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A fast and functional metabolism is one of the primary factors that determines how effectively you will be able to lose weight. Your metabolism dictates how quickly your body burns through fat even at rest, so the more efficient it is, the easier you will find it to lose weight without drastically cutting back on your food intake and depriving yourself of the dishes you love in the name of weight loss.
There are a number of ways in which you can boost your metabolism in order to see better results, improving the function of your body so that you can feel just as good in your skin as you look. As you work to bolster your overall health and create a healthier version of yourself, we rounded up the four things you should be doing daily for a faster metabolism to achieve weight loss with ease.
Eat Enough
Contrary to popular belief, starving yourself and dramatically reducing your food intake is not an effective way to lose weight and can actually have a dangerous impact on your metabolism over time, even causing weight gain as a result. “You must provide your body with adequate energy to sustain a normal metabolism. Recent studies have shown a reduction of the basal metabolic rate of ~500 calories per day on subjects that were on a calorie restricted diet for 6-8 weeks,” explains Jennifer Hanes MS, RDN.
“A 500 calorie reduction in BMR is highly significant and extremely difficult to overcome to induce weight loss. Luckily, those same subject's metabolic rate returned to normal a few weeks after returning to a more appropriate calorie intake.” Keeping your body well fed will allow your metabolism to increase as you aren’t left in starvation mode and are fueling yourself with energy needed for the day which you can then burn off. However, Hanes notes, “It would be more accurate to state that feeding your body well reduces the risk of lowering your metabolic rate.”
Lift Those Weights
Exercise is another great way to improve your metabolism and achieve healthy weight loss by creating a natural calorie deficit. “Exercise, particularly strength training exercises, has been shown to increase metabolic rate, though not by a huge amount. The exercise itself increases metabolic rate for some time after the exercise is completed,” explains Hanes. “However, larger muscles utilize more resources, so metabolic rate goes up some. Most people will feel proportionately hungrier and should be accommodated.” Although your appetite may get a boost when you increase your output, the more muscle you have on your body correlates with how many calories you burn at rest, thus boosting your metabolism. Not only is exercise great for creating a deficit, but it can also help bolster fat burn even outside of your activity period.
Take A Multivitamin
If you’re struggling with dietary restrictions then your metabolism may be the first thing to take a hit. With this, integrating a multivitamin into your morning routine is a great way to offer added nutrients to your body which can help to speed up your digestive process, in turn stoking fat burn. “[A multivitamin] will help to ensure you’re getting all the vitamins and minerals you need to carry out enzymatic processes,” notes Shena Jaramillo, RDN. Try the Ritual Women’s Multivitamin ($30), or the One A Day Women’s Active Metabolism Multivitamin ($9.35) for natural and healthy fat burning outside of your diet.
Prioritize Fiber
Tied back to eating enough, focusing on consuming more fibrous foods is another great way to improve your metabolism with ease. Fiber is essential for keeping a healthy digestive system, and this will in turn allow for your body to continuously burn through the fuel you’re providing it with. Jaramillo notes that fiber is likely included in some of your favorite foods, from fruits and vegetables, to pasta and whole grains. “This keeps digestion moving through the day,” she explains.
