Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Tips For Speeding Up Your Metabolism

By Jennifer King

People who need to lose those extra pounds commonly think about reducing the amount of food they eat. This may like a good solution, but not exactly the best best way to lose weight. The bottom line is, depending on the amount of food you stop eating, it may even be dangerous to your health. So how does one lose weight effectively and safely? Here are some points that you need to consider when trying to burn fat:

Don't miss your breakfast. When you first arise in the morning, your body has just gone through an 8 hour fast. After enduring such a time span with no nutrients, your body enters a catabolic (muscle wasting) state and starts breaking down protein. This is an important time to eat some much needed nutrition ASAP! A healthy breakfast is critical to any successful fat-loss diet.

Eat every few hours. This means that you will be eating a meal 5 to 6 times a day. Not only does this type of eating regime stimulate muscle maintenance and fat loss, it is also an crucial technique for controlling food cravings. You see, when dieters miss a meal, or haven't eaten in a while, their blood sugar drops too much, and their will power becomes weak. In other words, people who go a long time without eating are much more susceptible to cheating on their diet. Thus, eating every two to three hours will help eliminate those cravings that may have caused you to fail all attempts to lose weight in the past.

Develop your lean muscle mass. A single pound of muscle needs three to five times more energy to sustain itself compared with a pound of fat. That means with more muscle, you'll burn more calories, even when you're resting. Plus having more muscle just strengthens you up. And as your body gets stronger your muscles increase in size, and then your metabolism increases.

Increase your intensity. As your fitness improves, your body becomes more efficient, meaning you expend less energy when you work out than when you first started. So you need to mix things up a bit. Change the intensity of workout, and if you can, change your routine. If you stay at the same intensity your fitness will stop improving. Your body will also stop burning fat as to get to the next level you will need to increase the amount of energy you use in your training. Your muscles will also stop getting bigger and getting stronger. This will then prevent your metabolism getting faster. - 15995

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