Can You Boost Metabolism Without Pills?
Yes, the best way to boost your metabolism is through natural means, like diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes.
Alright, there are some great supplements out there that can help you increase your metabolism. However, if you really want to know how to increase metabolism in a more natural way, food and fitness are the names of the game.
Now, before I show you how to increase your metabolism, I want to give a little bit of explanation as to what metabolism actually is and how it works.
Metabolism is your body’s ability to take sustenance (food and drink) and turn it into energy. In this case, energy doesn’t necessarily mean stamina. I mean to say that the energy you get from food and drink doesn’t all go toward your workouts.
As a matter of fact, your body exerts energy while you’re at rest. So, even if you’re sitting down or inactive, your body still needs calories to burn. When your body is at rest, the amount of calories or sustenance you need to survive is known as your basal metabolic rate. You won’t be quizzed on that; I just thought it was a little fun fact.
Ultimately, the more calories you burn at rest, the higher your metabolism. And everyone is looking to get the coveted high metabolism. This is why you often hear people say that their weight issues come from a slow or low metabolism. What they really mean is they have a slow basal metabolic rate.
There are a lot of factors that affect your basal metabolic rate. These include your age, weight, and gender. That’s right, as women, we have a slight disadvantage in the metabolism department.
Luckily, there are ways to combat these factors.
If you aren’t sure where to begin, let me show you how to boost metabolism.
In This Article:
Boost Metabolism With Food
Boost Metabolism With Exercise
Boost Metabolism With Lifestyle Changes
How to Increase Your Metabolism
If you’re serious about learning how to speed up your metabolism, you may be in for a little bit of a shock. It may require a few lifestyle changes that you’re not prepared for. However, if you take your current routine and tweak it just a little bit, you’ll find that it’s not as difficult as it sounds.
So, stick with me, because I’m going to show you how to work toward that fast metabolism that everyone wants so bad.
There are three categories to focus on while you’re working to boost your metabolism: food, exercise, and lifestyle. While food and exercise seem to fit under the lifestyle category, I’ve separated them because they can stand on their own.
Let’s start by taking a look at how to boost your metabolism with fat-burning foods.
Boost Metabolism With Food
For anyone who wants to know how to increase metabolism without exercise, get ready to eat a little differently. When it comes to eating metabolism-boosting foods, you should consider the thermic effect of food.
Whoa … Okay … What the heck is that?
Don’t worry. It’s just one of those big terms that means something simple. The thermic effect of food is basically just how much energy (above that basal metabolic rate) your body needs to process food. That’s it.
So think of it like this: the basal metabolic rate is what your body burns at rest, and the thermic effect of food is what your body burns after you eat.
The more energy a food requires to process, the more fat it’s going to burn from your body.
Luckily, there are a lot of thermic foods that can help you boost your metabolism.
It’s always good to sneak these foods in your diet every day. If you aren’t sure how to do that, check out this article on meal prepping. Then, check out these foods you can add to your menu.
Spice Things Up
If you love spicy food, you are in for a treat. Adding spicy food to your diet can help you increase your metabolism.
More specifically, add foods with capsaicin (mostly found in spicy peppers). The capsaicin in foods may help you burn more calories. It’s one mighty metabolism-booster.
Not only does it help burn fat, but it can raise your body temperature to help you burn even more calories.
Here are a few foods that have capsaicin in them:
- Jalapeno peppers
- Cayenne pepper
- Bird’s eye chili
Various chili peppers have the capsaicin that can help boost metabolism and burn belly fat.
If spicy foods aren’t your thing, you may want to add some cooler effects to your menu.
Cool Things Down
Water is a great way to help you lose weight, but can it help increase metabolic rates? Yes, but it’s only temporary. That’s why it’s so important to drink water and stay hydrated throughout the day. Of course, there’s more to water. Check out this article on why water is so important.
However, you can’t just have the water alone. You need to add extra calories to your day to heat that water up.
“But I haaaateee water!”
Alright, alright. If you’re having trouble getting your daily water intake, check out these tips and tricks to getting more water in your system.
Don’t Forget Your Protein
Adding more protein to your diet can help boost your metabolism. However, like water, this boost is short-lived. Enough protein can give your metabolism a spike for a few hours.
Having meals rich in protein can help you keep that metabolism up. Or, if you’re having trouble getting those meals in, you may find that adding a protein supplement can help with your metabolism as well.
Otherwise, try adding these foods to your weekly menu:
- Fatty fish
- Lean beef
- Chicken
- Eggs
- Beans
- Nuts and seeds
Herbal Boosters
Herbal teas are perfect for boosting metabolism. They are full of vitamins and minerals that help your body burn calories, but they’re also low in calories.
Green tea is one of the best herbal teas to help you boost metabolism. It can help increase your metabolism by making it function more efficiently. Not to mention, there are tons of benefits to drinking green tea.
Additionally, peppermint tea can improve your metabolism by increasing your body temperature. Yes, increasing body temperature is a great way to burn more calories.
If you aren’t a fan of tea, remember that you can add other flavors to your teas and make them iced to make them more appealing. A few fresh blueberries or frozen peach slices in your green tea brings out a lot of flavor and masks any tea aftertaste.
Boost Metabolism With Exercise
While it’s possible to boost metabolism with food, exercise is one of the best ways to get faster results.
Now, if you were searching for ways to boost metabolism, so you didn’t have to exercise, you’re probably not going to be happy with what you’re about to learn.
I’m going to let you in on a little secret: women naturally tend to have more body fat than men. I won’t get into the details of why; I’ll just tell you that it makes our metabolism a little slower.
As a matter of fact, the more lean muscle you have, the faster your metabolism tends to be because lean muscle burns calories.
So, yes… one of the best ways to boost metabolism is to bulk up. Now, you don’t have to be a bodybuilder to have a higher metabolism, but you should lift weights.
Here, let me explain.
Make It Intense
While any form of movement or physical activity can help you improve your metabolism, high-intensity workouts tend to give better results.
High-intensity workouts often will increase your body temperature quickly. This helps you burn calories. Additionally, these workouts generally help you build muscle that can help your body sustain a higher metabolic rate.
If you do everything in your power to avoid exercise, you might be happy to know that many high-intensity workouts are often shorter than low-impact workouts. This can also help you if time is an issue.
Lift Weights For Results
I know we covered that building muscle can help increase your metabolism, but do you know how?
Ultimately, muscle works to burn fat while your body is at rest. That means that your basal metabolic rate tends to be higher if you have more lean muscle on your body.
Again, you don’t have to be a bodybuilder to take advantage of all of the benefits of lifting weights.
You may find that toning your arms and legs here and there gives you more energy as well.
Check out this article on weight lifting for beginners to learn more about how you can start adding weight training to your exercise schedule.
Boost Metabolism With Lifestyle Changes
The term “lifestyle changes” might seem intimidating to many people, and I totally understand. Not only do you have to evaluate what you currently do, but you also have to change it.
That can be really scary.
The secret to implementing lifestyle changes in your life is to take baby steps. And those baby steps should be as small as they need to be to keep you near your comfort zone.
So, I added the category of lifestyle changes here knowing that it would scare people, but when you look at how small these changes are, you might just laugh.
However, if some of these lifestyle changes look too intense, read through them. I’ll give you some tips and tricks on how to implement them.
Sleep Well
I hear your laughter. Sleep more? HA! Sleep well? HA!
It’s definitely easier said than done. As a matter of fact, sometimes, it’s impossible (especially when you’re thinking about it).
But sleep is essential for your metabolic rate because it can regulate your metabolism and keep high metabolism high.
So, the first thing you really need to know is how much sleep you actually need.
After you figure that out, it’s time to add sleep to your schedule.
Accept that it’s okay to go to bed. Accept that you deserve to rest. Accept that sleep helps your body mentally and physically.
Once you accept these things, figure out how to get to sleep. If possible, schedule a bedtime. Next, get your eyes off of electronics at least an hour before bed. Finally, create a sleeping environment that is perfect for you. Add pillows here, a softer blanket there. Where’s the fan? Add another one if you need more sound. Do what feels right in this situation.
Implementing these steps slowly can help you get into a natural sleep pattern that brings on deeper sleep. It’s a lifestyle change that you deserve.
If you’re having trouble falling asleep naturally, you may find that a sleep aid can help. Luckily, LadyBoss has formulated a sleep aid specifically for women. REST ® is a sleep and stress aid that is non-habit forming and helps you create the optimum sleep environment. It was designed to help you reach deeper and more restful sleep.
Sitting Is Your Enemy
They weren’t lying when they said that sitting is the new smoking. Sitting can be pretty dangerous to your health, actually.
And when your body is constantly at rest, your basal metabolic rate slows considerably. This happens because your body burns less and less as it gets used to being in a state of relaxation.
The best thing you can do about it is to get up. Walk around. Move. It’s that simple.
But that isn’t really simple. It can be easy to find yourself sitting for hours on end. Either you’re working or relaxing, and it can be dangerous. You have to move.
Don’t let distance working or quarantine be your excuse. Start moving. If possible, get a standing desk to keep your blood flowing.
If it’s almost impossible for you to stop sitting, consider a few tricks.
- Set a timer for once an hour to get up and walk for five minutes
- Slowly add stretches to your walks
- Drink more water (it’ll make you go to the bathroom more)
Do what you can to get your body moving… even if you have to trick yourself.
Reset With A Detox
If “lifestyle change” was scary to you, I bet “detox” is utterly terrifying. But I’ll let you in on a little secret about detoxing: it’s not permanent. As a matter of fact, it shouldn’t be. Detox diets shouldn’t last more than 30 days, and if they don’t give you a lot of calories, they shouldn’t last more than two weeks.
What a detox really does is resets your body. It brings you down to the bare essentials and pumps you full of the good stuff: vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein, etc.
And while detox diets reset a lot of functions of your body, they also reset your metabolism. That’s what makes them so great for when you hit plateaus in your weight loss.
I won’t lie. Detoxes can be tough to follow. However, if you do your best and stay away from the processed stuff, you will see changes in your body immediately.
If you aren’t sure how to begin with a detox, check out this one created by LadyBoss. It’s all about using the rainbow to get what your body needs.
Increase Your Metabolism With Three Simple Changes
Alright, maybe they aren’t the most simple changes in the world, but they’re effective.
Be sure to find the metabolism-boosting foods that help you burn calories. These include lean proteins, spicy foods, and herbal teas.
Additionally, add some high-intensity workouts to your week. They’ll be tough in the beginning, but your body will start thanking you in no time.
Don’t forget to add a little bit of weight training to your exercise schedule. Building that lean muscle will help keep your metabolism high when you’re resting.
Finally, there are some great lifestyle changes that you can implement to give your metabolism a boost. These lifestyle changes also boost mental and physical health, so don’t forget about them.
If you’re looking for more information on how to reset your metabolism, check out this article.
