Day 18: Boost Your Metabolism

So today I learned some tips to boost your metabolism and some about what metabolism is. I've been dieting for a few weeks now and throughout my lifetime I've been on and off dieting A LOT. So I've been pretty familiar with the term metabolism and with a lot of the following tips, but what I didn't know was what exactly metabolism meant and that these things actually BOOST the rate at which your body burns calories.

To start metabolism is a series of chemical reactions that occur in your body and it is a constant process that is essential to life. It is defined by the amount of energy that is required by your body to do the basic things it needs to do to be alive. And your rate of metabolism is the speed at which your body breaks down the food (energy) that you put into your body. Your metabolism is a process and can be affected by your behavior and it can change.

Some metabolism boosting tricks I learned are:

- drinking lots of water
- exercise
- eating breakfast
- get a good night's sleep
- eat fruits and vegetables
- eat spicy foods
- eating small meals throughout the day

Now, all of these things I knew were weight loss tips because drinking water and eating small meals and eating breakfast all help keep you full. And exercise? Well, duh. But what is cool and a new motivating factor for me now is that these things are also beneficial because they burn the weight faster.

A lot of times I get tired of drinking so much water and skip out on that or I try to go as long as I can in the mornings without eating so that I can have my snacks later in the day when the day is dragging. Also, it can be tempting to turn to a 2 point bag of chips instead of a 2 point apple. But knowing that drinking that water and eating that apple will BOOST my metabolism will keep me motivated to make the right decisions.

And some of the others like spicy foods? Who knew!