Ten Sure-Fire Ways to Boost Your Metabolism
“Improving” your metabolism isn’t as easy as working out or eating less
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1. Don’t Skip Breakfast
Make a promise to yourself that you will not leave for office till you have a healthy, hearty breakfast. Skipping breakfast can leave you hungry, tired and looking for high-fat foods later in the day, precisely why people who don’t have breakfast are overweight and have high triglycerides levels.
2. Eat Small Meals When You’re Hungry
Plan your day by having three major meals and 2 to 3 healthy snacks in between. Never ever miss a meal because that leads to indigestion, acidity and your body enters starvation mode, which slows down the metabolic rate. If you’re hungry you should eat.
3. Healthy Snacking
Avoid snacking on namkeens, bhujias, fried items like samosas, chips or any fried food. Munch on some fruits, nuts, channas or buttermilk and coconut water.
4. Plenty of Fluids
Fluids not only help to remove the toxins from your system but also help in weight loss and make your skin glow. Your daily target should be a minimum of 2.5 to 3 liters, including water or any other low-calorie beverage.
5. Green Tea, Avocados and Nuts
Green tea contains chemical compounds that increase your body’s internal furnace. Drinking it every day keeps the calories burning. Avocados are rich in omega-3 fatty acids that regulate your blood sugar and inflammation, which can keeps your metabolism steady. Raw nuts and seeds are rich in micronutrients and anti-oxidants which you might not be getting through your diet.
6. Detox At least Once a Month
Eliminate caffeine, alcohol, processed and canned foods, salt, sugar, wheat and red meat, while focusing on pure foods such as raw fruits and vegetables, whole grains (excluding white rice), lentils, raw nuts and seeds, fish, vegetable oils and lots of fluids.
Related Read: Doing Everything Right and Still Not Losing Weight? Here’s Why
7. Go Colourful With Your Diet
The more colourful your diet, the more anti-oxidants you get. These compounds reduce overall cellular damage and prevent the hardening of the arteries that can lead to heart disease, stroke, even memory loss. Each day, try to include at least five different coloured fruits or vegetables in your meals.
8. Watch Your Weight
Know your BMI (basal metabolic index= weight in kg divided by height in meter square) and keep it between 23-25 or else see an expert.
9. Exercise
Working out is super-important for your metabolism (and also your general health). And interval training and resistance training are the best. Interval training and weight training build more muscle which is equal to a better metabolism.
10. Nurture Yourself
Treat yourself well, eat well, get enough sleep, don’t be self-critical and eventually you would love yourself for what you are.
(Ritika Samaddar lives by the mantra, ‘Eating healthy and living every moment to its fullest’. She is the Regional Head of Dietetics at Max Healthcare with over 17 years of experience in the field of Nutrition).
Ever wondered why the diet your bestie swears by doesn’t work for you? You overhaul your lifestyle, do everything right and still the bulge refuses to budge? So what gives?
Let me tell you, calories in, calories out doesn’t even begin to cover it. Metabolism is one of those sciencey terms that is often quoted and misquoted. Everyone is born with a ‘set point’ that our body establishes as our ideal weight and metabolic rate. When we consume more than we need to without increasing the amount of physical activity, the set point shifts.
For a healthy metabolism, you need to eat. Even better news: Certain foods have the potential to boost your metabolism rate.
These are my top 10 picks:
1. Don’t Skip Breakfast
Make a promise to yourself that you will not leave for office till you have a healthy, hearty breakfast. Skipping breakfast can leave you hungry, tired and looking for high-fat foods later in the day, precisely why people who don’t have breakfast are overweight and have high triglycerides levels.
2. Eat Small Meals When You’re Hungry
Plan your day by having three major meals and 2 to 3 healthy snacks in between. Never ever miss a meal because that leads to indigestion, acidity and your body enters starvation mode, which slows down the metabolic rate. If you’re hungry you should eat.
3. Healthy Snacking
Avoid snacking on namkeens, bhujias, fried items like samosas, chips or any fried food. Munch on some fruits, nuts, channas or buttermilk and coconut water.
4. Plenty of Fluids
Fluids not only help to remove the toxins from your system but also help in weight loss and make your skin glow. Your daily target should be a minimum of 2.5 to 3 liters, including water or any other low-calorie beverage.
5. Green Tea, Avocados and Nuts
Green tea contains chemical compounds that increase your body’s internal furnace. Drinking it every day keeps the calories burning. Avocados are rich in omega-3 fatty acids that regulate your blood sugar and inflammation, which can keeps your metabolism steady. Raw nuts and seeds are rich in micronutrients and anti-oxidants which you might not be getting through your diet.
6. Detox At least Once a Month
Eliminate caffeine, alcohol, processed and canned foods, salt, sugar, wheat and red meat, while focusing on pure foods such as raw fruits and vegetables, whole grains (excluding white rice), lentils, raw nuts and seeds, fish, vegetable oils and lots of fluids.
Related Read: Doing Everything Right and Still Not Losing Weight? Here’s Why
7. Go Colourful With Your Diet
The more colourful your diet, the more anti-oxidants you get. These compounds reduce overall cellular damage and prevent the hardening of the arteries that can lead to heart disease, stroke, even memory loss. Each day, try to include at least five different coloured fruits or vegetables in your meals.
8. Watch Your Weight
Know your BMI (basal metabolic index= weight in kg divided by height in meter square) and keep it between 23-25 or else see an expert.
9. Exercise
Working out is super-important for your metabolism (and also your general health). And interval training and resistance training are the best. Interval training and weight training build more muscle which is equal to a better metabolism.
10. Nurture Yourself
Treat yourself well, eat well, get enough sleep, don’t be self-critical and eventually you would love yourself for what you are.
(Ritika Samaddar lives by the mantra, ‘Eating healthy and living every moment to its fullest’. She is the Regional Head of Dietetics at Max Healthcare with over 17 years of experience in the field of Nutrition).
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Published: 06 Feb 2016,04:59 PM IST