – is really just a 3-

syllable label for energy.

And it’s important to highlight this, because the body itself, despite its

vast intelligence (much of which medical science cannot yet understand,

only appreciate in awe) does not really do a very intelligent job of

distinguishing good energy from bad.

Actually, to be blunt, the body doesn’t care about where the energy

comes from. Let’s explore this a little more, because it’s very important

to the overall understanding of how to boost your metabolism, particularly

when we look at food choices.

In our choice-laden grocery stores, with dozens of varieties of foods –

hundreds, perhaps – there seems to be a fairly clear awareness of what’s

good food, and what’s bad or junk food.

For example, we don’t need a book to remind us that, all else being equal,

a plum is a good food, whereas a tub of thick and creamy double-fudge ice

cream is a bad food.

Not bad tasting, of course; but, really, you won’t find many fit people

eating a vat of ice cream a day, for obvious reasons. So what does this

have to do with calories and energy?

It’s this: while you and I can evaluate our food choices and say that

something (like a plum) is a healthy source of energy, and something else

(like a tub of ice cream) is an unhealthy source of energy, the body doesn’t

evaluate. Really.

It sounds strange and amazing, but the body really doesn’t care. To the

body, energy is energy. It takes whatever it gets, and doesn’t really know

that some foods are healthier than others. It’s kind of like a garbage

disposal: it takes what you put down it, whether it should go down or not.

So let’s apply this to the body, and to weight gain. When the body

receives a calorie – which, as we know, is merely a label for energy – it

must do something with that energy.

In other words, putting all other nutrients and minerals aside, if a plum

delivers 100 calories to the body, it has to accept those 100 calories. The

same goes for 500 calories from a (small) tub of ice cream: those 500

calories have to be dealt with.

Now, the body does two things to that energy: it either metabolizes it via

anabolism, or it metabolizes it via catabolism. That is, it will either

convert the energy (calories) into cells/tissue, or it will use that energy

(calories) to break down cells.

Now the link between calories/energy, metabolism, and weight loss

becomes rather clear and direct.

When there is an excess of energy, and the body can’t use this energy to

deal with any needs at the time, it will be forced to create cells with

that extra energy. It has to.

It doesn’t necessarily want to, but after figuring out that the energy can’t

be used to do anything (such as help you exercise or digest some food), it

has to turn it into cells through anabolism.

And those extra cells? Yup, you guessed it: added weight!

In a nutshell (and nuts have lots of calories by the way, so watch out and

eat them in small portions…), the whole calorie/metabolism/weight gain

thing is really just about excess energy.

When there are too many calories in the body – that is, when there’s too

much energy from food – then the body transforms those calories into

stuff.

And that stuff, most of the time, is fat. Sometimes, of course, those extra

calories are transformed into muscle; and this is usually a good thing for

those watching their weight or trying to maintain an optimal body fat

ratio.

In fact, because muscles require calories to maintain, people with strong

muscle tone burn calories without actually doing anything; their

metabolism burns it for them.

This is the primary reason why exercising and building lean muscle is part

of an overall program to boost your metabolism; because the more lean

muscle you have, the more places excess calories can go before they’re

turned into fat.

A Final Word About Fat

There’s a nasty rumor floating around out there that fat cells are

permanent. And the nastiest thing about this rumor is that it’s true.

Yes, most experts conceded that fat cells – once created – are there for

life. Yet this doesn’t spell doom and gloom to those of us who could stand

to drop a few pounds. Because even though experts believe that fat cells

are permanent, they also agree that fat cells can be shrunk. So even if

the absolute number of fat cells in your body remains the same, their size

– and hence their appearance and percentage of your overall weight – can

be reduced.

Recap

So while we haven’t gone into any medical detail – because we don’t need

to or want to – we have covered some key basics about metabolism. In

fact, you probably know as much about metabolism now as many so-called

experts.

The bottom line is simply that metabolism represents a process – countless

processes, in fact – that convert food into energy. When this process

creates cells, it’s called anabolism. When this process breaks cells down,

it’s called catabolism.

For people trying to lose weight, it’s important to experience catabolism.

That is, it’s important convert food into energy that is used to break cells

down.

Catabolism is also important because it prevents excess energy (calories)

from being stored by the body.

Remember: when the body has too many calories – regardless of what food

source those calories came from – it can only do two things. It can

desperately try and see if you have any energy needs (like maybe you’re

running a marathon at the time).

Or, more often, it will have to store those calories. It has no choice. And

unless you have lean muscle that is gobbling up those excess calories,

you’ll be adding fat.

The remainder of this book, however, is going to point you in the opposite

direction. You’ll learn various techniques, tips, and strategies to boost

your metabolism.

And then, in the latter part of this book, you’ll be introduced to some

metabolism-boosting foods that you’ll surely want to add to your regular

eating regimen.

Part 2: Tips, Techniques, and Strategies for Boosting Your

Metabolism

If you’re reading this book, chances are that you’ve tried – at least once in

your life – to boost your metabolism.

Perhaps (like most of us) you weren’t quite certain what a metabolism

was, and perhaps (again, like most of us) you probably didn’t quite know

all that you needed to know in order to accomplish your goals.

Maybe you started a rigorous exercise program of jogging and muscle

toning.

Or maybe you started eating several small portions a day, rather than

three large traditional meal-sized portions.

Or maybe you started taking all kinds of supplements that promised to

boost your metabolism.

The thing is, is that all of these methods can indeed work.

Really: exercise, eating strategically, and ensuring that your body has

catabolism-friendly supplements are but three of many generally good

ideas.

So what’s the problem?

The problem is that many of us have no real scientific understanding of

what, how, or why these methods boost metabolism.

Some of us, in fact, don’t really even know if they work; we just think that

they do.

For example, a person may start a vigorous exercise program that includes

significant aerobic cardiovascular movement, such as jogging or cycling.

And indeed, after a week, that person may notice a drop in weight.

Yet is this due to a boosted metabolism? Maybe; maybe not. Could it be

due to water loss through perspiration that hasn’t been adequately

replenished? Maybe or maybe not.

The point here is that many people – at risk to their health and wellness –

don’t quite understand the tips, strategies, and techniques of boosting

their metabolism. And that’s what we’re going to rectify in this chapter.

In this book, you won’t come across any casual information that a friend

of a friend heard on TV. Nor will you be subjected to off-the-cuff

information of how to boost your metabolism.

Rather, we’re going to look at the popular, easy, fun (yes, believe it or

not), and successful ways to boost your metabolism.

The popular and widely respected Internet publication i-Village highlights

11 key ways to speed up metabolism. To most easily introduce and discuss

them here, we’ve taken these 11 key ideas and broken them down into 3

broad categories:

1. Exercise

2. Lifestyle

3. Diet

As you go through each of the 11 key points, you’ll certainly note that

there is some overlap between them. For example, it’s hard to imagine

that introducing exercise into your life isn’t, in many ways, a lifestyle

choice.

Similarly, integrating all kinds of metabolism-boosting foods into your diet

is surely going to influence how you spend your time (probably less time in

fast food line-ups, for one!).

So with this being said, please don’t get bogged down in the categories;

they are merely provided here to help organize these points, and to help

you easily refer to them in the future. The important thing for you to do

is understand each of the 14 points, and evaluate how you can responsibly

integrate them into your life.

Exercise

It’s going to be old news for you to be reminded that exercising is a bit

part of boosting your metabolism and burning up calories.

Unless you’re born with one of those unusually active metabolisms which

allows you to, almost freakishly, eat thousands of calories a day without

weight-gain consequences, you’re like the vast majority of us who need to

give your metabolisms a bit of a kick through exercising.

Now, you might think that cardiovascular (aerobic) exercise is an

important part of boosting your metabolism; and you’d be right!

Provided that, of course, your qualified doctor confirms that you’re able

to start a program of cardiovascular exercise, this is indeed the place to

start. Increasing heart rate, blood circulation, body temperature, and

oxygen intake/carbon dioxide exchange all send messages to the system to

initiative catabolism (breaking down cells and using them for energy).

Yet if cardiovascular exercising is the place to start, does that mean that

it’s the place to end? No!

Many people, who aren’t as educated as you’ll be when you’ve finished

this book, responsibly start a dedicated program of cardiovascular health,

but they don’t go any further. Not because they’re lazy; but because,

frankly, they don’t know that there is significantly more that they can do

in their home gym, or at the fitness club, that will boost their metabolism

even more potently.

We focus upon these added activities now, below.

Build Muscle

Many people – particularly some women – are very leery about undertaking

any exercise regimen that can lead to muscle building.

The old perception was that muscle building leads to muscle bulking, and

before long, gorging forearm veins and other unwanted results. This is,

frankly, not the case.

Provided that women aren’t supporting their workouts with specific

muscle-building supplements, there is no need to be concerned; because

building lean muscle won’t make them bulk up.

Still, however, the question remains: why would women (and, of course,

men) who want to boost their metabolism focus on muscle building? Isn’t

cardiovascular exercising the only thing that matters?

Again, the answer is: No! In addition to a healthy and responsible

cardiovascular program, muscle building is an exceptionally powerful way

to boost metabolism.

How? Because a pound of muscle burns more calories than a pound of fat.

And what does this mean? It means (and get ready to stare in awe) that if

you have more muscle on your body – anywhere on your body – you will

simply burn more calories as a result.

You don’t even have to do anything. You’ll simply burn more calories,

because muscle simply requires more of an energy investment.

Of course, as you can infer, if you build muscle and then leave it alone,

over time, the muscle fibers will weaken and you’ll lose that wonderful

calorie-burning factory. But that’s no problem, because all you need to do

is build and maintain healthy muscle.

It may sound daunting; especially if at the moment you perceive yourself

to have much more fat than muscle.

Yet the important thing for you to remember is that once you start

building muscle – through any kind of strength training – your body will

itself start burning more calories.

It has to; even while you sleep, or go to a movie, or read a book. It’s like

putting your calorie-burning (catabolism) program on auto-pilot.

So don’t let a little (or even a lot) of extra flab, at the moment, deter you

from believing that muscle building is important.

Yes, you should enjoy cardiovascular exercise too, because that’s

ultimately how your body is going to burn existing fat. But muscle building

plays a profoundly supportive role in that pursuit.

And it’s an exponential one, too: the more fat you transform into muscle,

the more calories you’ll burn simply to maintain that new muscle (and the

wonderful cycle goes on and on!).

Interval Training

The basic weight loss nuts and bolts behind cardiovascular exercise (or any

kind of exercise, really) is, as you know, a matter of catabolism.

Essentially, if you can engineer your body to require more energy, your

body will comply by breaking cells down to deliver it; and that process

(metabolism) burns calories. Simple, right?

So based on that logic, something called interval training neatly fits in

with the overall plan. Interval training is simply a adding high-energy

burning component to your exercise plan on an infrequent, or interval,

basis.

For example, you may be at a stage where you can jog for 20 minutes

every other day, and thus put your heart into a cardiovascular zone during

this time.

This, obviously, is going to help you boost your metabolism and thus burn

calories/energy. Yet you can actually burn disproportionately more

calories if, during that 20 minute jog, you add a 30 second or 1 minute

sprint.

Why? Because during this 30 seconds or 1 minute, you give your body a bit

of a jolt.

Not an unhealthy jolt; remember, we’re talking about quick bursts here,

not suddenly racing around the track or through the park! By giving your

body an interval jolt, it automatically – and somewhat unexpectedly – has

to turn things up a notch.

And to compensate for your extra energy requirements, the body will burn

more calories.

It’s essential for you to always keep in mind that interval training only

works when it’s at intervals. This may seem like a strange thing to say

(and even difficult to understand), but it’s actually very straightforward.

The metabolism-boosting benefits that you enjoy as a result of interval

training are primarily due to the fact that your body, suddenly, needs to

find more energy.

While it was chugging along and supplying your energy needs during your

cardiovascular exercising, it all of a sudden needs to go grab some more

for 30 seconds or a minute; and in that period, it will boost your

metabolism as if it were given a nice, healthy jolt.

As you can see, if you suddenly decided to extend your 30 second or 1

minute sprint into a 20 minute sprint, you simply wouldn’t experience all

of the benefits.

Yes, your body would use more energy if you extend yourself to the higher

range of your aerobic training zone. But your body won’t necessarily get

that jolt that only comes from interval training.

So remember: your goal with interval training is to give your body a

healthy jolt where it suddenly says to itself:

“Whoa! We need more energy here FAST, this person has

increased their heart rate from 180 beats per minute to 190

beats per minute! Let’s go to any available cell, like those fat

cells down at the waist, and break them down via catabolism

so that this person can get the energy that they need!”

Remember (sorry to be repetitive, but this is very important): the whole

point of interval training in this way is to give your body a sudden, limited,

healthy jolt where it needs more energy – quick!

If you simply increase your speed and stay there, while your body may,

overall burn some more calories, it won’t get that jolt.

Also bear in mind that interval training can indeed last longer than 30

seconds or a minute.

Some experts suggest that you can use interval training for 30-40 minutes,

depending on your state of health and what your overall exercise regimen

looks like.

The reason we’re focusing on 30 seconds to 1 minute is simply to give you

a clear understanding that interval training is a kind of mini training

within a training program.

And, as always, don’t overdo it with your interval training. Your goal here

is to become healthier and stronger, and lose weight in that process.

You gain nothing if you run so fast or bike so hard during interval training

that you hurt yourself. You will actually undermine your own health, and

possibly have to stop exercising while torn muscles or other ailments heal.

Variety

They say that variety is the spice of life, and this is indeed quite true. But

despite this awareness, many people don’t spice up their exercise

program; which is surprising, since doing so often leads to valuable

metabolism-boosting benefits.

There are a few easy ways to add variety to your exercise program. We’ve

already talked about interval training, and that is indeed one way to shift

your body’s metabolic engine into higher gear.

Other effective ways are to break up a longer routine into smaller parts.

For example, instead of committing to 1x1 hour workout a day, it can be

metabolism-boosting to split this up into 2x30 minute workouts; or even,

on some occasions, 3x20 minute workouts.

Furthermore, you can add variety into your daily exercise routine without

formally exercising.

For example, you can take the stairs instead of the elevator. Or you can

start your day with a brisk walk instead of a coffee and the newspaper.

Or, instead of parking close to the grocery store entrance, you can walk

the distance between a far away parking spot and the entrance.

All of these tips provide two metabolism-boosting benefits.

Firstly, as you can easily see, they can make exercising more fun. While,

indeed, it’s important to have an exercise routine, you don’t want to have

a boring exercise routine (because then your chances of stopping are that

much greater!).

So adding these new elements to your overall exercise commitment simply

helps encourage you to stick with the program. And since exercising is a

core part of boosting your metabolism, any technique or tip that helps you

continue exercising over the long term is a wise piece of advice.

The second important benefit of variety in your exercise program leads us

back to the interval training concept, discussed above.

When you add variety to your workout, your body cannot get into a

groove. Remember: the body is a remarkable piece of work, and will

always strive to do things efficiently.

Naturally, the overall state of your health (which can be influenced by

genetics and other factors outside of your control) will play a role in how

efficiently your body runs.

But regardless of how your body is put together, who what genetic

influences you have to deal with, your body really likes you, and wants to

do things as efficiently as it possibly can.

Therefore, when you start exercising, you body can start to develop a kind

of expectation of energy output. It’s not doing this to be lazy; it’s doing

this because, quite sincerely, it wants to help!

If your body starts to predict that you need a certain amount of energy to

complete a certain task (such as jog for 20 minutes), then it will start to

achieve that energy output more efficiently.

For example, when you first start jogging for, say, 2 minutes a time

followed by 5 minutes of walking, your body may require a great deal of

energy to help you achieve this.

And as a result, you may find yourself very out of breath or tired as your

body strives to meet this increased demand. Naturally, of course,

catabolism will be involved, and your body metabolism will increase.

But over time, say a month or so, your body will simply become more

efficient. It will have become stronger, and will be able to supply your

energy needs much more efficiently; you may not even break a sweat!

What’s happened here is that your health has improved; your body has to

work less hard to provide you with your energy needs.

Ironically, this can actually obscure your metabolism-boosting efforts;

because, as you know, you want to tell your body to start the catabolism

process. But if your body is efficiently working, it won’t really dig into its

reserves (e.g. fat cells) in order to provide you with the energy that you

need.

So the trick is to keep variety in your workouts. Many people choose to

cross-train for this very reason. It not only targets different muscle

groups, but it keeps your body from finding a groove whereby it tried to

help you by slowing down metabolism.

Remember: your body doesn’t read books like this; it doesn’t need to, and

it doesn’t care.

It has no clue that a speedier metabolism is “good” or “bad”. Now, as far

as you and I are concerned, we know that a speedy metabolism is a good

thing in our weight loss efforts.

But your body doesn’t make this evaluation. And so it won’t turn on its

metabolism jets because you want it to.

You can’t (unfortunately) send a memo to your body and ask it to please

speed up metabolism.

If you could, then that would be amazing! But that’s not reality at all.

What we have to do is force the body to say to itself: hey, I need to speed

up metabolism because this person needs more energy!

And one of the best ways for you to force the body to have this kind of

thinking is to add variety to your workouts.

Lifestyle

When we come across the term lifestyle, we tend to think of the basic

day-to-day habits that we rely on; sometimes without giving them much of

a second thought. And this is indeed the case when we talk about how

lifestyle influences the speed of your metabolism.

Now, quite honestly, most of us live busy lives in one form or another, and

therefore it’s challenging to really keep an eye on all of our habits.

Balancing work, family, hobbies, and other commitments often means that

our lifestyle isn’t so much of a choice, as it is a necessity.

Yet with respect to the fact that many of us face sincere limitations in our

lifestyle choices, there are many things that we can do – little things, but

important things – that can help speed up our metabolism.

So if you’re a bit put-off by the term lifestyle, please don’t skim over this

section. The little things that you change in your regular, day-to-day

lifestyle can indeed have the most profound influence on the speed of your

metabolism, and the achievement of your short and long-term weight loss

goals.

Get on the Wagon

Do you know people who carefully choose low-fat, low-calorie meal

choices, are very disciplined when it comes to not ordering the Chef’s

Special pecan pie for desert, yet order a glass or two of wine with their

meal?

Well, unfortunately, these people are really undermining their efforts to

boost metabolism.

Studies show that drinking alcohol with meals actually encourages over

eating; which means more calories that need to be burned away (or

transformed into fat!).

Furthermore, many people are simply unaware that many alcoholic drinks

are laden with calories; almost as much as sugary-rich soft drinks.

A bottle of beer can deliver a few hundred calories, and most cocktails

are in the same range. Wine is generally considered to deliver the least

amount of calories; but even this is a bit of a slippery slope.

Three glasses of wine can be worth 300 calories that the body simply has

to deal with in one form or another.

The tip here isn’t to stop drinking alcohol altogether (despite the title of

this section). If you enjoy alcohol then there’s no particular reason why

you have to quit cold turkey, but you will save a bit of money and not

consume as many calories.

Simply, the call here is that you become aware that it influences your

metabolism. If you consume excess alcohol (even without becoming

inebriated), you force your system to deal with more calories.

And unless you’re compensating for these added calories through exercise

or muscle building, catabolism cannot occur. Instead, anabolism will

inevitably occur, and new cells will be created from those calories (mostly

fat cells).

Zzzzzzzz…..Zzzzzzzzz

This is a toughy. Most of us don’t have as much control over the amount

that we sleep as we should. Work, family, education, housekeeping, and

so many other tasks can literally prevent us from getting the amount of

sleep that we need.

However, as the experts tell us, getting enough sleep actually improves

metabolism. On the other hand, people who are constantly sleep deprived

typically find that they have less energy to do regular, daily activities;

including digestion.

As a result, sleep-starved people often lower their own metabolism. They

simply don’t have the strength to break down food efficiently, particularly

carbohydrates.

This is a very difficult issue, because many people can only find time to

exercise by borrowing from their rest time.

For example, after a long day of work and dealing with family and home

commitments, a person may find that the only time they have to exercise

(and thus boost their metabolism) is late at night; say around 9:00 pm, or

even later. So what should one do?

Ultimately, it’s a question of balance. Naturally, if you’re willing to

exercise, and your doctor agrees that it’s healthy for you to do that, then

you’re not going to get fit by sleeping instead of exercising.

Yet with that being said, if you steal time away from your sleep/rest in

order to exercise, over time, you can actually do more harm than good;

because the following day, you won’t have enough energy to digest what

you eat. The answer to this catch-22 lies in balance.

You don’t have to work out every night. Or perhaps you can integrate a

workout into your life during the day; maybe at lunchtime or right after

work.

Most fitness clubs are open very early (some are even open 24 hours), and

if you choose to workout at home, you can do so in a generally affordable

way (while some machines can cost thousands, basic machines that get the

job done only cost a few hundred, even cheaper if they’re used).

If you find that you have trouble sleeping, then this can also negatively

affect the speed of your metabolism (because you won’t have enough

energy the following day). Insomnia and other sleep disorders are very

common problems, and there exists a variety of support systems in place

to help people get the rest that they require. Some non-medical tips to

help you fall asleep include:

o Don’t eat late at night

o Try drinking warm milk before bedtime

o Don’t turn on the TV at night

o Try yoga or other stress-relieving practices

o Try having a warm bath before bedtime

o Don’t exercise close to bedtime; your body can become so

energized that it doesn’t want to sleep!

Relax

We briefly noted yoga in the list of Things to Do above, and that brings us

to another key influence of your metabolism: stress.

Believe it or not, but experts are now telling us that stress can send

unwanted signals to our body; signals that lead to slower metabolism.

Essentially, what happens is that when the body is under constant stress, it

releases stress hormones that flood the system.

These stress-related hormones actually tell the body to create larger fat

cells in the abdomen. The result can be both increased weight (through

increased fat cells), and a slower metabolism.

Obviously, these are two very negative factors in the quest to boost

metabolism and lose weight. The last thing that we want is more and

bigger fat cells in our abdomen, coupled with a diminished metabolism!

Yet this is, tragically, what happens to many people who experience

constant, continuous stress. And, alas, this is many people; especially

those of us who have to balance so many competing objectives, such as

work, family, and other vital tasks.

So the advice here is indeed to “relax and chill out”, and there are some

simple techniques that can, and should, be added to your life.

These include walking more, listening to relaxing music, meditation, yoga,

eating non-stimulating foods (e.g. no caffeine, no sugar, and so on), and

building a daily regimen that includes periodic time outs where you can

re-center yourself and de-stress.

Remember: while relaxing is good advice for anyone, it’s important for you

to note that stress negatively influences metabolism. So there is a link

between how much stress you experience and your ability to break down

cells and lose weight.

So if you don’t want to relax because you don’t have the time, then you

should realize that your stressed-out life is probably playing a role in your

weight gain/your inability to lose weight.

There’s Something GOOD About This Time of the Month!?

Now here’s a strange one that is for the ladies, only.

Studies have demonstrated that the 2-week period prior to the onset of

PMS is one in which fat burning capacity is at a premium.

This is ironic indeed; because that’s usually the period in which women

don’t want to workout; because their body and its emotional computer are

preparing for PMS. However, studies in Australia have shown that women

were able to burn off as much as 30% more fat in the 2 weeks preceding

PMS.

The reason for this, researchers argue, is because this is when the female

body’s production of estrogen and progesterone are at their highest.

Since these hormones tell the body to use fat as a source of energy,

exercising during this time can really pay off. The body will be inclined to

target fat cells for catabolism.

Diet

Ah yes, diet. For most of us, our information concerning metabolism has

related in one way or another to eating. Most of us have been told of

metabolism-friendly foods, or metabolism unfriendly foods.

But really, while we may be basically aware that, all else being equal, a

stalk of celery is better for your metabolism than fries with gravy, our

understanding of diet and metabolism is pretty low.

To fix this, the following section looks at some powerful and scientific

diet-related tips that will boost your metabolism. Indeed, as you’ll soon

learn, it’s not merely what you eat that matters; it’s when, and how, too.

Don’t Hate Calories

The word calorie has a bad rap. We constantly come across calorie

reduced or low calorie foods. And it’s not uncommon to overhear someone

gasp about the immense calorie content of certain foods, such as a rich

and creamy desert, or a giant fast food burger.

All of this anti-calorie rhetoric therefore has made a lot of us pretty

calorie-phobic; as soon as we see something that has lots of them, we run

away. But is this wise?

Yes and no. Yes, it’s wise in the sense that avoiding that double-layer

chocolate fudge cake for desert is probably a good idea (actually, scratch

that; it is a good idea).

The calories that come from the cake are really going to be the so-called

empty calorie kind; which means that there’s no real nutritional value that

your body can squeeze out and make use of.

But in the bigger picture, it’s unwise for your metabolism to become

calorie-avoidant.

Why? Because your body is a marvelous machine that tries, at all times, to

do what it can to make your life easier.

Indeed, while it may not always function at optimal levels (for a variety of

reasons, including genetics), it still tries to do its very best. The body, for

all of its limitations and so forth, is not a lazy thing!

With this in mind, the body is always trying to keep is alive and functioning

in the manner that it deems to be healthiest.

And that’s why if you suddenly decrease the amount of calories that you

need, your body won’t try to do more with less. In other words, your body

won’t respond in the way that you want it to: it won’t necessarily provoke

catabolism and thus reduce weight and fat cells.

Instead, your smart and wise body will try to keep you alive by slowing

down its metabolism. It will simply believe that something is wrong –

maybe you’re trapped somewhere without food – and it will just begin to

become very stingy with energy.

So what’s the end result? If your body needs 2000 calories a day to

survive, and you suddenly give it only 1000, it won’t begin to burn off 1000

calories worth of cells that you have lying around on your love handles.

Instead, your body will slow down its metabolism. It will really try and

get as much energy out of those 1000 calories, because it doesn’t want to

waste anything.

Physically, you’ll naturally feel more tired because your body is being very

miserly with energy, and will devote its 1000-calorie ration to essential

systems, like blood and oxygen supply (and others).

Metabolically, you won’t be burning off extra calories. In fact, you can

actually gain weight by dramatically reducing your calorie intake!

The flipside of this, of course, is that you should consume a daily caloric

intake that is proportionate to your body size, type, and weight loss goals.

And then, once you determine the amount of calories that you need

(probably with the aid of a qualified nutritionist or fitness expert); you can

provide that to your body via healthy, efficient calories.

For example, if your body needs 1500 calories per day, and one slice of

double-fudge chocolate cake delivers a whopping 500 of those, then you

can see that eating just one of these slices will take up a full 1/3rd of your

daily caloric needs; and that’s not good!

On the other hand, you can see that drinking a tasty fruit smoothy made

with yogurt and nuts can deliver half as many calories, but provide you

with essential nutrients, vitamins, and other elements that your body

needs to healthily do its work.

Eat More?

Fresh on the heels of the discussion on calories, it’s also helpful to note

that eating frequently throughout the day can be very good for boosting

metabolism. There are a couple of reasons for this.

The first reason is that people who tend to eat throughout the day do

considerably less snacking. As a result, they tend to avoid the potato chips

or candy bars that they might otherwise consume if they suddenly felt

hungry.

People who eat throughout the day don’t tend to experience severe

hunger pangs, because they don’t reach that stage.

The second reason, and the one that you can probably guess based on your

understanding of metabolism, is that by eating throughout the day, you are

constantly keeping your metabolism in motion.

It’s kind of like having a generator run all the time; it will simply use more

electricity than if you powered it on 3 times a day.

Now, it goes without saying (but we should say it anyway just in case!) that

just because it’s good for metabolism-boosting to eat frequently, this

doesn’t mean that you can eat junk all day long!

Rather, if you choose to eat more frequently, then you’ll certainly need to

be very aware of what you eat; because you can easily exceed your

required amount of daily calories if you don’t keep an eye on this.

That’s why, if your plan is to follow the eat-more-to-burn-more approach,

then you should keep a food journal that notes what you eat (and drink of

course) throughout the day.

You should not merely know the calorie levels of what you eat, but you

should know the overall nutritional values, too.

For example, if you’re on target to eat 50 grams of protein per day, then

you want to make sure you reach this target and not exceed it (or come in

below it).

In other words, merely focusing on calories is only half of the job. You will

need to ensure that you’re eating enough protein, carbohydrates, fats (the

good unsaturated kind!), and the other vitamins and minerals that your

body needs in order to function at optimal levels.

Eat Early

We’ve all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

And in terms of boosting your metabolism, this is indeed the case! There

are a couple of reasons why eating a hearty and healthy breakfast can

boost metabolism and lead to weight loss goals.

The first reason is that people who eat breakfast are much less inclined to

snack throughout the morning. For example, if you had a good breakfast

of fruit and low-sugar cereal in the morning, your chances of visiting the

vending machine at work around 10:30am diminish significantly.

Of course, as you recall from our previous discussion on eating more

frequently, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t eat something between

breakfast and lunch.

It simply means that, since you won’t be extremely hungry at 10:30am

(because you skipped breakfast), you’ll be less inclined to eat anything

that you get your hands on; such as a nice donut that your co-worker was

kind enough to offer you.

In other words, by starting your day in a nutritious way, you’ll have more

control over what you eat throughout the day.

The second reason is more aligned with metabolism-boosting. Studies

have shown that metabolism slows during sleep, and doesn’t typically get

going again until you eat.

Therefore, starting the day with breakfast is like kickstarting your

metabolism. You’ll actually burn more calories throughout the day, simply

by eating breakfast (hey, who knew?!).

Remember: as you eat your breakfast, control both the portion and the

contents. You don’t want to eat to the point of complete fullness;

because, remember, you want to eat throughout the day and you won’t be

able to do that if you’re stuffed.

At the same time, beware of high-fat breakfasts. Studies have shown that

high-fat breakfasts, such as those that include bacon and sausage, not only

deliver lots of calories (there are 9 calories for every gram of fat, as

compared to 4 for every gram of carbohydrates and proteins,

respectively).

But they also can make you very hungry again, very soon! So in addition to

having ingested a lot of fat (and hence a lot of calories), you’ll typically

find yourself rather ravenous again in a few hours.

Alternatively, breakfasts that are high in fiber take longer to digest, and

thus, the body won’t be hungry again for a while.

This is something to bear in mind; and it may explain why many people

who eat breakfast find themselves painfully hungry by lunchtime; it’s not

their “overactive metabolism” at work; it’s the high fat content, which has

been swiftly digested.

Befriend Protein and Good Carbs

There is a dizzying array of things that you can eat these days. Truly, a

trip to the grocery store can be an adventure. Everywhere you turn,

there’s yet another food promising you healthy this or weight loss that.

Added to this confusion is that there are some foods that are beneficial for

metabolic boosting, and some that aren’t; and the differences aren’t

always well-known. Fortunately, we’re going to tackle this problem right

now and describe the three basic food groups/types that are indeed good

for a speedy metabolism.

In terms of protein, studies have shown that having enough protein in your

system can actually increase the speed of your metabolism. This is

because protein is difficult to break down. Or rather, it requires more

energy to break down. It’s like feeding the body a knot; it needs a bit of

time to unravel it.

And, as you know, when your body spends time on something, it spends

energy (calories). And so the more time it can spend breaking down

protein, the more calories that it uses.

Different people will require different amounts of protein on a daily basis.

Those who exercise and build muscle will typically need more than the

average amount, too.

The USFDA Food Guide suggests around 50 grams of protein a day for a

reasonably active adult.

Keep in mind (not that you don’t already have enough to remember, but…)

that there are different sources of protein: some lean, and some high in

fat. Fast food burgers may deliver up to 20 grams of protein (sometimes

more), but they also deliver a great deal of fat; which makes them almost

nutritionally worthless.

The benefits you enjoy from the protein are far outweighed by the

immense fat intake; which, for some fast food burgers, can exceed 40

grams! And that’s not including the fries (we won’t even go there!).

So the thing to do is ensure that your source of protein derives from lean

protein. Typically, protein from some fish and chicken is lean; though not

all of it.

If you’re a vegetarian, or simply looking for non-meat lean protein

alternatives, low-fat cheese, legumes (lentils), and yogurt are all good

sources. Simply check the food labels to determine if the source of

protein is lean (doesn’t deliver high fat content), or fatty.

In terms of carbohydrates, there probably isn’t a more battered around

micronutrient than this. It’s gone from being the greatest thing in weight

loss history, to one of the most reviled.

And really, it’s not the fault of the innocent carbohydrate! It’s really just

a matter of information and knowledge, instead of speculation.

The thing to remember is that when carbohydrates are refined, such as

white bread and potatoes, they are what the diabetic world refers to as

high glycemic index (GI) foods, because they require spikes in insulin in

order to be digested.

As you may know, when insulin is released into the system, it promotes the

storage of fat; and some experts believe that it also pushes down

metabolic speed (which makes sense).

Therefore, the good kinds of carbohydrate to consume are those that are

high in fiber, and those from fruit and vegetable sources.

Why? Because these sources of carbohydrates don’t score high on the

glycemic index. In other words, they don’t cause a spike in insulin levels,

and therefore, they don’t promote fat storage.

Conclusion

We’ve come a long way! We now actually know more about the

metabolism, and how to increase metabolic speed, than most people; and

we’re therefore in a position to put that information to good use.

We’ve learned that the metabolism is a process and not an actual body

part.

It harmonizes two essential bodily functions: converting food into cells/

tissues, and breaking cells down to provide energy. We learned that the

former process is known as anabolism, and the latter is catabolism.

Indeed, it’s this latter process that influences our ability to lose weight,

and to keep it from coming back!

Yet going beyond the biological basics, we also learned of 3 integrated

aspects of speeding up metabolism and losing weight.

These aspects were categorized in terms of: exercise, lifestyle, and diet.

And within each of these 3 categories were a total of 11 important,

practical, and quite easy ways to boost metabolism.

Now, indeed, it’s the time for action; for as they say, wisdom is the result

of experience, not study! Obviously, of course, it was essential for us to

understand this subject and how it relates to boosting metabolism. So in

that light, study is invaluable. But now you’re equipped with the

knowledge that you need.

The next step – boosting your metabolism – is all up to you. Good luck,

have fun, and enjoy your better, leaner healthier life!

A Final Word: Common Metabolism-Boosting Myths

The SparkDiet resource center has consulted fitness experts to find the 4

most prevalent myths concerning metabolism and metabolism-boosting.

Since this book has been about reality and not myths, we didn’t cover any

of them in the actual book. Yet, considering how common these myths

are, it can indeed be useful for you to know them; and to know that

they’re myths.

That way, if you come across them in a magazine, at a fitness club, or just

from the well-intentioned but misguided advice of a friend, you can

confidently say (or at least just think): sorry, but that’s a myth; I’m not

going to fall for that one!

Myth #1: Diet Pills

The general consensus on diet pills are contained in two powerful words:

BUYER BEWARE.

The problem here is that many makers of diet pills offer claims that simply

aren’t realistic; and if you read the fine-print of most of these

advertisements, you’ll see that they’re really too good to be true. Little

notes like the claims made in this advertisement are not typical should be

enough of a wake-up call to realize that there’s more to the story.

In some cases, diet pills can help boost metabolism temporarily. This,

however, can be risky and generally shouldn’t be done without a doctor’s

say-so. Unfortunately, people can become somewhat addicted to diet

pills, and this can lead to disaster.

And before we go onto myth #2, remember that some diet pills are water

loss pills. That is, they are diuretics that promote water loss, usually

through excess urination. The jury on water-loss diet pills is somewhat

less open-minded than diet pills in general: THEY DON’T WORK!

Seriously: water loss diet pills are built on the premise that you’ll lose

weight through water. And, yes, that’s true: if you urinate 15 times a day,

you’re physically going to weigh less.

But this is not actual weight loss! This is merely unhealthy temporary

weight loss, and it will come roaring back the minute that water stores are

replenished through diet.

Or, even harder to comprehend, if a person taking these water pills fails to

restore their body’s fluid needs, they can actually suffer dehydration;

which can, and has, led to coma and death.

Myth #2: Drop Caloric Intake

As we discussed earlier in this book (but it’s so important that it deserves

an encore here at the end), trying to lose weight by drastically cutting

down calories doesn’t work; in fact, it’s unhealthy.

The thing to remember is that the body’s ability to lose weight is not

controlled by calories. Calories are the input. The real control

mechanism is that famous concept that you’ve become very familiar with:

metabolism.

Calories are merely units of energy. It’s how your body deals with that

energy that determines whether weight is gained or lost.

So with that being said, cutting down your caloric intake to, say, 1000

calories a day isn’t necessarily going to help you lose weight; because it

doesn’t necessarily change your metabolism.

Indeed, as you know, if you slow down your caloric intake, your body –

which is always trying to help you in the best way that it knows how – will

slow down its metabolism.

Really, it makes sense: the body says that something has gone wrong;

instead of the 2000 calories that it needs, it’s only getting 1000. The body

doesn’t know why this is happening; it doesn’t know that you want to lose

weight.

It just senses that something is wrong; perhaps you’re trapped in a cave or

something, or stuck in a snowstorm. So the body, trying to help you, will

slow down its metabolism; it will do its best to slow down the conversion

rate, so that you have as much energy on hand as possible.

Now, if your body was able to read this book and you could say: look,

please just do what you normally do, but do it with 1000 fewer calories a

day for a while, then we might actually get somewhere.

But the body doesn’t work that way. It won’t help you lose weight if you

dramatically cut down on calories.

It will slow down metabolism, and (here’s the worst part), if and when

you ever increase calories again, your body will have to deal with that via

a slower metabolic engine. So you can actually gain weight if, after

cutting down your calories for a period of time, you find that you consume

extra calories (say while on vacation or something).

Myth #3: Low Intensity Workouts

It’s fair to say that any exercise is better than no exercise. So if you lead

a sedentary lifestyle, then even walking around your block for 10 minutes

a day is going to something positive for your body and its metabolism.

True, that difference may be imperceptible to the naked eye (or it may

not?), the bottom line is that exercise is good.

Yet with this being said, some people believe that they should perform

low-intensity workouts even when they could be performing more highintensity

workouts.

That is, instead of jogging for 20 minutes with their heart at the top end

of their aerobic zone, they opt for low-intensity jogs that barely break a

sweat.

Low intensity workouts simply don’t lead to a faster metabolism; they

can’t. Remember, as we discussed very early in this book, metabolism is a

process.

And that process is really one of two types: taking energy and making cells

(anabolism), or breaking cells down to make energy (catabolism).

If you don’t achieve a high-intensity workout, your body can’t tap achieve

catabolism; it won’t need to. And the only way your body is going to go

and break down existing cells is if it needs to.

So keep this in mind as you exercise, either at home or at a gym. Low

intensity workouts are better than nothing at all; and they may be

necessary if you’re recovering from injury, or just starting out on the

exercise journey.

But once you reach a level of basic fitness, only high intensity (aerobic)

workouts will make a difference in terms of your metabolism. High

intensity workouts force your body to find energy to help you maintain

that level of exercise; and it does so through catabolism.

Myth #4: Too Much Focus

Speeding up your metabolism and achieving your weight loss goals involved

a certain degree of focus; after all, there’s a lot of things competing for

your attention (including that delicious Chef’s Special pecan pie!), and you

certainly need to be able to keep your eye on the goal in order to maintain

your program.

Yet sometimes too much focus can be a bad thing; and some dieters

understand this all too well.

Remember: speeding up your metabolism is a holistic effort that includes

exercise, lifestyle, and diet changes.

Focusing on only one of these at the expense of the others (either one or

both) can be detrimental. In fact, in some cases, it can be counterproductive.

So the myth here is that you shouldn’t go all out and focus on becoming an

exercise guru, and then move onto lifestyle, and then to diet.

You have to integrate all 3 aspects into your life at the same time. True,

based on your unique situation, you will likely emphasize one more than

the others. That’s fine and normal. But it’s a myth – and a mistake – to

ignore any one of these.

It takes all three to speed up your metabolism, and to get you to your

weight loss goals for the long-term.