Boosting your Metabolism Naturally

A healthy metabolism is key to a healthy body and life.  If you’re metabolism is sluggish, you too will feel low-energy and tired.  You will not digest food efficiently, which will lead to storing unwanted fat and the resulting weight gain, as well as stomach ailments and other health issues.

Feeding your body unprocessed healthful foods, drinking plenty of water between meals, and exercise-which is good for the heart and mind, are essential to healthy metabolism.   Here are some tips on nursing your metabolism back to its full, fat-burning capacity:

• Never skip breakfast.  It’s tempting for some people to rush out the door and grab a cup of coffee for the commute.   Your body needs fuel to run efficiently, just as a fire needs wood to create heat.  If you skip breakfast, guaranteed your hunger will drive you to eat something really unhealthy later.  You’ll feel fatigued and in need of energy, so will reach for the first high-carb, high-sugar food you can find.  This will spike your insulin levels and you’ll actually store your snack as fat rather than feed your metabolism and burn it.  Eat early, and eat smart.
• Stay away from sugar.  Sugar may make you feel like your metabolism is running great…until you crash.  Again, all sugar is doing is raising your insulin levels which causes you to store fat.  You may feel jittery and loaded with energy for a while, but you’ll soon come down and feel worse than ever.  Snack on healthy low-sugar fruits like apples, oranges and berries in between meals.
• Eat in small, regular amounts, and eat real, not processed food wherever possible.   Whole grain breads (watch content for sugar), brown rice, couscous, vegetables, low-sugar fruits, lean meats or tofu for you vegetarians out there, all are excellent fuel for your body.  Think of man centuries ago, he lived off the land and he worked it.  He was healthy and fit.  Your poor body is not sure what to do with a Ho-Ho!
• Exercise regularly.  Most people are thwarted in their attempts to exercise because they try it once, either with a trainer, or a fitness video, and are exhausted inside of five minutes.  You don’t have to kill yourself; just be consistent.  Try walking for 20-30 minutes each day.  After a week, increase it to 30-40 minutes.  Then try 2 minutes walking, 2 minutes slow jogging for an hour.  You will be amazed at how quickly your body will rise to the challenge.  And your metabolism will start purring like a kitten.
• Drink water-and lots of it.  Remember how we said to drink it plentifully between meals?  This is because if you drink while you eat, you’re actually breaking down the digestive juices needed to help digest a meal.  You don’t want to hinder the process do you?  You want your body to be a well-oiled machine.   If you tire of plain old water, try adding lemons, limes or mint to it.  But try to stay away from anything unnatural like Crystal Light-artificial sweeteners are as bad for your body as sugar.  What about herbal teas?  There are a variety of flavors and they make a welcome break from water.  Green Tea is particularly beneficial as it’s been proven to help with metabolism.
• Take your vitamins.  You may not be getting all you need from your diet.  Vitamin B is great for stress and C keeps you healthy.   And finally…
• Get 8 hours of sleep.  Think of your body as a plough horse.  It’s worked hard all day pulling heavy loads.  At night he gets a rub down and a good rest so he’s strong and ready for an early morning and the long day ahead.  If you don’t like that analogy (not a horse person!) use a Ferrari instead.  You’ve eaten up the miles all day long and you’ve gone to the shop for a much needed tune up, lube and tire rotation.  In the morning you are vroom, vroom good!  In other words, your body heals at a cellular level overnight.  Allow it to do so.  Don’t be a sheet wrangler, diving in and tossing around for just a couple of hours.  Be a sheet worshiper.

Do these things and your body will love you; just as you’ll love your body.  It’ll be a metabolic, high-energy, fat-burning machine.

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