How to Lose Weight and Help Accelerate the Metabolism?

1Calculate your metabolic rate. Our bodies burn a certain number of calories each day in order to properly function. This amount of calories burned at rest is termed Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). To find out your BMR, you can use an online calculator which will ask for your ask, gender, height, weight, and activity level. The calculator will show you the number of calories you burn based on a low, light, moderate, high, or very high activity level. This will show you how many calories your body burns a day.

2Calculate and reduce your calorie intake. If you want to lose weight, you first need to reduce the amount of calories you eat each day. Use the number you calculated from your Basal Metabolic Rate with the activity factor and subtract 500 calories. Eat this amount of calories each day and you will lose about 1 pound each week. To make it easier to track your calories, use an online calorie tracker such as MyFitnessPal, FitClick or the USDA Food Tracker. These online trackers have large databases to help you find out the calorie information on the foods that you eat.

3Eat regular meals. Skipping meals can raise your blood sugar and delay insulin responses. Do not skip any meals throughout the day. Instead, eat every 3 to 4 hours to help boost your metabolism. Eating more frequently throughout the day can lower your risk for obesity. Remember to eat breakfast. It wakes up your metabolism after fasting overnight. Studies have found that those who skip breakfast on average weigh more, have diminished mental function, and do not get as many essential vitamins and minerals.

4Drink more coffee. Drink 1 to 2 cups of coffee a day to improve your energy levels. Just make sure not to add lots of cream or sugar, which could cause you to gain weight. Instead, drink black coffee, which contains healthy antioxidants. The caffeine in coffee has been shown to increase metabolism after drinking by a small amount. It also increases fat oxidation to help you lose weight.

5Avoid late-night snacking. Do not eat past 8pm at night. Although there is no research that shows that late night snacking can slow your metabolism, it can cause you to gain weight because you're adding calories by overeating. Preventing yourself from eating past 8pm every day will allow your body to get used to not eating at night and will cut out any added calories that you normally would eat. If you feel hungry at night, drink a large glass of water with the juice of half a fresh squeezed lemon. Eventually, your body will get used to not eating and you will no longer get hungry.

6Do strength training. Strength training will increase your muscle mass the most. Increased muscle mass will accelerate your metabolism. Strength training can be done using weights, resistance bands, or body weights. Try to focus on different muscle groups in order to increase muscle mass throughout the entire body. Some exercises that can be done to target different muscle groups: First, chest: chest press machine, push-ups; Second, shoulders: overhead press, flies；Third, biceps: bicep curls; Fourth, triceps: tricep extensions; Fifth, back: lateral pull-down machine, bent over rows; Sixth, calves: calf raises (weighted or bodyweight); Seventh, quads: leg extensions, squats; eighth, abs: sit-ups, planks.

7Do cardio exercise. Cardio is also an important way to losing weight and maximizing fat-burning. Aim for 2 ½ hours of cardio exercise each week to help maximize weight loss. Some sample cardio exercises that can be done: Briskly walkingRunning, Swimming, Biking, Cardio Machines (stair climber, elliptical, treadmill), Playing sports.