Consume Protein Up to Two Hours After a Workout

Protein increases "calories out" by encouraging your body to burn more calories. Due to this high thermogenic effect, increased protein intake has been shown to boost metabolism and increase the total burn up to 100 calories each day. Too much or too little protein consumption will vary between people but a relatively high intake is still safe. However, eating massive amounts of protein and restricting other macronutrients is unnatural and will not produce the results you need. Although you get energy and calories from all three macronutrients, your main source of energy comes from carbohydrates, which are converted to glucose. Conversely, protein intake has very little impact on your blood sugar. For building or preserving muscle mass, consuming protein any time up to two hours after a workout is ideal, according to the International Society of Sports Nutrition.

Starvation Mode Is a Lowered Metabolic Rate

If you dramatically lower your food intake, your body senses that food is going to be scarce and can lower the rate at which it burns calories to the point that it triggers "starvation" mode. Try these tips that support the metabolic process:

• Eat More Protein - Consuming additional protein can boost your metabolism, save valuable muscle mass and allow you to burn calories more efficiently while curbing your appetite.
• Drink More Water - People who drink water instead of sugary beverages are more successful at losing weight and keeping it off. No secret that replacing sweet calories contained in sugary drinks with water will automatically reduce caloric intake.
• Avoid Sleep Deprivation - Studies show the fewer minutes you spend asleep, the more likely you are to feel hungrier and make poor food choices the next day.
• Add Exercise Routines - Muscle is metabolically more active than fat and building muscle mass can help increase your metabolism. Not only will you burn more calories each day, your body will continue to burn energy while you are at rest.
• Drink Protein Shakes - There are numerous protein powders available for preparing a quick meal or snack, such as adding pea, hemp or whey powders to a healthy shake or smoothie.

Taking the stairs at work, walking when you're talking on your cell phone and parking further away from the mall entrance can boost your daily burn.

Metabolic Reactions Change Based on Your Behaviors

The epidemic rate of obesity in our country cannot be blamed entirely on having inherited a slow metabolism. Fact is genetic influences simply do not evolve that quickly, so lifestyle issues and environmental factors are more likely culprits. If losing weight is important to you, invest the time needed to plan your food intake as well as your physical routines. Keeping records can prevent you from underestimating what you eat and overestimating how many calories you burn each day. Metabolism is not a single thing that can be recalibrated by following a special diet, as it is a complex process that turns the energy we consume into fuel. Metabolic reactions change based on response to your behaviors and environments. Merely eating certain foods and exercising a little more often generally produces only marginal shifts to your metabolism.

At the Metabolic Research Center, our weight loss specialists have been warning clients for decades about the dangers of following fad diets with highly restricted food groups and how it can lower metabolism when their body goes into starvation mode. If your goal is to lose weight and keep it off, visit the MRC location nearest you or use this website's Contact Us form to submit your questions for a prompt response.