5 Ways To Boost Your Metabolism

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Last Updated on December 28, 2021 by Lori Geurin

Losing weight is often a difficult task. The most successful lose weight by making healthy lifestyle changes, rather than starving themselves or working out for hours on end. One key to losing weight and boosting your metabolism naturally is finding ways that you can be more active in your daily life. This blog post will give you five simple things that will help boost your metabolism without too much extra work.

Plus, you’ll find out what extreme weight loss can do to your metabolism.

The Risks of Losing Weight Too Fast

Are there any negative consequences to losing weight too rapidly? And, just because we can reduce weight quickly, does it imply that we should?

There are several ways to speed up fat loss without making yourself sick or starving your body, and they’re not as difficult as following a strict meal plan.

You’ll discover how to safely boost your metabolism, as well as a few unexpected benefits of reducing weight for your body and mind.

Side Effects of Losing Weight Too Fast

When you drop weight too rapidly, it can be dangerous to your health. Here are some of the ways that rapid weight loss might harm your health.

Nutritional deficiencies
Muscle loss
Dehydration
Constant hunger
Mental health concerns
Slowed metabolism

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boost metabolism naturally / woman eating a bowl of strawberries

In this article, we’ll investigate what crash diets do to your metabolism using what we’ve learned from The Biggest Loser.

Metabolism is highly individualized and can change throughout your lifetime. Mine has shifted several times based on hormones, pregnancies, intermittent fasting, weight loss, chronic illness, and muscle gain and loss.

Maybe you can relate?

This video gives you 5 simple ways to boost your metabolism and lose weight.

Effects Of Extreme Weight Loss To Boost Your Metabolism

A recent study published in the medical journal, Obesity, measured the effects of extreme weight loss on the basal metabolic rate (BMR), resting metabolic rate (RMR), and body composition of 14 former contestants from The Biggest Loser.

The study focused on how the contestants were doing six years after losing all the weight. Four of them now weigh more than when they were on the show, and all but one of the contestants have gained a significant amount of the weight back.

One contestant, Danny Cahill, lost an astounding 239 pounds in seven months. (I didn’t even know this was humanly possible!) But in the years since his extreme weight loss, he gained more than 100 pounds back.

When a person loses an extreme amount of weight it’s normal for their metabolic rate to slow down because people who weigh less require fewer calories to maintain the same weight than someone who weighs more.

Makes sense, right?

Normally we’d expect the body to adjust to the weight loss and the metabolism to adjust to the new weight. But that’s not what happened with most of the former contestants in the study.

The researchers found that even after the contestants gained a significant amount of weight back, their metabolic rate continued to slow. It was lower than other people who weighed the same.

It was as if their bodies were doing everything possible to prevent them from losing more weight or even maintaining their new weight.

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What Is Metabolism?

The metabolism is the sum of all activities our body performs to convert the nutrients we consume (calories) into energy that our bodies can utilize.

You may have heard that each of us has a magic weight or a set point. This is the weight our bodies strive to maintain.

It may be simple for our body to maintain this weight, but maintaining it beyond this point might seem challenging.

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When we lose weight our BMR slows down. It reduces the number of calories we burn when we’re at rest. (2) Some of the former Biggest Loser contestants had a BMR much lower than would be expected of someone who had the same body composition and weight.

This is also why we hear yo-yo dieting isn’t good. Each time we gain and lose (and gain and lose) weight it impacts our metabolic rate and body composition.

The Biggest Loser contestants lost an incredible amount of weight. Many of us gain and lose only ten or fifteen pounds at a time, but even so, it can change our BMR. And doing this repeatedly makes it more difficult to lose weight the next time.

Despite these findings, there’s hope for anyone wanting to lose weight. In fact, there are several things you can do to speed up your metabolism and boost your weight loss results.

woman eating a healthy smoothie bowl with fruit and nuts

5 Ways To Boost Your Metabolism Naturally

Here are 5 healthy tips to increase your metabolism.

1. Strength Training

Simply put, the more muscle you have the more calories you burn.

In addition to lifting weights or using resistance bands, there are so many bodyweight workouts you can do that will help build lean muscle mass. There are many free workouts available online, like these free bodyweight workouts on YouTube.

Here are 100+ fitness motivation quotes to inspire you.

Strength Training Apps

I have a couple of fitness apps on my phone that I love. Most don’t require any equipment and are free. Currently, I’m using:

Seven – This one is based on the 7-Minute Workout concept. It works all the major muscle groups and only takes 7 minutes to complete.
30 Day Push Up Challenge – Push-ups are great for building and toning muscles in the arms (obviously), core and back.
5 Minute Planks – Call me crazy, but I love planks! There, I said it. They’re great for building muscle tone in the abs, back, and entire body.
SWORKIT – One of my favorites! This allows you to choose between strength training, yoga, stretching, or cardio workouts. You can also specify how long you want the workout to last.

I tend to use an app for a while, get bored with it, then try another one but do what works for you!

Wondering what foods help boost your metabolism? Keep in mind that your body needs plenty of high-quality protein to build muscle.

2. Eat Whole Foods (And Stay Away From Processed Junk)

Consuming processed foods like prepackaged snack foods, artificial colors (or artificial anything) can slow down your metabolism and mess with your thyroid and hormones.

The body treats them as toxins, so it’s crucial to limit convenience foods as much as possible.

Examples of Whole Foods

Focus on eating a diet rich in whole foods such as:

Grass-fed beef
Eggs
Fish
Fresh fruits
Leafy green vegetables
Healthy fats
Whole grains
Nuts and seeds

These foods have all the building blocks our bodies need to support a strong metabolism.

For more healthy eating ideas here are 41 Sneaky Ways To Eat More Vegetables (With Recipes!).

3. Get Plenty Of Sleep

When you don’t get enough sleep your metabolism slows down to save energy. (3)

And when your body is sleep-deprived it isn’t able to regulate your blood sugar as effectively either. This can lead to hunger pains and increase your cravings for food.

Aim for 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night to keep your metabolic furnace burning.

4. Drink Green Tea

Green tea, oolong tea, and coffee have all been shown to increase metabolism.

These teas turn stored fat into free fatty acids, raising your fat-burning potential by a whopping 10 to 17%. Plus, they’re full of antioxidants and taste refreshing and delicious!

5. Drink Ice Water

Okay, we all know we should be drinking lots of water to stay healthy. But did you know that drinking cold water can speed up your metabolism?

Your body uses caloric energy to heat up icy cold water. This cooling process is called thermogenesis. N-ice.

How much water should you drink? Simply take your total weight in pounds and divide it by 2. This is the amount of water you’ll drink in ounces.

For instance, a woman who weighs 150 pounds should aim to drink at least 75 ounces of water each day to boost her metabolism and lose weight.

Related: 6 Health Tips For Summer

Metabolism Boosting Foods

Choosing the right foods can have a huge impact on your metabolism. Here are 8 of the top foods (and drinks) to help boost your metabolism:

1. Coffee

Coffee, which is one of the most antioxidant-dense (and popular) beverages in the world, may optimize metabolic rate.

2. Green Tea

Green tea is refreshing and healthy. Tea contains catechins, which are health-boosting chemicals that may work with caffeine to boost metabolism.

3. Lean Proteins

Protein-rich foods may boost your metabolism for a few hours after eating. This is due to the additional energy required to break down these foods. The is called the thermic effect of food (TEF).

4. Healthy Fats

Healthy fats, such as medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil, have the potential to boost metabolism.

5. Fiber-Rich Foods

Legumes and beans are high-protein plant foods that provide dietary fiber.

7. Chili Peppers

Chili peppers are a type of plant that is grown mostly in Mexico and Central America. They are used both as food and for medicinal purposes. There are many different species of chili peppers, but they all contain a chemical called capsaicin, which is a natural thermogenic compound that helps your body temperature increase more during digestion, which may give your metabolism a boost.

8. Water

Water is essential for life. Not only is it necessary for hydration, but drinking enough water may also help to boost metabolism. Some studies show that drinking water may briefly boost metabolism by 24–30%. This means that if you’re looking to lose weight, drinking water can be a simple way to help jumpstart your metabolism and lose more weight.

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Conclusion – How To Increase Metabolism for Weight Loss

As you can see, going on extreme crash diets can be really hard on your metabolism. Losing weight too fast isn’t sustainable over the long term. Plus, it can cause unwanted symptoms like dehydration, muscle loss, nutritional deficiencies, and feeling hungry all the time.

Understanding the impact rapid weight loss had on The Biggest Loser contestants will help you make a better weight loss plan that works over the long haul…not just the short term.

There are several strategies for speeding up your metabolism including strength training, eating whole foods, drinking green tea and ice water, and making quality sleep a priority.

Focusing on your wellness – and not trying to lose weight too fast – will help you maintain your health and weight loss long-term.

There are many natural ways to increase your metabolism and lose weight. With a little bit of research, you can find out how to be more active in order to boost your metabolic rate. There is no need for dangerous diet pills or medical procedures that will leave you feeling worse than when you started!

If this article has given you the motivation needed to get healthy, we’re happy!

Printable Weight Loss Tracker

We created our Weight Loss Tracker printable to help you lose weight, stay motivated, and celebrate your wins. You can find the printable weight loss tracker pdf in our Thrive Berry Etsy shop or simply click the image below to go there.

Thoughts about The Biggest Loser Study? Have any natural tips for boosting your metabolism? Share below!