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It doesn't take long for any dieter to realize that success in weight loss is directly linked to how fast your metabolism moves. Sure, you have to burn more calories than you eat if you... |
It doesn’t take long for any dieter to realize that success in weight loss is directly linked to how fast your metabolism moves. Sure, you have to burn more calories than you eat if you want to see a reduction on the scale, but you that burning of calories comes down to your metabolism. If you metabolism isn’t moving along at its optimum pace, then you can eat all of the salads you want – you’re still not going to lose a pound. The good news, however, is that there are steps you can take to make your metabolism take off and start burning up that fat. When you need to send your metabolism into overdrive, give these steps a try.
The first one may make a lot of dieters nervous – eat more! The first instinct everyone has when they are dieting is to see how far back they cut their caloric intake without passing out. This is not a good way to keep your metabolism moving. When you restrict your calories too much, your metabolism thinks you are starving. To help you survive this starvation period, it refrains from burning any fat, winds down operations to a bare minimum and converts as many of the calories you do eat into extra fat as it possible can. That crash diet you’re doing will make you fatter if you stay on it long enough. Don’t be fooled by the initial feeling of weight loss you might experience after drastically cutting your calories. That weight is water weight, and it will come back even before you finish your diet. Don’t let your metabolism idle without the fuel it needs. If you want it to run well, give it the calories it wants to do its job.
Next, consider the foods you are eating. For a short time, you could exists on a diet of junk food and still lose weight, as long as you were eating fewer calories than you were burning. The thing is, once you keep eating that diet for a long time, the amount of calories you burn every day would decrease because your metabolism isn’t supported by these foods. Sugar gives your metabolism a big boost, and then it drops it way down. That leaves you craving more food, and when you do eat again, your metabolism saves those calories as fat, since the last food you gave it didn’t last it too long. Instead of sugar, give your metabolism whole grains, high fiber, and high protein foods. It takes a lot of work for your body to break these down, so your metabolism stays active longer.
Last but not least, stand up and move! Exercise is the best way to keep your metabolic rate high, so try to get some every day. Even if all you can do is get off the bus one stop early or park further away from the mall, do it. Your metabolism will thank you for the energy, and you’ll reap the rewards the next time you weigh in.