You may think you know everything there is to know about how to boost your metabolism. But there’s a difference between the things that can make it burn faster and the things that can slow it down.
Eating right and working out are important, but it’s also important to cut out the things you’re doing that are working against you.
Here are 5 Metabolism Killing Habits to Avoid:
- Not moving around enough
Before you point out your daily workout, take a look at what you’re doing through the rest of your day. If you go straight to the office and spend the rest of your day sitting at a desk, that’s a problem.
You need to be moving at least ten minutes every hour. Even if you’re a dedicated worker you can take a few minutes to walk around your building or do some stretches. You don’t have to work up a sweat to get your muscles activated and keep your metabolism revving.
As for your exercise regimen, make sure you’re including high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts that include high effort. They’ll make sure you get the greatest impact from your workout.
- Your food isn’t spicy
Spicy foods do more than set your mouth on fire. They actually light up your metabolism too.
The compound, capsaicin, found in hot peppers, speeds up your metabolism. It also makes you eat less. In fact, some people think including hot peppers in their meal helps them eat less!
- You’re eating unwashed produce
If you buy your produce and assume that it’s already been washed, you’re wrong. Aside from the fact that you risk illness by eating food without washing it, you’re also taking in toxins.
Unless the food that you’re buying is organic, it has been treated with pesticides that have been linked to metabolic syndrome.
And the effect doesn’t stop with eating the foods. Those toxins build up in your fat cells and impact you for a long time.
To avoid this problem, wash your produce well. If you can, buy organic produce.
- You need to eat more protein
When you eat protein, your body has to work hard to break it down. That boosts your metabolism and burns more calories.
Protein also speeds up the rate at which your body burns fat, and it builds muscle. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism runs.
- You’re not getting enough sleep
When you sleep, it resets your body and keeps your metabolism running.
More importantly, falling short on sleep can set your body on a road to metabolic disorders, or make existing metabolic problems worse. To avoid this, make sure that you are getting at least seven hours of sleep every night.
Thank goodness our metabolism isn’t a set rate and that there are things we can do to boost it! With these tips, you can rev up your metabolism in no time.
Karen is a Holistic Lifestyle & Fitness Expert on a mission to cut through the over-complicated B.S. around food, health and well-being so that busy women, can learn how to transform their bodies and nourish their souls so they can feel strong, fit and confident.
