Our metabolism is nothing but the consumption of energy and nutrients for daily functioning. The body needs energy to function, which it gets most often from body fat, but also from food. Unfortunately, over time our metabolism can slow down significantly. However, there are ways to improve it.
If you have been in contact with a personal trainer, you have surely come across interval training. It is the right workout to speed up our heart rate and metabolism. The very method of interval training is to train at one pace for about 2 minutes, then speed up to your maximum pace for 30 seconds. In this way, you can jog, jump over a skipping rope, or perform a burpee – a forward push-up ending with a dynamic straightening up and jumping out. During intervals, the mitochondria consume much more oxygen – the amount of oxygen increases, therefore the energy expenditure of our body increases as well. With this type of exercise, we use a lot of energy, burning calories even after the exercise is over.
To function well, our body needs energy from outside in the form of minerals, vitamins, but also macronutrients – protein, carbohydrates and fats. All this, of course, is provided with meals. It is worth to make sure that they are regular. If you do not eat anything substantial all day, your body draws energy from fat, and then from muscles, which does not have a good effect on your figure. Apparent weight loss unfortunately does not have a long-lasting effect because after many hours without a meal your body demands calories, so you supply them in a probably not very healthy way. Fat starts to be stored in larger quantities as the body prepares reserves for the following hours without a meal. In order to provide energy in a smart way, you should first of all eat regularly. Even with a very demanding job, try to reach for a small fruit or a handful of nuts. This will also have a very positive effect on your metabolism.
Your body is almost 80 per cent made up of water, so you need to drink it regularly to keep your body working properly. Reaching for sweetened drinks is not an option – only highly mineralised water will provide all the necessary ingredients. Regular drinking of water speeds up the metabolism and improves digestion. During physical effort, we should drink at least 2.5-3 liters a day.
If you notice that your metabolism has slowed down a bit, you feel swollen, or you have problems with bowel movements and weight loss, it is possible that you are lacking important minerals. Zinc, selenium, B vitamins, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and iodine are responsible for improving energy metabolism in the body.
These can be found in:
If you notice that you are losing weight at a slightly slower rate or feel lethargic, it may be a sign of too few calories in your diet. Many weight losers mistakenly think that the fewer calories they consume, the faster their metabolism will become. Nothing could be further from the truth! If you start eating well below your energy requirements, your body will slow down its vital processes significantly to conserve energy. The so-called “crisis mode” is activated, so you lose weight much slower, and you also feel sleepy and sometimes irritable. To make the weight loss process healthy, it is important to calculate your caloric needs. It is important to have a negative calorie balance, but at minus 200 or minus 300 kcal subtracted from your daily energy needs.
Adequate recovery is the key to proper body function. If you don’t get enough sleep and feel constantly tired, your body will also work at a slower pace. Thus, it reduces the energy expenditure. Find time to sleep, and if you have many responsibilities, ask someone to help you. Without rest, you won’t be able to handle all the tasks on your own, and lack of sleep can lead not only to a slower metabolism, but also neurosis or depression.
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