One question that people want to know when trying to create a healthy diet is: How do I lose some fat off of my body without starving myself? It’s not an easy thing to do whatsoever, and it takes a lot of patience.
Believe it or not, sometimes eating more meals throughout the day can lead to weight loss. How is this possible? Well, eating more meals than the generic breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout the day with smaller meal portions is the answer. When you eat large meals with multiple hours in between, your metabolism slows down dramatically. For example, eating a smaller breakfast, followed by a healthy snack before lunch provides a full enough stomach with a calorie count lower than your normal breakfast and lunch.
After your lunch, eating another healthy snack before dinner will take the edge off your appetite, and keep your energy steady throughout your busy day. That would bring you to a total of 5 meals each day ending with dinner.
Another way to boost your metabolism is keeping your body hydrated. Kathleen M. Zelman, a Registered Doctor from webmd.com states, “In one study, adults who drank eight or more glasses of water a day burned more calories than those who drank four. To stay hydrated, drink a glass of water or other unsweetened beverage before every meal and snack”. Zelman also says to snack on foods that contain water such as fresh fruits and vegetables, because they naturally contain water.
Personally, I have boosted my metabolism by eating more protein. Protein is an essential part of creating more muscle after you tear it down from a workout. Healthy proteins include chicken, fish, turkey, nuts, and eggs. There are also plenty of options that are plant based. Spinach, carrots, beans, quinoa and more. Zelman touches briefly on protein by stating, “Your body burns many more calories digesting protein than it does eating fat or carbohydrates. As part of a balanced diet, replacing some carbs with lean, protein-rich foods can boost metabolism at mealtime”.
I’m not a coffee lover, but I have plenty of friends that love coffee. Coffee surprisingly is a very effective way to boost your metabolism. It needs to be drank in moderation, but the caffeine in coffee helps raise your metabolic rate. The same rise in metabolic rate occurs with green tea. Zelman states, “Drinking green tea or oolong tea offers the combined benefits of caffeine and catechins, substances shown to rev up the metabolism for a couple of hours. Research suggests that drinking 2 to 4 cups of either tea may push the body to burn 17% more calories during moderately intense exercise for a short time”.
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