Did you know that metabolic rate increases can be caused by your lifestyle habits? Factors such as genetics, sex, age, and others do play a role. That said, there are many that are also perfectly within your control. If you’re hoping to lose weight, maintain your current weight or prevent weight gain, this is much easier done when your metabolism is on your side.
What Changes Can You Make for Metabolic Rate Increases?
There are many different parts of your life that can play a role in metabolic rate increases. By tinkering with habits in these areas, you can make sure that your body is working with you, not against you, in reaching your weight goals.
Exercise
Regular exercise is one of the fastest ways to have an impact on your metabolism. While cardio workouts such as walking, jogging, running, swimming and cycling all have a great reputation for sending the metabolic rate sky high, it’s important to remember the importance of strength training, too. By building and maintaining lean muscle, you’re your metabolic rate increases and stays higher regardless of whether you are active or sedentary.
Stress Control
Many people are surprised to discover that one of the best ways to consistently keep up metabolic rate increases is through stress control. Chronic stress can cause the metabolism to slow down. The culprit behind this impact is the stress hormone called cortisol. When you’re stressed over time, cortisol is continually running through the body, causing increases in insulin and blood sugar, making it more challenging for the body to achieve a healthy balance. This leads to rises in appetite as well as in stored body fat. Therefore, taking on activities such as meditation, regular exercise, yoga, and mindfulness practices, you can help to gradually control your stress and the impact of the cortisol in your body.
Sleep
Both too much and too little sleep will hold back your metabolism. To start regularly achieving healthier and steadier metabolic rate increases, place a serious focus on making sure you get the rest you need on a regular basis. Sure, we’ll all have the occasional sleepless night, but on the whole, aim to go to bed and get up at the same time every night, sleep in a cool, dark room, and get those screens shut off for the last hour of your day. This will help your body to learn exactly when to sleep so you can get the right amount of it more often.
[…] not just your daytime activities that have an impact. What goes on at night also influences your metabolic rate. This includes the quality of your sleep and, according to new research, the light exposure […]