Movement and Metabolism
Jarrett DeLeon, April 14th 2021
“What you want is to rev up your metabolism so that you are burning fat and calories, not preserving fat and calories”
Kathy Freston
There are a variety of healthy living behaviors that can greatly benefit your health. In this blog, we will be covering what movement and other healthy behaviors can do to help boost your metabolism.
Moving more matters. While there are different exercises or activities that target your metabolism, simple things like taking the stairs can make a real difference in improving your metabolic function. Your metabolism includes all of the things your body does to turn food into energy and keep you going. Some people have a faster metabolism than others. Some things that affect whether your metabolism is fast or slow include things that are genetic like your age, gender, and genes. Once you find out that it is normal, speeding it up is up to you. Focus on what really does make a difference for your metabolism: Exercise, healthy eating and maintaining a healthy and lean body composition.
Exercise can increase your metabolism. Specifically, aerobic exercise is a great way to boost your metabolism. Cardiovascular exercise such as running, swimming, aerobics, walking stimulates your metabolism, helps you burn calories and can suppress your appetite after your workout. If you make your workouts even more intense, your body will burn even more calories.
- Another way to boost your metabolism is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). HIIT involves intense intervals at an all-out effort, paired with periods of recovery. It is very efficient and keeps burning calories even after you’ve stopped sweating. Another benefit is that with more oxygen flowing through our muscles, we’re able to recover faster.
- Weightlifting is one of the most effective ways to send our metabolism into overdrive. Muscle is made up of metabolically active tissue; this means it requires energy to be built, used and even maintained. Muscle mass burns a greater amount of calories than fat, so spending time on the weights will not only help boost metabolism, but prepare for future fat loss.
- The most simple thing you can do to boost your metabolism is to WALK! When walking, you increase your metabolism with a higher degree of speed, endurance and inclination. Your metabolism burns through calories to sustain your energy levels during a walk. By increasing your personal effort when walking, your body increases its demand for energy, which increases your metabolism.
In addition to exercise, a few other lifestyle considerations to increase your metabolism include:
- Eating plenty of plant protein in every meal is a great way to boost your metabolism. Eating more healthy protein options can boost your metabolism so that you can burn more calories as well as help you eat less.
- Eating foods that contain a lot of carbohydrates is also a great way to lose weight. Foods that are rich in carbohydrates are low in calories. There are plenty of vegetables that hold a lot of carbohydrates, like beans and grains. Those foods are very helpful in the process of weight loss, as well as boosting your metabolism
- Hydrate. Something as simple as drinking water can boost your metabolism. Water has the ability to help you lose weight and keep it off. It increases your metabolism and helps fill you up before meals.
- Sleep more soundly. Insufficient sleep is linked to a major increase in the risk of obesity. Lack of sleep can decrease the number of calories you burn and change the way your body processes sugar and disrupt your appetite-regulating hormones. Getting enough sleep can go a long way in boosting your metabolism.
If you were to go on a diet where your caloric intake is lowered, your body will think you are starving and it will trigger your body to slow down your metabolism. If you are trying to lose weight, it should be a gradual process instead of slowing down your metabolism completely in the process.
All of these options are proven to help boost your metabolism. It’s up to you on which one you want to do. You will be doing more than just helping your metabolism. Your heart, bones, and even your mood will benefit from this. It’s a win all around.
Stay Well!
Transformer Jarrett 🙂
The Transform Lifestyle Medicine Alliance Team
Transformer – Jarrett DeLeon
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