How to Jumpstart Your Metabolic Engine and Keep it There

The metabolism gets a lot of attention these days. There are workouts, diets and supplements specifically geared towards revving up your metabolic engine, enabling you to burn off unwanted body fat faster.

Entire books have been written to address increasing the body's metabolic rate. I don't intend to cover everything in this article, more detailed explanation at www.carrievisintainer.com, but I will provide you with some of the most effective methods of jumpstarting your metabolic engine.

First, let's address exactly what the metabolism is. Simply put, the metabolism is the body's natural ability to burn calories and oxidize fat. There are several factors that influence a person's metabolism (also known as metabolic rate).

Some are controllable. Others are not. Examples of these factors include gender, age, level of muscle mass, amount of physical activity engaged in, diet, and other genetic factors.

While certain aspects are outside of our control, hopefully you noticed that a few of the factors listed above are controllable. These are the factors we need to focus on when trying to boost our metabolic rate.

Let's start with the composition of the body…

The Only Permanent Metabolic Enhancement

Almost all attempts to enhance the metabolism are temporary in nature and will only last for a matter of hours, or days, at most. We will talk about a couple of these in a moment.

But first I want to go over the most effective way to improve your long-term metabolic improvement. In fact, this is the only way to achieve a permanent increase in your personal metabolic rate.

The method I'm referring to is the addition of muscle mass. This impact takes time to develop, as muscle gains don't happen overnight. But, the long-term results are well worth the consideration.

Studies have shown that for every pound of muscle mass you have, it requires up to 50 calories every day to maintain it.

This means adding 10 pounds of muscle mass will enable you to burn as many as 500 additional calories every day, naturally.

This would equal 3,500 additional calories burned on a weekly basis and will have a significant impact on your ability to shed unwanted body fat over time.

Keeping It Natural

Many people don't realize this, but they're actually killing their metabolisms through the foods they're putting in their bodies. The metabolism is controlled in large part by the liver - the fat oxidizing organ of the human body.

The liver is also responsible for safely filtering toxins out of our body. When it's overloaded with toxins the liver isn't able to oxidize body fat nearly as efficiently as it could otherwise.

If you're loading up on processed foods, refined sugars and junk food on a daily basis I can guarantee you that your metabolism has taken a serious hit because of it.

Switching to a paleo-style diet that's rich in organic fruits and veggies, grass fed beef and wild caught fish will keep your system free and clear of all the chemicals and toxins contained in processed foods that will cause you to develop a sluggishly slow metabolism.

Measuring Your Metabolism

If you want to get an idea of how efficiently your metabolism is operating, there's a simple method for doing it.

You will take a measurement of your temperature during the afternoon hours for four days straight. Record these four readings and then calculate your average temperature over those four days.

If your average temperature is less than 98 degrees your metabolism has been compromised and is need of a makeover.

You'll need to immediately switch to a natural diet like the one described above and make sure you're getting in at least thirty minutes of exercise four or more days per week.

After another month you'll want to take your temperature measurements again. If you've been consistent about eating natural foods and exercising regularly you should see an improvement - even if it is only a slight improvement.

It can take some time to undo the damage years of unhealthy habits have caused to your metabolism, so be patient.

Exercise Often

I'm going to wrap up this article with the most obvious method of jumpstarting your metabolism: exercise.

Exercise, or physical activity, is also the most efficient way to immediately enhance your metabolism.

Physical activity doesn't only burn calories while it's being performed. It also results in the burning off of additional calories during the hours following a workout.

In fact, studies indicate the most notable metabolic impact occurs from intense weight training and cardiovascular workouts lasting for 20 or more minutes.

So exercising does not only enable you to burn off hundreds of calories while you're doing it, but actually puts the body in a position to naturally burn hundreds of additional calories for more than 30 hours following a session of intense exercise.

And it doesn't require an hour in your home gym to make it happen. Twenty or thirty minutes is sufficient for getting your metabolic engine revved up and keeping it there for several hours afterward.

Hopefully you'll think twice the next time you're considering skipping a workout because you only have 30 minutes to get it in. Thirty minutes of exercise is still infinitely better than no exercise at all!

If you want a fat blasting metabolism, the only way to get it is by devoting some time and effort to building additional muscle mass, making a consistent effort to eat natural foods as often as possible and by engaging in physical activity often.

There are certainly other methods of boosting your metabolic rate, but these are the essentials that will have the greatest long and short-term impact on your ability to shed fat naturally.