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An increased metabolism is essential to any weight loss plan. In order to lose weight one must burn more calories than he or she puts into their body, therefore your metabolic rate needs to be high throughout the day. Your metabolic rate is the speed in which your body burns the calories it needs to function on a daily basis. There are many tricks to raise your metabolic rate, some so simple they are easy to include in your everyday life without sacrificing time and money.

The first thing you need to know about your metabolism is that it adapts itself to your eating habits. Your body knows what goes into it each day and will adjust itself accordingly. If you start a diet and starve yourself to where you only take in 500-1000 calories a day, your metabolism will eventually only burn those same amount of calories a day. If you maintain a diet of 2500 calories your metabolism will adjust its self to burn that amount every day. So let's say you eat 2500 calories for 3 days, then only eat 1000 the next, your body is still adjusted to burn 2500 calories. This will enable your body to burn 1500 calories more than usual. With this trick you should be sure to switch off and on every few days to make certain that your metabolism stays high enough to burn 2500 calories a day.

Food intake is the most important part of a high metabolic rate. You must eat more than three times a day, while making sure you are putting the right foods in your body. In order to maximize your metabolism, you should eat breakfast as soon as you wake up. Once food hits the stomach, a chemical reaction occurs that kick starts your metabolism. After your first sensible meal you should try to eat every couple of hours. This will maintain your metabolic rate. What you eat is very important as well. Foods like grapefruit, apples, pears, broccoli, low fat yogurt, oatmeal and hot peppers should always be on the menu. Spicy foods will help you sweat and raise your metabolism.

Besides food there are other ways one can boost your metabolism. Drinking a lot of cold water lowers your body temperature. This causes you body to try and heat it's self by using your metabolism, so the colder the water the better. Green tea is another metabolism boosting drink, and will not stress the body with caffeine like coffee does.

Exercise is another excellent way to raise your metabolic rate. You should do resistance and/or weight training at least twice a week. This will build lean body mass and lean muscle burns calories, even when you are resting. We all dread doing cardio, but this form of exercise burns the most calories and will raise your metabolism. Instead of trying to run far by using only a little bit of energy, try to go all out for short periods of time, resting for a couple of minutes between sprints. This will raise your oxygen levels in your body more than moderate jogs, and will burn more calories.

Lastly, make sure you get a good night's rest. You need sleep to heal your body and rejuvenate yourself. People who have poor sleeping habits usually are more prone to weight gain.

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