How to increase your Metabolism...

Metabolism is the process developing energy from the consumed food. Metabolism is the rate at which your body uses energy, or, burns calories. Your resting metabolism measures the number of calories required to keep your body functioning. Even while we sleep our metabolism is working. Your body is using up energy to keep running to make your heart beat, your kidneys function, and so on. To get a general idea of what your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) , multiply your weight by 10. If you weight 150 pounds then your BMR = 150 x 10 kcal/lb = 1,500 kcals (kcals stands for the number calorie burned).

1. Extreme fasting
2. Excessive dieting
3. Physical ailment
4. Lack of physical exercise
5. Skipping meals
6. Poor sleeping habits
7. Too much gap between meals
8. Eating too many foods that are loaded with sugar 
9. Hypothyroidism may be also a cause of slow metabolism. This happens when the thyroid gland produces too little of the hormone thyroxine. This may be result in weight gain, slow body processing including a slow heart rate and fatigue.

How to Increase your metabolism through your diet.

Not eating breakfast has terrible effects on your metabolism for the rest of the day. In fact, it tells your body to slow the metabolism and store more fat. What you eat is very important. Food not only provides fuel for your body, but it also provides specific instructions for your metabolism. Eat more, don't ever skip a meal. If you try to lose weight by skipping meals or not eat at all, your metabolism will decrease which is the opposite of losing fat. What the body does when it goes into 'starvation mode' is compensate for the low calorie intake by decreasing the metabolic rate.

Eat small, frequent meals: Extending the time between meals makes your body go into "starvation mode", which means it'll hold onto as many calories as possible and store them as fat. Adding protein to every snack and meal will increase your metabolism boost. In order to encourage your liver to focus on metabolism rather than water retention, make sure you drink an appropriate amount of water. There are toxic ingredients in many pre-made and packaged foods. Check foods that have a label closely for High Fructose

Once you go to sleep your body goes into storage mode. Eating just before bed causes all those calories to be stored- mostly as fat! Give yourself at least 2 hours after your last meal.

How to Increase your metabolism through Exercise:

Get into a regular exercise program. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Do aerobic exercise such as walking, biking or using a stair-climbing machine for at least 30 minutes. Resistance Exercises -Exercises that use weights, bands or bodyweight are called resistance or strength exercises. Including these exercises builds lean muscle. More muscle = faster metabolism. 1 pound of fat burns only 2 calories a day while 1 pound of muscle burns 50 calories a day.

Exercise twice a day if possible. Do your vigorous workout in the morning, and then take a walk after dinner. Interval Exercises -Interval training is a fancy way of saying: "Go fast then go slow." These exercises have been found to burn more fat in less time than traditional cardio (maintaining a constant speed).Not only does the exercise itself increase your metabolism, but exercise -- especially cardio -- causes your metabolism to remain elevated for a period of time after you finish exercising. And strength building exercise builds muscle which helps to keep your metabolism elevated 24 hours a day.

Food that helps in increasing metabolism:

Food with elevated level of complex carbohydrates and proteins. Most of the complex carbohydrates we eat come from fruits and vegetables. Avoid alcohol, sugar. Take apple cider vinegar+honey+garlic.

Chili, Mustard, Green Tea, Water, dietary fibers, foods that are complex carbohydrates and proteins. Slow metabolic rate is mainly because of reduced dieting, skipping meals and even lack of exercise. On the other hand concerned with the age too. So now onwards take care of your diet and do regular exercise to increase your metabolism.

(Sources: fatfreekitchen.com, how-to-increase-your-metabolism.com, myfit.ca, caloriesperhour.com, weightloss.about.com)