Metabolism is a term that summarizes how certain chemicals react in a body. These reactions keep a body functioning. The word metabolism is also known as the term metabolic rate, which is the number of calories burned. The higher a body’s metabolism is, more calories will get burned, making it easier to lose weight. Having a higher metabolism can also lead to more energy and feeling better. Another way to speed up metabolism and lose weight is by decreasing your carb intake and eating a diet that’s high in fat and low in carbs. The keto diet, which we discuss in the Body Reboot book provides you with the opportunity to increase your metabolism, feel better, and may also help you feel more energic every day. In addition to the keto diet, below are some ways to increase your metabolism. Implementing these positive habits while going on a low carb diet can help you get healthy in no time!

Remember Magnesium

Forbes mentions how important it is to take a magnesium supplement or even better, implement more foods with magnesium into your diet. Many people don’t have enough magnesium in their diet, but adding this vital nutrient can help your metabolism improve.

What mineral is needed to make your metabolism work efficiently with every muscle, nerve and heart cell in your body? Magnesium. It's also the same mineral that most Americans aren't getting enough of, according to the National Institutes of Health. The good news is that many of the same green veggies that are stocked with vitamin b are also rich in magnesium! Sprinkle a few nuts on a spinach salad or snack on some edamame to get a boost of magnesium.

HIIT

HIIT is an excellent exercise to try after you are keto-adapted (which means your body is relying on a high-fat diet). It can also improve your metabolism. Let’s see what else Forbes has to say about HIIT’s benefits.

HIIT is High Intensity Interval Training, a method of exercise that is about short, intense workouts that usually last about 20 minutes. It has been shown to burn fat more effectively than being on the treadmill for hours on end. I don't recommend doing this every day, but incorporating HIIT into your fitness regime twice a week can amp up your metabolism and shock your body to stimulate fat loss.

Drink More Water

This probably won’t come as a huge shock, but drinking more water can speed up your metabolism and also keep you from getting dehydrated.

People who drink water instead of sugary drinks are more successful at losing weight and keeping it off.

This is because sugary drinks contain calories, so replacing them with water automatically reduces your calorie intake.

However, drinking water may also temporarily speed up your metabolism.

Studies have shown that drinking 17 ounces (0.5 liters) of water increases resting metabolism by 10–30% for about an hour.

This calorie-burning effect may be even greater if you drink cold water, as your body uses energy to heat it up to body temperature.

Water can also help fill you up. Studies show that drinking water a half an hour before you eat can help you eat less.

One study of overweight adults found that those who drank half a liter of water before their meals lost 44% more weight than those who didn't.

The International Journey of Obesity did a study in 2011 and their foundings showed that children who drank more water had a significant jump in their activity level.

It was previously demonstrated that drinking water significantly elevates the resting energy expenditure (REE) in adults, and that low water intake is associated with obesity and lesser success in weight reduction. This study addressed the potential of water drinking to increase the REE in children, as an additional tool for weight management.

This study demonstrated an increase of up to 25% in REE following the drinking of 10 ml kg(-1) of cold water in overweight children, lasting for over 40 min. Consuming the recommended daily amount of water for children could result in an energy expenditure equivalent to an additional weight loss of about 1.2 kg per year. These findings reinforce the concept of water-induced REE elevation shown in adults, suggesting that water drinking could assist overweight children in weight loss or maintenance, and may warrant emphasis in dietary guidelines against the obesity epidemic.

Interestingly enough, drinking cold water may speed up your metabolism even more. At least, that’s a study by Journal Clinical Endocrinol Metabolism in 2003 found to be true.

Drinking lots of water is commonly espoused in weight loss regimens and is regarded as healthy; however, few systematic studies address this notion. In 14 healthy, normal-weight subjects (seven men and seven women), we assessed the effect of drinking 500 ml of water on energy expenditure and substrate oxidation rates by using whole-room indirect calorimetry. The effect of water drinking on adipose tissue metabolism was assessed with the microdialysis technique. Drinking 500 ml of water increased metabolic rate by 30%. The increase occurred within 10 min and reached a maximum after 30-40 min. The total thermogenic response was about 100 kJ. About 40% of the thermogenic effect originated from warming the water from 22 to 37 C. In men, lipids mainly fueled the increase in metabolic rate. In contrast, in women carbohydrates were mainly used as the energy source. The increase in energy expenditure with water was diminished with systemic beta-adrenoreceptor blockade. Thus, drinking 2 liters of water per day would augment energy expenditure by approximately 400 kJ. Therefore, the thermogenic effect of water should be considered when estimating energy expenditure, particularly during weight loss programs.

Lift Heavy Things

Having muscles has its benefits because if you work on developing muscle, it can increase your metabolism. Here’s the abstract from a 1990 study by NCBI: Int J Obes (Lond). 2011 that tells us that having a higher muscle mass improves your metabolism:

Energy expenditure varies among people, independent of body size and composition, and persons with a “low” metabolic rate seem to be at higher risk of gaining weight. To assess the importance of skeletal muscle metabolism as a determinant of metabolic rate, 24-h energy expenditure, basal metabolic rate (BMR), and sleeping metabolic rate (SMR) were measured by indirect calorimetry in 14 subjects (7 males, 7 females; 30 +/- 6 yr [mean +/- SD]; 79.1 +/- 17.3 kg; 22 +/- 7% body fat), and compared to forearm oxygen uptake. Values of energy expenditure were adjusted for individual differences in fat-free mass, fat mass, age, and sex. Adjusted BMR and SMR, expressed as deviations from predicted values, correlated with forearm resting oxygen uptake (ml O2/liter forearm) (r = 0.72, P less than 0.005 and r = 0.53, P = 0.05, respectively). These findings suggest that differences in resting muscle metabolism account for part of the variance in metabolic rate among individuals and may play a role in the pathogenesis of obesity.

Stand Up More

Standing up more may not be that shocking, but it has its health benefits. Not only is it essential to get up and walk to stretch your legs and take a break from the daily grind, but it can prevent you from gaining additional weight. Some health experts have dubbed sitting too much “the new smoking,” which means it’s critical to make standing a part of your day. Let’s see what a Science study in 2011 discusses in regards to our metabolism and standing:

Obesity occurs when energy intake exceeds energy expenditure. Humans expend energy through purposeful exercise and through changes in posture and movement that are associated with the routines of daily life [called nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT)]. To examine NEAT's role in obesity, we recruited 10 lean and 10 mildly obese sedentary volunteers and measured their body postures and movements every half-second for 10 days. Obese individuals were seated, on average, 2 hours longer per day than lean individuals. Posture allocation did not change when the obese individuals lost weight or when lean individuals gained weight, suggesting that it is biologically determined. If obese individuals adopted the NEAT-enhanced behaviors of their lean counterparts, they might expend an additional 350 calories (kcal) per day.

It's great knowing you can implement these tips to increase your weight loss efforts and combined with a low carb diet think of how many goals you can knock out of the park! Learn more about the keto diet and how it may help you reach your weight loss goals and give you more energy. Right now we're currently giving away free copies of the Body Reboot book. We desire to increase awareness about bad habits and help people lose weight and get healthy! Cover the cost of shipping, and we’ll send a copy to your door FREE. Go over to this page to see if there are any copies left.

Sources: Forbes, Healthline, NCBI: International Journey of Obesity, 2011, NCBI: Journal Clinical Endocrinol Metabolism, 2003, NCBI: Int J Obes (Lond). 2011, NCBI: Science, 2005