A great way of reducing your overall weight is to naturally speed up your metabolism.
Most people are already aware of what a metabolism is. But just in case you don't
know, here is a brief overview of what your metabolism is and how you can speed up
metabolism to get rid of those extra pounds.
A person with a high metabolism
can generally eat more food without putting on weight than
a person with a low metabolism.
It is not hard to see who has a high metabolism and who
has a low metabolism. You probably know people who can
stuff themselves all day long and never seem to get fat,
and of course there are those who only have to take one
look at a pizza and their waists expand by 3 inches (joke).
When it comes to speeding up your metabolism, naturally there are some things that are
under your control and there are some things unfortunately that you can do nothing about.
Age: As we get older, our metabolism slows down. This does not mean that you cannot influence it naturally and speed it up, but it does mean that you can't speed your metabolism up as much as if you were only in your thirties.
Gender: Men generally have a higher metabolism than women, owing to the fact that they have more muscle-tissue. However, if you are a woman, don't let this physiological fact put you off from learning how to speed up your metabolism. In 30 years of being associated with the weight loss industry, I have seen very few men who can match a women in terms of the discipline required to lose weight successfully.
Hereditary factors: Yes, metabolism can be hereditary. A fast or slow metabolism can depend on your forefathers. But don't let hereditary metabolic rate put you off. You can still speed it up.
Lastly, Thyroid disorder: An underactive or overactive thyroid gland can slow down or speed up a person's metabolism, but fortunately these conditions only affect about 3% of the western population -- and I have witnessed many people lose weight regardless of having a thyroid disorder.
So, how do you speed up your metabolism?
Well, one of the finest ways to speed up your metabolism is through exercise, and preferably some kind of aerobics. Exercise encourages the body to take in oxygen which is not only vital to stay alive but also important in burning off excess calories. When exercising, your prime goal should be to increase your heart rate, then to maintain that increased rate for about twenty minutes each day. Don't think it's just about jogging! Personally, I know of no finer way to burn off that unwanted fat than the amazing Kettlebell routines.
Eat smaller portions of healthy food more regularly throughout the day. If you only eat a little three times a day, the body may go into a "starvation mode" which in turn slows down the metabolism. A great rule to obey if you are trying to speed up your metabolism is "don't get hungry."
Eat more fat-burning foods. There are more details of why and how fat burning foods work to speed up your metabolism on this page. But here is a useful list of foods to seek out:-
