It is a well known fact that some of us are born with the metabolism of a hummingbird, and some of us are not. If you are in the “non-hummingbird” category, there are at least 4 ways that you can increase a slow metabolism.

There will always be those that can devour food all day long and never gain a pound. There are also those that can drop weight a whole lot quicker than others if they try. And then, there are those that can diet for a week; lose one pound; cheat over the weekend, and gain 3 pounds. For the most part; assuming that there are no health issues, it’s simply a matter of metabolism. Do you have a good one? If you don’t, you’ll need to increase your metabolism to enjoy the fruit of your efforts.

How do you speed up a slow metabolism? It all depends on how you stoke the fire!

Here are 4 ways to increase a slow metabolism:

1. Select Your foods wisely
2. Eat at certain times according to your body
3. Increase your lean muscle mass
4. Whole body cleanse

   
   

Most of us can lose weight if we try, on any diet. Eat fewer calories than you burn and you’ll lose weight. That doesn’t make weight loss healthy. And, weighing less doesn’t always mean there was a health improvement. Dieting can cause a slow metabolism.

Some foods just don’t help your metabolism. There are good and bad ways to lose weight if you want to improve health, boost your metabolism, and keep it off: That’s how dieting, food and metabolism are all related.

Here’s how: Foods that are broken down, or processed quickly, like sugars and carbohydrates, cause a rise in insulin. Your body just doesn’t have to work very hard to break them down and send them where they need to go. But what if the storehouse is full? Most of this energy will go to your muscles, but they only need so much. The rest will be stored as fat. It’s just not needed for energy if you’re not actively burning that stored fuel. Because your body didn’t have to work very hard to convert those calories to energy, your metabolism is not having to work very hard either. Storing fat must be quite simple!

If you want to increase your metabolism by burning the calories you eat, you’re going to have to give it something that it can burn a little longer, and more frequently.

Foods high in fiber will slow the breaking-down process and allow your metabolism to take longer to do its job. Eating high fiber foods has many benefits already. Eating foods high in fiber stops the insulin spike that can lead to diabetic tendencies over time. Foods high in fiber keep the fire burning longer. Protein and fats take longer to process also and are an important part of an overall health plan.

Vitamin C fruits have a fat-burning quality to them, and Pectin, which is found in fruits, helps prevent fat absorption. You’ll have to eat the whole fruit to benefit from the fiber and the metabolism-boosting qualities. Forget about just drinking juice. You’re back to quick-processing again.

Garlic helps to break down fat and has heart-healthy benefits as well.

Essential Fatty Acids, in Omega oils aid in fat burning and weight loss. This healthy fat is one you’ll want to keep in your body and boost brain health, fight depression, decrease inflammation, and much more.

Peppers, like Cayenne and chilies are known to help increase the metabolism and strangely enough help aid in digestion.

Other foods that help increase metabolism and burn fat: eggs, low-fat dairy products, olive oil, green tea, and beans; talk about fiber!

There are rules:

• Always eat breakfast. People who skip breakfast are 5 times as likely to be obese.

• Include protein with your breakfast to keep you full longer and process slowly.

• Make lunch the biggest meal of the day. Eat it while you can burn it!
• Eat frequent, small meals to prevent hunger and keep the fire burning.

The idea is to increase your metabolism by keeping it going all day; not just at times when you dump huge amounts of calories in at one time. Eating huge amounts of food at one time tells your body to store some for later because you may not have any food for a long time!

Try “a little here, a little there”. When you go all day without food, as some like to do, you can actually create a slow metabolism by putting your body in “starvation mode” and letting it think that when you do eat, there won’t be another meal around for a long time; just like overeating. Now you can see how eating frequent, small meals can boost your metabolism, and not allow for stored fat.

Dieting can decrease your lean muscle tissue; which can in turn lower your metabolism. Your body needs carbohydrates, or glucose, for fuel and dieters sometimes cut them out thinking they will lose more weight. Your brain needs a constant supply of glucose to function. Have you ever noticed dieters are moody and grouchy? And you thought it was because they were deprived! If the body doesn’t get the carbohydrates it needs to function properly, it will break down protein, or muscle tissue to convert to glucose.

Lean muscle tissue burns calories even at rest. The more muscle one has, the more calories are being burned on a daily basis for a smokin’ metabolism.

Since exercise is not everyone’s favorite pastime, you need to seek out ways to burn calories without moving. One way is to increase muscle tissue, and you know how to do that. Another way is to know what exercises burn more calories than others in order to speed up the metabolism.

Research shows that high intensity interval training results in a higher fat loss than regular sustained exercise. Interval training, by adding short bursts of exercise with slow recovery periods can increase your metabolism. You can add interval training into any exercise program.

Interval training, combined with strength training, to increase lean muscle tissue is a double whammy for increasing your metabolism. You will have to up your protein to get those muscles to grow. That doesn’t mean you have to eat like a bodybuilder. It just means you can’t increase lean muscle mass on a high carb diet. The bonus is that your body continues to burn calories long after you stop exercising.

Your body is full of bad stuff: drugs, environmental chemicals, cellular and metabolic waste. You have 3 main organs that are responsible for elimination of toxins and wastes: the liver, kidneys and colon. If they’re not functioning properly, there will be a build up of toxins. When our internal organs are clogged they can help contribute to a slow metabolism in the same way that dirty air filters cannot function at full capacity.

The kidneys filter toxins from the blood. Yes, you can live with just one, but try to keep both of them. The liver helps to metabolize proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, while filtering all the medications, alcohol and poisons that come into our body. It is essential to good health to have a healthy, clean liver. We know what the colon does and why it is important to keep things moving.

A Whole Body Cleanse can be accomplished naturally by using herbs and plant extracts chosen for their cleansing ability for centuries. As a nutritional cleansing coach, I’ve seen the benefits of allowing the body to do what it naturally can do when our organs are free of impurities. Going thru with a whole body cleanse also allows the brain to focus with more mental clarity.

In order to boost your metabolism, you’ll need to put a plan in place and take some time to have the changes affect your body. Doctors state that it can take about 30 days to affect the way the liver processes calories, toxins, and stored nutrients. As with anything, you should see changes in your body if you stick with it.

The first thing you may notice is an increase in appetite to feed your new lean muscle tissue you are developing, as well as help sustain your new energy levels. Just be sure to follow the plan above to increase your metabolism instead of adding fat. Your activity level and food choices can increase, or slow your metabolism. Now, you’re in control.

Becky is an Internet Network Marketing coach in Health and Wellness; helping business owners learn how to attract their own prospects on the Internet. Getting a nutritional coach is a bonus! Contact Becky for more information on how to create an endless source of prospects for any business, or for free nutritional coaching on cleansing to improve your health.