Your metabolism is basically your body's ability to utilize and produce energy more efficiently. It's no secret that everyone wants a faster metabolism. But how can you ensure yours is running quickly?
1. Resistance Training
The more muscle mass you have, the more energy your body has to burn at rest, therefore increasing your body's metabolism. Doing strength training exercises with or without equipment is a great way to build and conserve muscle mass, keeping your metabolism strong and steady.
2. Move More
Neat stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. That's a fancy way of saying the-stuff-you-do-that-isn't-exercise-but-still-burns-calories. One of the best ways to increase NEAT is to get up more often. For example, try adding a walk into your routine every morning and/or evening. Or if you work a desk job, get up for more frequent walks around the office (or for now, around the house). Whatever you do, moving more = faster metabolism.
3. Eat Enough
Caloric restriction and crash dieting all work to slow your metabolism. Our body's goal is to maintain homeostasis at all times. In order to do that, it has to resist change. The lower your calorie intake goes, the slower your body will metabolize as it tries to conserve energy and resist change. That's why a lot of times, I have to build a client's food intake up before I can safely cut them down.
Another thing to keep in mind is that height, weight, gender, and even genetics all play a role in the speed of your metabolism. For example, males burn more calories on average than females and taller people more than short. Take control of the factors that you can change instead of worrying about the ones you can't. Movement and good quality food are always your BFFs!
