Genetics matter. They determine if your eyes are blue, brown or green. Genetics decide how long your hair will last and if you can get a good tan.

Genetics are also responsible for how fast or slow your metabolism runs. Your resting metabolic rate accounts for 60-75 percent of the total calories you burn every day. But the remaining 25-40 percent YOU have control over. Here are 17 things you can do to give your metabolism a boost.

Never skip breakfast. When you first wake up, your body generally hasn't had food in several hours, so your metabolism slows down to conserve energy. Eating breakfast boosts your metabolism and helps you burn up to 10 percent more calories doing your morning activities.

Cut down on sugar. Too much sugar can spike your insulin levels. Increased insulin tells your body to stop metabolizing fat and start storing it instead.

Eat more protein. Your body burns nearly twice as many calories digesting protein-rich foods because of all the work your liver has to do assimilating and synthesizing the amino acids.

Eat smaller portions, more frequently through the day. Digesting food burns calories, so if you eat small meals throughout the day, you'll keep your inner furnace burning more consistently. Small frequent meals have the added bonus of helping you avoid that "starving" feeling and subsequent food binges.

Spice up your food. Bay leaves, chili pepper, cloves, ginger and turmeric have all been clinically shown to increase metabolism. Add them liberally to your meals.

Sprinkle 1/4 to a full teaspoon of cinnamon on your food. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has reported that the most active compound in cinnamon, methylhydroxy chalcone polymer, increased glucose metabolism roughly 20-fold in a test tube assay of fat cells.

Lose weight slowly. If you go on a crash diet, your body's homeostatic mechanisms think you're starving, and they'll slow your metabolism down to protect you.

Drink green tea. In clinical trials, green tea was shown to boost metabolism and burn fat at greater levels than could simply be explained by any caffeine content.

Drink cold fluids. Your body burns extra calories by first heating the fluid up and then digesting it.

Fidget more. If you're reading a report, do it while standing. Set an alarm in your office to go off hourly, and when it does, get up and stretch or walk to the water fountain.

Don't sit passively on the couch watching TV. Do some situps, pushups or cardio during your favorite shows.

Do cardio first thing in the morning. Elevate your metabolism right after you wake up, and you'll burn calories at a higher rate throughout the day.

It's estimated that for every 100 calories you burn during exercise, you'll burn about 15 more from the "afterburn effect."

Build muscle. Muscle boosts your metabolism for up to 2 hours after a workout. As a bonus, the more muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate will be.

If you have a pound of fat, that will burn about 2 calories a day.
If you have a pound of muscle, that will burn about 6.5 calories a day.

The following quote is from “The underappreciated role of muscle in health and disease,” published in Volume 84, Issue 3 in December 2006 of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/84/3/475/4648841

“Every 10-kg difference in lean mass translates to a difference in energy expenditure of ≈100 kcal/d, assuming a constant rate of protein turnover.”

Here’s the math. A pound of fat burns about 2 calories a day.
10-kg is about 22 pounds. That means each pound of muscle AT REST burns about 4.5 more calories per day than a pound of fat.

Use a heart rate monitor to do heart rate based intervals. Click here to learn how.

While weight lifting, take shorter rests between sets. Increase the intensity of your workout and instead of a 2 to 3-minute rest between sets, cut it down to between 30 seconds and a minute.

Use more compound movements. Bench presses, deadlifts, dips, pull-ups and squats all work more muscles than less complex lifts and end up burning more calories.

Don't forget your legs. Legs contain your body's largest muscle group, so when you build them up, the increased muscle will burn more calories throughout the day.

PLEASE NOTE: We have not recommended ANY metabolic enhancing supplements. Until we can obtain independent, double-blind clinical trials proving their efficacy and safety, we cannot in good conscience recommend them. For more information on the supplements we have looked into, simply click on Supplement Reviews.

Call for a FREE Consultation (305) 296-3434
CAUTION: Check with your doctor before
beginning any diet or exercise program.

6/18/2006
Updated 7/31/2019
Updated 8/16/2021