The key to fat loss doesn’t have to be exercise. When it comes to your metabolic rate you can rely on more than hitting the gym.
Supercharging your metabolism without upping your cardio or throwing down the iron in the free weight area is entirely possible… and in this article we show you how.
The gym isn’t for everyone.
But you’ll be pleased to know that you don’t need to run up a sweat to shred the pounds or melt away the excess weight.
The good news is that with the right lifestyle, foods and approach you can boost your metabolism and burn more fat.
This is how…
What is Metabolism and Why Is It Important?
Your body is a dynamic entity.
It’s constantly adapting to its environment; shifting its temperature, hydration, oxygen consumption and of course its energy balance to find the most comfortable,optimal position.
Even Rene Descartes commented that “the human body is a machine whose movements are directed by the soul”.
Okay, it might be a slightly dated concept. But it kind of still rings true about the body being more than just a machine.
We know it’s not the soul that is responsible for making you shiver when it’s cold, or helps you take faster breaths when you’re walking fast and using up your oxygen stores.
But what we do know is that your metabolism is constantly shifting to allow your body to function optimally.
Metabolic rate regulates your energy use
Metabolism is a word used to describe all of the chemical reactions taking place in your body.
The availability of nutrients in your body
How your body digests, absorbs and then uses the energy it gets from food
Optimal energy use
Nutrient metabolism
We get energy from food.
Carbs and protein both provide you with 4 calories per gram. Fat gives you 9 calories.
Your body uses this energy in a number of different ways.
Once digested and absorbed into the cells of your body, energy from nutrients is used to build new tissue, maintain existing cells and repair damage.
It ultimately ensures efficient and optimal functioning.
Key Point: Metabolism refers to chemical reactions taking place in your body that control how you use energy.
Your body tries to find a ‘sweet spot’ for energy use
Similar to Goldilocks and the three bears, your metabolic rate has to be just right.
If it wasn’t high enough to provide the energy you needed, you’d feel tired and lethargic and your cells wouldn’t function optimally. Your heart wouldn’t beat fast enough and your brain wouldn’t function properly.
On the flip side, if your body was constantly burning energy you’d be at risk from wasting energy.
You’d be constantly hungry, and from a survival perspective it just wouldn’t make sense.
Metabolic rate controls energy homeostasis. This is simply the way in which your body uses it’s metabolic rate to break down just enough stores energy.
Your metabolism can be affected by a number of different things
Now here’s the thing; you can force your metabolism to increase. Even without exercise.
And when you do, you’ll burn more fat.
As a dynamic, ever-adapting entity, the amount of energy your body burns on a daily basis can be changed just as easily as a pair of gym sneakers.
Here’s how…
Key Point: Your metabolic rate helps to control energy homeostasis.
How to Boost Metabolic Rate Without Exercising at the Gym
Physical activity is a great way to ramp up your metabolic rate because it forces your body to use more energy.
But the gym isn’t for everyone.
And you’ll be pleased to know it’s not the only way to improve the way you lose weight or shred body fat.
#1. Drink more water
Probably the simplest and easiest metabolic ‘fix’ on this list is drinking more water.
In case you didn’t know; your body is made up of around 55-75% water. It’s an essential nutrient for physical performance, cognitive functioning, and of course metabolism.
Boosting the total (or absolute) amount of water you drink each day can help with direct weight loss. Not only that, the relative amount of water you drink can help spike your metabolic rate too [1].
That’s a double-barreled assault on your fat cells.
Studies show that as little as 500 ml of water taken before a meal helps to [2]:
Boost energy expenditure by 95 calories
raise your metabolism by a huge 30%
Increase fat burning
It’s a cheap and easy way to begin your journey to less body fat and a higher energy burn.
#2. Eat spicy foods
Adding spices such as cayenne or black pepper extract to your food will have a significant effect on your metabolic rate.
Black pepper contains the compound piperine. And cayenne is made up of the potent fat burner capsaicin. Both improve body composition.
As a promoter of thermogenesis, capsaicin boosts body temperature and metabolic rate.
In one study [3], scientists found that adding cayenne pepper to food ramped up energy burning for a full 30 minutes.
And another saw that using the capsaicin-rich nutrient during fat loss dieting increased 24 hour fat oxidation as well as maintaining energy levels [4].
But what if spicy foods just aren’t your thing?
If you can’t stomach the thought of putting cayenne on foods, you can find it in fat burning supplements such as Instant Knockout. You’ll not even notice it’s in there.
But you’ll definitely notice the results!
#3. Drink green tea
Green tea is the mother of all fat burner nutrients.
It’s research profile for both health, reduced disease risk and weight loss is huge.
Containing bioactive compounds such as polyphenol catechins, green tea offers a number of fat shredding, weight loss benefits.
Boost fat oxidation
Stimulates the release of noradreline
Provides a potent thermogenic effect
Directly increases energy expenditure and fat burning
Detailed research reviews show that green tea can elevate fat burning by 16% over a 24-hour period [5].
And smaller studies show that the catechins in green tea not only boost metabolic rate and stimulate weight loss, but also help you keep the weight off after too [6].
#4. Sleep better
Finally, if you want to zone in on fat burning and optimize your health you need to think about getting better slumber.
Sleep is important for you overall health and well-being. It boosts your immune system, increases physical performance, maintains long-term health and helps you regulate your emotional well-being.
As one of the up-and-coming areas of research, a lack of sleep has been strongly linked to weight gain.
There are two specific hormones that become inefficient when you skip the shut eye – leptin and ghrelin.
Together, these two hormones help to regulate your appetite.
Leptin – inhibits hunger and helps you feel full
Ghrelin – stimulates hunger
They act like a seesaw, balancing out your appetite to keep your weight stable.
One study showed that when over 1,000 volunteers were stratified by how many hours they slept each night, the ones that only managed 5 hours were much more likely to overeat when compared to those with 8 hours [7].
Their leptin levels were 15.5% lower than those who rested for longer. And their ghrelin concentrations were nearly 15% higher.
Stookey, JD et al. Drinking Water Is Associated With Weight Loss in Overweight Dieting Women Independent of Diet and Activity. Obesity. 2012; 16(11): 2481–248
Boschmann, M et al. Water-induced thermogenesis. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003 Dec; 88(12): 6015-9
Yoshioka, M et al. Effects of red-pepper diet on the energy metabolism in men. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 1995; 41(6): 647-56
Pilou, LH et al. Acute Effects of Capsaicin on Energy Expenditure and Fat Oxidation in Negative Energy Balance. PLoS One. 2013; 8(7): e67786
Hursel R et al. The effects of catechin rich teas and caffeine on energy expenditure and fat oxidation: A meta-analysis. Obes. Rev. 2011; 12: e573–e581
Hursel R et al. The effects of green tea on weight loss and weight maintenance: a meta-analysis. Int J Obes. 2009;33:956–61
Taheri, S et al. Short Sleep Duration Is Associated with Reduced Leptin, Elevated Ghrelin, and Increased Body Mass Index. PLoS Med. 2004; 1(3): e62
