If you’re looking to lose weight or get healthy, it's important to have a healthy metabolism so that your body can convert body fat and food into energy. Many people have a 'slow metabolism' which is
caused by hormonal imbalances that make it hard to lose weight, especially with age.
For example you may have stubborn belly fat that can't seem to shift no matter how much dieting or exercise you do.
You may have continuous cravings for junk foods because certain hormones like cortisol or insulin aren't working properly inside your body.
You may not be having a bowel movement every day and you're constipated because of a metabolic imbalance.
You may feel constantly fatigued and tired with brain fog even after a good night's sleep, You may be losing your hair very suddenly because minerals are not being metabolised or your thyroid gland isn't up to scratch and your body may struggle to adapt to the heat or the cold because the metabolism controls your body temperature.
Now although the metabolism is very complex, what you need to know is that the metabolism is mostly controlled by hormones, Chemical messengers that travel through your blood and tell your body when to burn body fat for energy,when to store it for the future, and thousands of other different commands.
Today we will be exploring the top 10 ways to stimulate these fat burning hormones in right way so that you can burn off body fat and boost your metabolism. Just a quick reminder this article is for educational purposes only, so do speak to your doctor if you have any medical concerns.
1. Apple Cider Vinegar
One of the best ways to improve fat burning metabolism is by drinking 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in 8oz of water before each meal, with a straw.
The acetic acid in ACV improves the quality of the digestive juices in your stomach.
It helps to trigger the release of digestive enzymes and bile so that you can break down foods better and absorb more nutrients.
It also helps to keep your blood sugars stable after you eat, allowing your cells to burn fat and sugar more effectively for fuel.
2. Lift Weights
Every pound of muscle that you gain, causes your body to burn an extra 35-50 calories each day.
So if you follow a hypertrophy muscle training program and gain 10 pounds of muscle, you can burn an extra 350-500 calories each day, or up to 3,500 per week when your just resting or sitting at home.
3. Timed Eating (5 Hours)
Start eating all of your calories for the day in a 5 hour window, such as between the hours of 12-5pm.
This allows your body to fast for 19 hours per day, giving your metabolism and digestive system lots of time to clean out the system and put all of the energy where it needs to be.
This is fantastic for fixing a sluggish metabolism, because fasting raises growth hormone (HGH) by up to 2000%, the main fat burning hormone that also helps you to build muscle.
Timed eating also makes your cells more insulin sensitive, so that they can accept more fuel from ketones (fat) and sugar (glucose) so that you can lose weight faster.
You can still eat the same amount of food that you normally would, but you keep it within this 5 hour window.
This is called intermittent fasting and has been used in India for thousands of years to maintain a healthy metabolism and also to prevent disease.
4. Sea Vegetables (Trace Minerals)
Many of the soils that we grow our crops and produce in, are depleted of important trace minerals like iodine, selenium, phosphorus, chromium etc… Because of over farming and the use of chemical pesticides.
These minerals are very important to use as they play a role in keeping our metabolism working properly.
However we can still get these essential minerals into our diet by eating foods that are grown in the sea.
Sea vegetables like kelp, sea bean, dulse, nori, Irish moss and kombu are rich in important minerals especially iodine and selenium which help our bodies produce thyroid hormones, that regulate our metabolism.
So start eating these 1-2x per week as a side dish to keep your body stocked up on trace minerals.
5. Lower Insulin (Herbs & Spices)
Insulin is the fat-storage hormone that converts any extra calories that you eat into body fat.
It does this to keep your blood sugars under control and also to preserve energy in your body (fat) to use at a later time.
The problem is, most people consume far too much sugar, refined flour based foods and grains which spikes the blood sugars and raises insulin.
When there's too much insulin in the blood it's almost impossible to lose weight because it keeps creating more body fat (adipose tissue).
Start eating herbs and spices that help your cells to accept insulin, which lowers the need for it in your blood,and automatically it will be easier for your body to burn and metabolise body fat,Start consuming cinnamon, turmeric, green tea, fenugreek seeds, garlic and ginger in your home cooked meals to speed up your metabolism and lower your insulin.
I also recommend eating vegetables in the brassica family such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and collard greens.
These are rich in potassium and magnesium which are also important to lower the need for insulin.
6. Sleep (7-8h+)
When you do not get at least 7-8 hours of sleep per day, you may notice that you feel more hungry, gain weight faster and struggle to burn fat.
This is because your hormones have become out of balance.
Lack of sleep causes your cortisol levels to rise, which makes your blood sugars unstable through the day.
Your leptin levels will drop, which makes you feel less satisfied after you have eaten.
Your ghrelin levels will rise, a hormone that makes you feel hungry.
And this will affect your entire metabolism and ability to lose weight.
Start getting at least 8 hours of sleep. Go to bed 1 hour earlier than usual, turning off all devices, cell phones, tv and lights. Darkness stimulates the sleep hormone melatonin helping you to drop off.
You can also take a nap if you need to top-up your sleeping time. This will balance out these metabolic hormones and help you to lose weight much faster, as you burn the most fat whilst you are asleep.
7. Morning Hydration
If you wake up in the morning feeling very tired, weak and unrested then simply keep a bottle of mineral water on your nightstand.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of Celtic sea salt/Himalayan pink salt and drink immediately upon waking up.
This hydrates the body and provide electrolytes that help to regulate your blood pressure and energise you for the day.
There are also many trace minerals in sea salt which help to stimulate your metabolism and give the boost you need to get on with your day.
8. B-Vitamins (Nutritional Yeast)
Start eating at least 2-3 tablespoons of unfortified nutritional yeast every single day to improve your metabolism and speed up the weight loss process.
This deactivated yeast is loaded with B-vitamins, especially B1 which helps your body to form chemical reactions in your cellst that converts stored body fat into usable energy, so that you can burn it for fuel.
It's also loaded with trace minerals and all 9 essential amino acids, which help to satisfy your nutritional needs and make you feel much less hungry.
Nutritional yeast comes in a flake/powdered form and can be sprinkled into soups, stir fries, over vegetables, eggs, in dips, curries or salads and has a cheesy/nutty flavour.
I also recommend eating seafood at least twice per week including wild salmon, mussels, crab meat and shellfish as these are rich in blood building Vitamin B12.
9. TUDCA
If you find that you are burping, gassy,
or bloated after you eat then you may be deficient in BILE,a liquid made by your liver and gallbladder.
Taking purified bile in the form of a supplement is an excellent way to help improve your digestion of fats, and also to help clean fatty deposits from inside your liver.
Take 1 capsule of TUDCA in the morning with a full glass of water on an empty stomach to stimulate the release of bile.
You can then take another capsule after each meal to improve digestion of that particular meal to reduce bloating and help your body metabolise its own body fat for energy.
10. HIIT
There is much confusion about exercise, as many people believe that the more they exercise the more fat they will burn, which is simply not the case.
The benefit of exercise is in the recovery stage, so it's important that you are not overtraining because this can put a strain on your glands and your heart.
Start performing high intensity interval training 1-2 per week for 20 minutes each session.
This involves doing quick bursts of intense exercise (such as sprinting, burpees or jump rope) for 30 seconds, followed by 1-2 minutes of gentle movements to bring your heart rate back down, then repeat.
These quick bursts stimulate human growth hormone (HGH), the main fat burning hormone up to 450% during the first 24 hours after you finish your workout.
Human growth hormone increases the amount of calories you burn in a day, has anti-aging properties and improves blood flow, especially to the brain.
As you can see there are many different lifestyle changes that you can make to
speed up your metabolism in order to burn body fat at a faster rate.
Try implementing one or two of these at a time and see which works best for you, to slowly build new healthy habits.
It's also very important to cut back on refined, highly processed foods as much as possible as these are harder for your body to break down and digest, Which is the main cause of a slow metabolism in the first place.
Stay away from the refined sugars, flours, grains, and vegetable oils as these cause insulin resistance in your cells, which slows weight loss and makes it easier to gain fat.
If you have a history of yo-yo dieting, this can lower the amount of calories you burn per day (BMR), And you may need a boost of additional nutrients and supplements to get your metabolism back in shape.
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