Effective strategies to accelerate weight loss and enhance metabolism

Want to know why some people seem to eat whatever they want without gaining weight? The difference may be due to metabolism.  Your metabolism is a complex system influenced by multiple factors including age, height, genetics, muscle mass, hormones, and daily habits. While you can't change your age, height or genetics, there are some things you can do to speed up your metabolic rate.

Your metabolism refers to the collection of all the internal processes within the body that require energy. This is just about every aspect of staying alive – such as your brain cells to think and talk to your heart to beat and pump blood around your body. Add to this all physical movements you make through the day, from fidgeting at your desk, the number of steps you take and the exercise classes you make it to.

Think of metabolism as your body's engine room. It's running 24/7, powering everything from your heartbeat to your morning walk. All this energy is measured in calories. Your metabolism is also as individual as you are and your daily habits can have a big influence on how much energy you use in a day.

Implementing a few small changes could add up to quite a significant impact on your metabolism.

1. Increase your lean muscle mass: Muscles are the most energy hungry cells in your body (alongside your brain cells). Fat cells on the other hand are like couch potatoes. So the more muscle you have, the more energy you need (even when you are sleeping). Including regular weight resistance exercises into your week can help boost your metabolism well beyond the time at the gym.
2. Sleep Quality Poor sleep doesn't just leave you tired and looking for a sweet pick me up; it can disrupt hormones that regulate hunger and metabolism. In addition to this, the more hours you are awake, the more time there is to get hungry.
3. Under-eating and skipping meals means your body may be forced to go into ‘energy-saving mode’.   Extreme diets can actually slow your metabolism as your body tries to conserve energy.

Tips for boosting metabolism:

1.    Adequate protein to support muscle growth and repair

• Start your day with protein-rich breakfast to get you off to a good start
• Eat every 3-5 hours
• Include a small serve of protein-rich food with each meal
• Stay hydrated – start with around 2L of fluid (including milk, water, tea, drinks)
• Include a ‘you-sized’ portion of wholegrains at each meal to fuel muscle movement and spare protein for muscle growth.

2. Weight-resistance exercise

• Incorporate strength training 2-3 times per week
• Add high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to your routine
• Stay active throughout the day with regular movement breaks
• Mix up your workouts to use all muscle groups

3. Lifestyle boosters

• Establish a consistent sleep schedule
• Manage stress through regular relaxation practices
• Stand more, sit less during your day – how many extra opportunities can you find to move more?
• Get outside for morning sunlight exposure

Foods that may enhance metabolism:

• Protein-rich foods e.g. lean meat, fish, eggs, tofu, legumes, milk & yoghurt
• A cup of coffee may increase your energy and enable you to work a little harder or longer in an exercise session. There is a little evidence that caffeine could increase your metabolism by 3-11% for the next couple of hours. Disappointingly, this equates to an extra 3-10 calories!
• Cups of tea through the day was found to significantly increase fat oxidisation (breakdown) in a study of a small group of participants however the results varied a lot and even at best this would work out to be an extra 80 calories a day.
• Legumes such a kidney beans and chickpeas, contribute a diverse range of fibre to your gut microbiome to feed on. This has a number of potential benefits to your metabolic health including increasing satiety (fullness), fat oxidation, insulin production and reduce fat accumulation. Aim to include legumes at least 3-4 times a week
• Ginger powder in a cup of hot water drunk with a meal was found in a study to burn up to 43 more calories than drinking hot water alone.
• Dark chocolate in small amounts (e.g. 30g) every day for 4-8 weeks was found in a meta-analysis (collection of studies) to lead to a small reduction in weight and waist circumference but isn’t known if this is due to the chocolate itself (which adds an extra 150kcals) or the other side effects such as reduction in desire for other and higher calorie sweet foods, increase in satiety, improvement in mood and movement from the energy boost.
• Water intake could lead to a brief and small increase in metabolism however the real benefits are the increase in energy and clarity you may feel from being hydrated.

Remember that boosting your metabolism isn't about quick fixes - it's about creating a healthy, sustainable lifestyle that supports your body's natural processes. Focus on consistent, healthy habits rather than extreme measures and be patient with your progress.