Are you the one who has always struggled to lose body fat or even just staying at a lean and healthy weight? Most of the time you blame it on slower metabolism. Metabolism varies from every individual and many factors including body, genetics, hormones, physical activity, diet, sleep, stress, age and body composition. There are a number of effective actions you can take to fire your metabolism. Try to incorporate all the following actions as much as possible on a daily basis to achieve faster metabolism you have always dreamt of. 

Here are ten Secret Tips to Get Summer Ready This Year:

  1. Foods to fire up your metabolism: Certain foods have a higher thermic effect, which means that they raise your metabolic rate significantly. They make you full and once you plan your meals around them, your cravings for junk food pretty much become a thing of the past. Try to include proteins in your every meals. Eggs, yogurt, fish, chicken, beef and turkey are all top quality high protein foods  
  2. Eat high thermogenic fats and spices: omega 3s, avocados. Walnuts, olive oil: The MUFA and PUFA fat sources increase body temperature and lead excess calories being burnt. Include spices like ginger and pepper in your pulses, omelets and sandwiches to enhance digestion.
  3. Say no to processed foods: Eating foods including whole grains, complex starches, nuts, seeds, lean protein sources increase thermogenic effect which burn more calories during digestion. “cheddar cheese “sandwich from whole wheat bread burnt more calories than processed cheese sandwich made with white bread. 
  4. Include regular physical activity and weight training: Those people who incorporate regular Physical activity of moderate intensity for 30-60 minutes lost more body fat than those who did steady-state cardio of low intensity for 60 minutes. Try to do sprints to lose belly fat. Start training with weights to build lean body mass that has a direct impact on metabolism 
  5. Increase NEAT calories (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis): It refers to the amount of movement you do after training throughout a day. This includes taking stairs instead of the lift, walking instead of driving in a car. All these increased movements add up and increase in metabolic rate.
  6. Do intervals for conditioning: Try to incorporate interval training to increase fat burning and oxygen use. Increased insulin sensitivity and greater glucose uptake results in a better body composition.
  7. Walk for 10 minutes after every meal: Instead of regular slouching on a couch after heavy meals, try walking after a meal. This helps in achieving stable blood sugar level, better balance of metabolic hormones and greater demand of energy. 
  8. Avoid stress and lack of sleep: Stress raises the cortisol hormone which decreases the lean muscle mass and thereby resulting in a decline of metabolism
  9. Avoid low-calorie diet and fasting for longer intervals as the body fights back to preserve its fuel sources for emergency modes. The human body is designed for survival so it slows down the metabolic rate thereby saving the fat stores.
  10. Drink green tea: Green tea has an extremely high level of a kind of antioxidants called catechins that raise energy expenditure and fat loss. Taking green tea extract that has 90 mg catechins and 50 mg caffeine is known to promote fat loss due to its thermic effect but caffeine intake should be in moderation. So restrict green tea intake to only 2-3 cups per day.