Boosting Metabolism... easier than you think!

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Make sure you eat breakfast. If you don't eat breakfast, you slow down your metabolism and send the body into "hoard mode," thinking it's starving because you're going a long period of time frequently 8 to 10 hours or more, without food. Eat the majority of your food earlier in the day. Dinner should be your lightest meal, and some experts recommend you don't anything after 8 p.m., or any later than 3 to 4 hours before bedtime. This helps your body process and burn the food when you're aware and moving around and burning more calories per hour. Don't starve. Dropping your calorie intake below 1,000 calories a day will signal to your body that you are in starvation mode, and will slow down your metabolism. Eat smaller meals more frequently. Smaller, more frequent meals keeps your blood sugar stable and provides a steady source of energy to fuel metabolism. Get enough exercise. As much as you can is really a help for your metabolism, and if you do it in the morning, you'll raise your metabolism all day. Build muscle with weight training or resistance exercise. At least two to three times a week, you should add weight training or progressive resistance exercise that builds muscle. Muscle burns more calories than fat, and the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even at rest! Water!! You've heard it before, but drink those 8 8-ounce glasses of water every day. The energy burning process of metabolism needs water to work effectively. Get enough B vitamins. Among supplements, if you are suffering from flagging energy, you need to make sure that you are getting enough B vitamins. Vitamin B-12 in particular is one that is essential for energy. To ensure you're getting enough B vitamins, consider taking a B complex, plus a separate sublingual B-12. Try Chinese Herbs In terms of herbal remedies, while you should avoid ephedra and ma huang stimulants, you can ask your practitioner about schizandra--a Chinese herb that is used for fatigue. Ginseng is also popular for energy. Before trying any herbs, supplements, or vitamins, you should of course consult with your practitioner to ensure they are safe for you. Ginseng, for example, is not recommended for someone with high blood pressure and many herbs and supplements are not recommended during pregnancy. Consider Energy Work Energy and bodywork , such as yoga, tai chi, qigong (pronounced chee-gung), and Reiki, can all help in adding and balancing energy. In qigong, tai chi, and yoga, gentle movements are used to move energy along the energy pathways of the body. In Reiki, a practitioner helps open up energy channels. (Remember to always check with your practitioner before starting any herbs or supplements.) Ditch the sugar! Ditch the sugar. Of course, you still have to make good choices about what you eat. When you eat sugar you throw your metabolic switch into fat storage mode. A predominately low glycemic index diet, meaning foods that, unlike sugars, are broken down gradually to help maintain an even blood-sugar level. Avoid stress. At all costs. Stress can actually cause weight gain, particularly around the tummy. Why? Because physical and emotional stress activates the release of cortisol, a steroid that slows metabolism. Sleep. Research shows that people who don’t sleep for seven to eight hours a night are more prone to weight gain. Additionally, we now know that lean muscle is regenerated in the final couple of hours of sleep each night. More info at the following sites: http://health.msn.com/dietfitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100096731 http://thyroid.about.com/cs/dietweightloss/a/12ways.htm