Many people struggle with losing weight and boosting their metabolism. While diet and exercise are key, certain foods and lifestyle habits can help give your metabolism an extra push towards burning more calories and fat. Read on to learn about easy and effective metabolism boosters.
Add Spice
Spicy foods like chili peppers and curry contain capsaicin, a compound that has been shown to boost metabolism and encourage fat burning. Adding spicy ingredients like cayenne pepper, ginger, cinnamon and turmeric to your meals causes a thermogenic effect, heating up your body and causing you to burn more calories after your meal. Even just adding a pinch of cayenne or ginger to a smoothie, soup or stir-fry can help give your metabolism an upward nudge.
Try Fat Burner Supplements
There are pills that help burn fat. How they work is simple: they boost your metabolism using natural ingredients such as green tea and L-carnitine. It’s a useful way to speed up the weight loss process.
Stay Hydrated
Drinking enough water, especially before meals, is linked with weight loss. Being even just mildly dehydrated slows your metabolism down. Sipping water helps fill up your stomach so you eat less, and staying hydrated keeps your metabolic function firing optimally. Get a big glass of water first thing when you wake up, sip a full glass before each meal, and be sure to get in at least the recommended 8 cups throughout your day. Adding lemon, mint, or fruit to your water can help too.
Green Tea
Green tea contains EGCG, an antioxidant that helps boost fat burning. The combination of caffeine and EGCG in green tea workstogether to give your metabolism an extra kick. Try sipping 2-3 cups of hot or iced green tea throughout the day. Going for decaffeinated varieties later in the day can help avoid disruptive caffeine intake too close to bedtime.
Protein-Rich Foods
Protein requires more energy for your body to break down, so after eating protein-rich foods, your body ends up expending more calories during digestion. Protein also helps build muscle mass, which burns more calories at rest than fat tissue. Choose lean proteins like fish, eggs, chicken breast, Greek yogurt, and beans to give your metabolic rate an upward boost.
Lift Weights
Cardio is great for burning calories, but weight and resistance training are important because they increase your amount ofmetabolically active muscle mass. The more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns 24/7. Do total body circuit training workouts 2-3 times a week, with exercises like squats, lunges, pushups and rows that target all your major muscle groups. As you build lean muscle, your resting metabolism will start firing faster.
Get Enough Sleep
Studies show that getting less than 6 hours of sleep per night can slow down your metabolism significantly. Aim for 7-8 hours per night, and keep a consistent bedtime. Getting enough sleep helps regulate hunger hormones as well, so you may find cravings and overeating becoming less frequent with quality sleep.
Reduce Stress
Chronic stress elevates cortisol levels, which can increase fat storage and slow metabolism over time. Combat stress by scheduling relaxation into each day, whether it is meditation, yoga, massage, or a calming bath. Finding healthy ways to cope with and relieve stress can help boost fat burning.
While eating in a calorie deficit and exercising are essential for weight loss, making metabolism-boosting lifestyle choices gives your fat and calorie-burning potential an additional helpful nudge. Spicing up meals, staying hydrated, drinking green tea, eating protein, weight training, getting enough sleep, and managing stress are small but impactful steps towards achieving your weight loss goals.
Related: Win Food