You’ve heard it all before—what you need to do to speed up your metabolism is to eat more fibre-rich foods, drink more water, exercise, yadda yadda yadda. But other than knowing what’s right for your metabolism, you also have to know what’s not right.
There are certainly a lot of other things you might be doing that could be messing up with your body’s digestive functions. Read on to find out which of your daily activities is sabotaging your metabolism—and your weight loss goals.
- You Banned the Dairy Products
Calcium deficiency is a common condition, and some evidences show that it slows down the body’s metabolism processes. Treat dairy as your friend, and opt for the low-fat version. Consuming the right amount not only helps your metabolism, but also helps reduce fat absorption.
- Eating Too Little
When you skip meals or eat too little, your body is starved of the nutrients it deserves and as a result slows down your metabolism to conserve energy. This switches the body to survival mode and lets fat sleep in your body while accumulating more fat. To correct this, eat often and in moderate amounts, according to your daily energy requirements.
- Sitting All Day
Work hours in the office may require long hours of sitting at your desk. While this makes you productive at work, it’s doing the opposite to your metabolism. The quick fix for this: get up, stretch out and walk around for two minutes every hour. It will certainly make a difference, rather than letting hours pass by without some physical action.
- Doing Weights Too Fast
You may be sweating a lot for doing more curls with the dumbbells, but take it slow when doing the weights for maximum metabolism effects. Eccentric movements require more muscle work than the act of lifting; and that’s ideal since your body will need to burn more calories in order to repair muscle damage, hence the metabolism boost. If you want to pump up your metabolism for the next 72 hours, focus on slowing down eccentric motions at the gym.
- You Only Watch Dramas
Instead of re-watching The Notebook, binge-watch The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon or search for funny cat videos on YouTube. Scientists say that 10 minutes of good laugh can burn up to 10 calories.
Are you guilty of doing any of these habits? Don’t worry. It’s never too late to start leading a healthier life.
