In the battle of the bulge, your metabolism is the secret weapon that can put you over the top. Rev it up, and you’ll burn fat and calories even when you’re not working out.
Here are 10 ways to boost up your metabolism:
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Build muscle—The more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns.
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Get aerobic—Doing aerobic exercises won’t necessarily help you build muscle, but it will rev up your metabolism for long periods of time—even for hours after you’ve finished working out.
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Hydrate—Your body uses water to burn calories. Being even mildly dehydrated can cause your metabolism to slow down.
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Have a little caffeine—Caffeine increases the amount of energy your body uses. So go ahead, enjoy another cup of morning joe.
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Snack smaller—Enjoying a small healthy snack every three to four hours keeps your metabolism firing on all cylinders.
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Get spicy—Red and green peppers, hot sauce and jalapenos all include natural chemicals that fire up your metabolism.
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Eat meat—Protein builds muscle. Muscle burns calories. Meat is full of protein. Eat more meat, build more muscle, and reach your goals. (Or, if you’d rather not eat meat, have a protein shake once a day.)
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Try an energy drink—The experts are conflicted about whether or not energy drinks are actually good or bad for you, but one thing is for sure: they include a lot of caffeine and vitamins. Caffeine and vitamins both play a role in ensuring that your metabolism is properly doing its job.
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Have a spot of green tea—Here’s another drink that’s full of good stuff—caffeine and catechins. Both are shown to rev up metabolisms.
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Don’t overdo the dieting—Crash dieting can actually do more harm to your weight-loss efforts than good. It will confuse your body, cause it to go into starvation mode and mess up your metabolism. Instead of crash dieting, try to just eat healthy, small meals and mix in some small, healthy snacks throughout the day.