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The journey to losing weight is not easy and requires self-discipline and commitment. However, when you reach your goal and lose those extra unwanted pounds, the sense of accomplishment is worth all the effort. Some people want to lose weight to reach their ideal weight, while others suffer from obesity and need to lose weight to improve their health. You can combine all the chemical reactions that take place in your body in one word “metabolism.” However, most of the time, people use the word “metabolism” interchangeably with “metabolic rate,” which is the number of calories we burn. There are many ways that you can increase your metabolism and suppress your appetite to avoid overeating. This article will provide you with the tips you need to do just that.
Get Enough Sleep
When you don’t get enough sleep, your hunger levels will increase, and your appetite-suppressing leptin hormone levels decrease. A study has shown that if you sleep for only five hours at night, hunger-inducing ghrelin (the hunger hormone) levels increase by 15%, and the levels of appetite-suppressing leptin will decrease by 15.5%. However, you can avoid this by sleeping for 8 hours a night without interruptions.
Drink Water Before Meals
Drink a large glass of water before every meal. This ensures that after you are done eating, you will feel fuller and more satisfied with the food portions. Moreover, drinking water before you eat, makes you less hungry after the meal. A study done on 50 overweight women, showed their appetites were reduced after they drank 1.5 liters of water every day for eight weeks.
Eat Plenty of Protein
After eating, our metabolism increases for a few hours, which is called the thermic effect of food. However, some foods cause a higher thermic effect than others. The team at Blendtopia says that wellbeing begins with what we put in our bodies. Protein increases the metabolic rate by 15-30% when compared to carbs and fats. Moreover, when you eat plenty of protein, you feel fuller and more satisfied with your meal portion.
High-Intensity Workouts
If you add high-intensity workouts to your exercise routine, your metabolism will increase, and you will burn more fats. Even when you finish your workouts, your metabolic rate will stay high. A study done on overweight men showed that after 12 weeks of high-intensity exercise, their fat mass was reduced by 2 kilos, and belly fat was reduced by 17%.
Dark Chocolate & Ginger
Aside from the various health benefits of dark chocolate and ginger, they also help in suppressing appetite. People who eat dark chocolate as a snack between meals eat less. As for ginger, it has a stimulating effect on our digestive systems, and maybe that is why consuming small amounts of ginger powder can reduce our appetite and make us feel full. However, more studies need to be done on the effect of ginger on appetite.
Manage Your Stress Levels
Stress is related to comfort eating. When people get stressed, they tend to eat more. Avoiding stress as much as you can will reduce the risk of resorting to binge-eating and comfort food. This can be done by meditation, relaxing, and quality sleep.
Stand up
Yes, stand up! Sitting down most of the time is not good for our health. Moreover, the longer you spend sitting, the fewer calories you will burn. If you spend your afternoon standing while you are working, you can burn an extra 174 calories. Remember to take a break from sitting down at your office. Actually, some workplaces have standing desks to encourage their employees to reduce the time they spend working while sitting on a chair.
Drink Coffee
Other than its heavenly taste and eye-opening effects, studies have shown that drinking caffeinated coffee can increase metabolism and promote fat burning. Some studies have shown that caffeinated coffee has more effect on lean people than obese. Moreover, other than helping in weight loss, coffee can help you maintain that weight.
Being overweight can be due to poor eating habits and food choices. Moreover, our emotional state can contribute to weight gain as well. However, there are things that can be done to increase metabolism and suppress appetite in a healthy way, like switching from milk chocolate to dark chocolate, drinking coffee, adding high-intensity workouts to your exercise routine, drinking water before meals, eating proteins, avoiding sitting down for long periods of time, staying away from stress as much as possible, and getting at least eight hours of sleep every day
