Secrets to Firing Up Your Metabolism

Aside from personal training, firing up your metabolism can help with weight loss and body fat loss. It’s visceral fat without ever feeling deprived. Turn your body into a fat-burning machine with these healthy tips:

1. Don’t Diet
This weight loss trick is not about eating less, but about eating more nutrition-dense food to keep you full all day. Keeping yourself full is important because restricting food will kill your metabolism. With empty calories, you’ll feel more hungry and your body will respond to this by slowing down your metabolic rate to hold on to existing energy storage.

2. Go Earlier Zzzz’s
According to research in Finland which studied  sets of identical twins,  the twin who slept less and was under more stress had more visceral fat.

3. Eat More Protein

The body needs protein to maintain lean muscle. According to researchers in a 2006 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, "The Underappreciated Role of Muscle in Health and Disease," the present recommended daily allowance of protein, 0.36 grams per pound of body weight, was established using obsolete data and is woefully inadequate for an individual doing resistance training. Researchers now recommend an amount between 0.8 and 1 gram per pound of body weight. Add a serving, like 3 ounces of lean meat, 2 tablespoons of nuts, or 8 ounces of low-fat yogurt, to every meal and snack. Research showed that protein can up post-meal calorie burn by as much as 35 percent.

4. Drink Cold Water
German researchers found that drinking 6 cups of cold water a day can raise resting metabolism by about 50 calories daily. That’s enough to shed 5 pounds in a year. The increase may come from the work  the body makes to heat the water to body temperature.

5. Eat the Heat
Capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their mouth-searing quality, can also fire up your metabolism. Eating about 1 tablespoon of chopped red or green chilies boosts your body's production of heat and the activity of your sympathetic nervous system, according to a study published in the Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology. The result of this is a temporary metabolism spike of about 23 percent.