Having a high metabolism is key for losing weight because it means that your body is burning more calories than it receives on a daily basis.
Even if you are able to exercise regularly, your body may still be struggling to compensate for the calories that you ingest yourself.
There are many things you can do to boost your metabolism and ensure that your weight loss efforts are successful.
Here are 11 Simple Metabolism Hacks
Low-intensity exercise
1. Low-intensity exercise is better than high-intensity exercise for losing weight (and burning fat) – A recent study has shown that regular, moderate-intensity exercise (walking) could be more effective at burning calories and body fat than high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
This one might seem obvious but because of our conditioning to think that moderate-intensity exercise is less effective than high-intensity, it’s worth noting.
Sleep
2. A systematic review of studies has found that more sleep is associated with a higher resting metabolic rate (RMR) – This means more sleep equals better metabolic function (i.e., burning calories at rest).
One of the most robust findings in obesity research is that shorter sleep duration can lead to increased risk for obesity and weight gain. The likely mechanism through which this occurs is by altering the hormonal regulation of appetite, namely ghrelin and leptin levels.
Eating with your non-dominant hand
3. Eating with your non-dominant hand can trick you into eating less – Taking smaller bites also help you eat slower thus being able to tell when you are no longer hungry or full.
Drinking water before meals
4. Drinking water before meals makes you eat less – After drinking the water, people reported feeling fuller or more satisfied and ate between 10 to 20 percent fewer calories during their meal.
Eating slowly
5. Eating slowly allows your brain to tell your body when it’s full so you don’t overeat – It takes about 20-30 min for your stomach to communicate to the brain that it is actually full, so if you eat quickly there is no way our stomach can keep up with the rate at which we are consuming food thus leading us to eat too much in one sitting.
Slowing down your eating pace, taking small bites will help slow things down allowing your stomach time to catch up.
Coffee increases fat burning
6. The caffeine in coffee increases fat burning during exercise – A recent study showed that coffee enhances fat burning during exercise, thus making it easier to maintain muscle mass and lose body fat.
Caffeine also enhances exercise performance. Caffeine can even lead to increased lean body mass in some cases.
Asparagus
7. Asparagus can help control blood sugar levels after a meal – This vegetable contains an insulin-like compound called asparagine which has been shown in studies to reduce the amount of glucose produced by the liver and also improve insulin function (the cells respond better to insulin).
Antioxidants in chocolate
8. Chocolate is good for you (and boosts weight loss) – The high cocoa content in dark chocolate promotes blood flow and helps lower blood pressure, while its antioxidants decrease LDL cholesterol oxidation.
An experiment compared people who had consumed 40 grams of 85% cocoa dark chocolate daily for two weeks with another group who had eaten a similar amount of white chocolate.
Those who consumed dark chocolate experienced increased blood flow to the brain, which helps to boost alertness and cognitive function.
Chewing gum
9. Chewing gum can help keep you slim – After only chewing sugar-free gum for two weeks, dieters lost an average of 5 pounds (2 kilograms).
Gum that contains xylitol has even more benefits because it tastes sweet but is low in calories and reduces tooth decay by preventing bacteria from sticking to teeth.
To see results similar to those mentioned above, chew one stick for between 10 to 20 minutes after each meal. If you find this inconvenient or disgusting, just do it whenever you feel like it so long as most of your meals include food.
Using chopsticks
9. Using chopsticks can help with weight loss – One study showed that using chopsticks helped obese people lose 17% more weight than those who cut their food with a knife and fork.
Scientists believe this is because eating with chopsticks makes you eat more slowly, giving the brain time to realize your stomach is full.
Eat meals on smaller plates
11. Smaller plates trick you into feeling fuller – One study showed that students who used small plates ate 22% less food than those using regular dinnerware. Small plates make food look bigger and trick you into thinking you’re eating enough.
Using smaller plates can help you lose weight, but make sure to train yourself to eat less by using the other methods mentioned, because if you clean your plate regardless of how much you’ve eaten, then it’s not really helping you.