How to Raise Metabolism

1. Take regular exercise
This should be aerobic exercise that makes you breathe more heavily. Exercises that build muscle are also useful. The harder you work, the faster your metabolic rate will be.

2. Eat Breakfast
To stop the "fast" from the evening, to "start" your metabolism going and ensure that your body burns calories willingly, eat breakfast and then eat regularly throughout the day. If you do not break the "fast" your body will think it needs to conserve energy and slow down your metabolism.

3. Eat a Balanced Diet
This helps to maintain a good supply of nutrients which in turn keeps your metabolism working smoothly.

4. Avoid Pills
For the sake of your health and weight, avoid all supplements that claim to offer fat-burning and weight loss benefits. Remember, if you do not take your eating and exercise habits, you will not keep your weight off.

5. Increasing Lean Muscle Mass
This is probably the best and most obvious way to create a more constructive metabolism. It is natural that the more muscle we have the more calories we will burn...even at rest! Muscle takes energy to make it work but fat does not, it just sits there. Try moderate resistance training to start off. Even 15 minutes of stretching will help get you started in the right direction.

6. Engaging In Aerobic Exercise
Aerobics are great! This will ensure that your body fat will decrease while at the same time your lean muscle mass will increase. Even after you have finished exercising your metabolism will remain higher for a period of time, working more efficiently. You will then burn more calories no matter what you're doing…working, driving, even watching television!

7. Make Sure to Eat and Eat Regularly
Yes, that's right, eat! Also, make sure you avoid crash diets where you starve yourself. Restricting your calories too much will result in a loss of lean muscle tissue slowing your metabolism down. And we don't want that! Make sure to also spread your meals out evenly throughout the day. Smaller, more frequent meals are generally considered better. Try a minimum of four. This way, your body will not think it's starving itself and won't be as likely to store the food as fat. This is usually the case when you only eat two or three meals during the day.

One of the number one mistakes that individuals make when trying to lose weight is not eating enough foods. In other words, reducing calorie intake less than the Basal Metabolic Rate required for their body. The formula for determining your BMR is below.

Increase metabolism by eating smaller meals through the day. Eat 4 to 6 six small meals, 2 to 3 hours apart. Include energy foods such as whole grains, beans, vegetables and fruits in your diet.

8. Park further away and walk. Use the stairs instead of the elevator when possible. Walk to the post office instead of getting into the car. Take your dog on a daily walk. Do more activities around the house to burn energy instead of wasting money on pills and potions that don't work.

Incorporate a walking routine to increase metabolism at least three to four times a week. Walk 30 to 40 minutes each time. This is the best way to increase your metabolism.

9. Never eat sporadically, plan each meal. The common mistake is to skip meals and eat too little during the day. This makes you vulnerable for eating junk food later in the day. Eating to lose weight takes planning.

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Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Formula
Your Basal Metabolic Rate shows the number of calories your body needs to operate. This doesn't account for any activity, it's simply the energy needed to sustain a heartbeat, breathing and normal body temperature. It measures the body at rest, not sleep, at room temperature.

Formula:
BMR for males = 66 + (13.7 x w) + (5 x h) - (6.8 x y)
BMR for females = 655 + (9.6 x w) + (1.8 x h) - (4.7 x y)

where:
h = height in centimeters (inches x 2.54)
w = weight in kilograms (pounds ÷ 2.2)
y = age in years