Simple Lifestyle Changes That Increase Your Metabolic Rate

If you want to increase your metabolic rate, eating the right foods and doing the right exercise is a key part. 

However, you also need to make sure you’re leading a lifestyle that promotes optimal calorie burning. 

Below are 5 top lifestyle tips to help boost your metabolic rate.

How to Increase Your Metabolic Rate #1: Don’t Overdose on Caffeine

When consumed in moderation, caffeine can actually give your metabolism a boost. 

However, overdosing on caffeine can do the complete opposite by interfering with your body’s internal processes and causing you to become dehydrated. This has a negative effect on your metabolism and reduces the amount of calories you burn each day. To prevent this from happening limit your consumption to a maximum of three caffeinated drinks per day. 

This will allow you to enjoy plenty of black tea, coffee or green tea during the day with adversely affecting the amount of calories you burn.

How to Increase Your Metabolic Rate #2: Stay Active

Everyday is full of opportunities to stay active, burn some extra calories and increase your metabolism. 

However, most people don’t look for these opportunities. And as a result they don’t use up as many calories as they could during the day. To make the most of these opportunities, be more aware of the options available to you and choose the one that’s best for your metabolism. For example, if you have a choice between taking the lift or the stairs, take the stairs. If you’re planning to use the car for a short journey, can you walk, jog or cycle instead? Get off the bus or tube a stop early and walk the last part of your journey. 

Doing this will significantly increase your metabolism and allow you to burn plenty of extra calories each day.

How to Increase Your Metabolic Rate #3: Moderate Alcohol Consumption

Like caffeine, alcoholic drinks are something that can be enjoyed in moderation, but when consumed excessively, they will slow down your metabolism. 

The reason for this is that large amounts of alcohol cause your body to become dehydrated and this inhibits your metabolism and limits the total daily calories you burn. Additionally, alcohol can limit how effectively you recover after exercise. 

To prevent alcohol having a negative impact on your metabolism limit your consumption to 2-3 alcoholic drinks per week.

How to Increase Your Metabolic Rate #4: Stay Hydrated

As mentioned above, dehydration slows down your metabolism and reduces the total number of calories you burn each day. 

Staying hydrated has the opposite effect. It helps maintain an optimal metabolism and maximises the amount of calories you burn each day. To ensure you stay hydrated, consume a minimum of 2 litres of water per day. There are plenty of different foods and drinks that can help you achieve this target. So even if you aren’t a top fan of water, it’s still easy to stay hydrated. 

Simply enjoy water-rich fruits (such as grapefruit and melon) and water-rich vegetables (such as broccoli and spinach) regularly and you’ll easily stay hydrated and burn the maximum amount of calories possible each day.

How to Increase Your Metabolic Rate #5: Get Lots of Sleep

Getting at lest 6 hours or more of high quality sleep each night boosts your metabolism in numerous ways. 

First, it stimulates the release of growth hormone, which burns fat and builds muscle. (Muscle cells burn 3 times more calories than fat cells, so naturally raise your metabolic rate). Secondly, its ensures that all your vital organs function optimally and prevents your metabolism from slowing down. 

So if you’re not currently getting at least 6 hours of quality sleep on a nightly basis, make the effort to improve your sleep patterns from today.

Final Words on How to Increase Your Metabolic Rate 

When combined with a diet that’s rich in metabolism-boosting foods and drinks, and a consistent metabolism-boosting workout plan, these simple tips will help you to maximise the calories you burn on a daily basis. So take another look, make sure you’re implementing all five and give your metabolism a kick.

Any Questions?

If you have any questions about boosting your metabolism, get in touch with Pete via his profile or website to discover how he can help you to realise your strength and fitness goals.