1). Build Muscle Through Strength Training. Muscle is metabolically active tissue unlike fat. The more muscle you've got, the more calories you'll burn even when you aren't exercising. To start out, aim for two to three days of strength training per week.
2). Eat More Often. Think of your body as a machine that needs a constant energy source (food) for fuel. Stop feeding it and it's going to run sluggish. There are benefits to eating five to six meals a day - composed of healthy fat, lean protein and complex carbs. It takes about 10% of the calories in your food to digest it, so eating more frequently helps rev the engine. You'll also have more energy to be active and you're less likely to reach for a sugary snack when you're keeping your blood sugar steady. Suggestion: Pack snacks, such as fruit, yogurt and nuts. Eat one snack around midmorning and the other midafternoon.
3). Get Enough Iron. Iron is what helps transport oxygen to your cells, and it's tied in closely with your energy levels. Women between the ages of 19 and 50 need 18mg of iron daily, but be careful of taking iron supplements because too much can be toxic. Get it through your diet by consuming foods such as beans, fortified cereal, spinach and prune juice (which has more iron than dark chicken meat). Cooking in an iron skillet will also add some iron to your food as well.
4). Stay Hydrated. Your body needs water to help it digest and convert food efficiently into energy. Aim for two to three liters of fluid every day and don't forget to add water-rich fruits and vegetables to your diet as well to keep your metabolism at its peak.
5). Refuel After Your Workouts. You may think that not eating after a hard workout will help you shed pounds, but refueling after exercise plays a big role in metabolism and fat loss. And before you reach for an expensive energy drink, think about this: According to a recent McMaster University study, women who drank fat-free milk after each session of strength training (for 12 weeks) increased their fat loss more than women who drank carbohydrate sports drinks afterward. Prepare your postworkout snack before you start your workout to ensure you don't skip it.
6). Kick Up Your Cardio. Short duration, high intensity bursts of exercise for just two weeks improves fat loss by 36%, according to a study from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Plus, when you do this type of intervval training, your body will continue to burn calories and fuel for a longer period of time - meaning that after your sugars are tapped out, it reaches for the fat stores. The same amount of time spent on low-intesity exercise won't have the same after-burn effect.
7). Pack More Protein. Your body uses more energy to digest protein than fat and carbs. It makes your metabolism work harder and protein also helps stave off hunger pangs. Active women who strength train and perform cardio regularly need about a gram of protein per pound of body weight, so add lean sources such as fish, beans and low-fat dairy to your diet.
8). Forget About Crash Diets. Successful weight-loss, fat-loss, long-term weight management and boosting metabolism is not about starving yourself, loading up on caffeine or cutting out entire food groups. It's about burning more calories than you consume and ingesting nutrient rich foods (quality calories) on a daily basis.
9). Avoid Alcohol. Your body rushes to metabolize alcohol first. Which means that other food is lesslikely to get used for energy and more likely to be stored as fat. Not only do you not metabolize fat as efficiently when you're imbibing, you also likely to eat more junk when your good judgement is thrown off.
10). Spice Up Your Food. Research indicates that adding capsaicin (a compound found in the seed and membranes of hot peppers) to your diet could help increase your metaabolism through a process call thermogenesis. Here's how it works: When you eat chili peppers, your body generates heat, and as your temperature increases, so does the number of calories your burn. So toss in few peppers here and there.
