Twenty Ways to Increase Your Metabolism

Recently, I wrote a popular hub about burning calories. In my hub, I gave away twenty easy tips on how to burn calories each day without even trying. Burning calories is important to lose or maintain your weight but it is only half the battle. To stay in shape and / or lose weight, you should also be keeping your metabolism high.

Your metabolism is a set of hormones and enzymes in the body that convert food into fuel and affects how the fuel is burned. Not everyone burns calories at the same rate and the higher your metabolism is, the easier it will be for you to lose weight and burn calories.

Most of us have average or low metabolisms. This has to do with hereditary and how we live our lives. If you live a sedentary life, your metabolism will be low. If you have an active lifestyle, you will burn more calories throughout the day without much effort because your metabolism will be much higher.

You don't have to blame your genes for a low metabolism. Increasing your metabolism is actually very easy. There are foods, supplements and activities that have been proven to make your metabolism sky rocket. Follow these tips and watch the pounds melt away!

1. Eat breakfast Your body needs fuel and in the morning you are running on empty. Eat a sensible breakfast within an hour of waking up in the morning.
2. Coffee The caffeine found in coffee stimulates the metabolism.
3. Green tea Green tea contains both caffeine and antioxidants that have been proven to speed up metabolism.
4. Strength training Muscle burns more calories than fat and burns calories even when at rest. Aim for three days a week of strength training.
5. Cayenne peppers and other spicy foods Spicy foods rev up the metabolism.
6. Don't starve yourself When you don't eat for a long period of time, your body goes into starvation mode. Once you eat again your body will store the food consumed as fat in order to protect itself.
7. Water Dehydration slows metabolism. Keep hydrated by drinking water throughout the day.
8. Turn down the heat When your cold, your body needs to burn calories to stay warm and your metabolism will benefit.
9. Cardio activity Cardio keeps your metabolism high. Aim for 20 to 30 minutes of some kind of cardio each day.
10. Grapefruit A recent studied showed that people who ate half a grapefruit with every meal increased their metabolism and lost 3 1/2 pounds in 12 weeks.
11. Broccoli It's extremely high in iron, which helps speed up metabolism.
12. Protein Healthy protein found in lean cuts of meat, fish, nuts, legumes and grains raises metabolism because it rebuilds muscle fibers faster.
13. Vitamin B12 This crucial vitamin speeds up the metabolism. Vegans should take a daily supplement.
14. Cinnamon Just one teaspoon of cinnamon a day can raise the metabolism. Add a teaspoon to oatmeal or coffee in the morning.
15. Apple cider vinegar Disolve 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a half teaspoon of raw honey in water each day.
16. CoQ10 Mostly found in animal products but in small amounts. A daily supplement is recommended.
17. Nettle This herb is used to curb appetite, reduce cravings and raise metabolism.
18. Kelp Strengthens thyroid, which in turn, raises metabolism.
19. Spinach Revs up a sluggish metabolism and is also packed with antioxidants and vitamins.
20. Asian ginseng With so many health benefits, it's not suprising that Asian Ginseng can rev up the metabolism. It works as a stimulant, so insomnics beware.