How to Reset Your Metabolism

How to Reset your Metabolism

Ever wanted a reset button in life? Reset, start fresh, and nail it the second time around.

Well, a reset button doesn't physically exist, but you can put in the work to reset your metabolism. If you're feeling sluggish, tired and in a low mood, you may want to take control of your metabolism. We will cover how you can give your body the energy it needs to get your metabolism revved with these steps, so you can hit that metaphorical reset button:

1. Increase water intake
2. Get enough sleep
3. Calculate enough calories for energy expenditure
4. Increase protein intake
5. Spice up your life
6. Drink coffee
7. Build muscle mass
8. Boost your physical activity
9. Find your zen
10. Create a supplement routine

How does your metabolism work?

Everyone's body needs energy to move, think, breathe and stay alive. Our metabolism is the chemical process of using food for energy and every person has a different metabolic rate. Our rate is calculated based on how much energy we need for the following:

1. Basal metabolic rate: The basic energy we need whilst resting (such as sleeping), in order to breathe, recover, repair cells and pump blood.
2. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT): The energy level needed to complete No exercise activities like fidgeting, standing, cleaning etc.
3. Thermic effect of food: Our body usually stores 10% of our daily calorie intake in order to digest food and take in the nutrients to different parts of the body.
4. Exercise: We need energy to exercise and even dance, the more physical activity we do, the more our body burns calories.

Taking your lifestyle into consideration, you will start to understand a little more about the calorie intake your body needs in a day. However, there are more factors that will affect a metabolic rate:

1. Body muscle mass: Muscle requires more energy to contract and release, even to complete basic tasks like walking, picking up an object etc. When building muscle, we actually tear the cell and then repair the gap so our resting metabolic rate (RMR) will be faster as our body works on cell repair. Therefore, your metabolic rate is generally faster if you have more muscle.
2. Body Size: You will need more energy if you have a greater body weight as there is more mass to pump blood to and more work involved to move. Note that muscle weight still uses more energy than fat weight as fat cannot contract and release.
3. Gender: Naturally men have more muscle mass than women so often their metabolic rate will be higher and will burn more calories, which is why the recommended daily intake is higher for men.
4. Age: As we age, we are generally less active, lose muscle mass and produce less hormones which can affect our metabolic rate.

The more you understand about your body's needs, the easier it will be to have an awareness of your metabolic rate. To increase metabolism, we have to balance our diet as any food intake we don't use as energy will be stored as fat. Eating too little could affect the energy levels we need for basic tasks; our metabolism slows and starts storing fat for future emergency needs. It pays to understand the correct level of calories your body needs for energy expenditure.

Why would you need to reset your metabolism?

It would be ideal if everyone fuelled their body perfectly every day so there was no need for a reset. But, life doesn't work like that and our bodies don't work like that, sometimes our metabolism will change due to factors out of our control:

• Less active - Sometimes in life we will have periods where we are less active due to injury, mental health, pregnancy or just general lifestyle. When we have come out of this period, our metabolism may need a little reset to kick back into gear.
• Eating too much - Eating is great, it's how we experience different cultures or come together with friends and family. After holidays or Christmas we may be feeling slow, sluggish and carrying excess weight so may need to spark the metabolism again.
• Eating too little - Sickness, stress and changes in lifestyle can change our eating habits. If we eat too little, our body cleverly slows the metabolism and reserves energy, so we have to encourage faster metabolisms when we are ready to reset again.
• Hormone imbalance - Many health conditions or even just age can affect our hormones which in turn will affect the energy process.
• A stressful event - Stress takes a lot of energy as our brain and nervous system works in overdrive. This can throw our metabolism out of whack, and we may need to reset.
• Sleep deprivation - When we sleep, our body uses this time to recover and repair. If we don't get sleep, our brains are working overdrive and consuming more energy than needed just to complete basic tasks which can cause an imbalance in our resting metabolic rate (RMR).

How long does it take to reset your metabolism?

Can you kick start your metabolism within 24 hours? Of course you can, doing any one of these things on this list will encourage faster metabolisms. However, for long lasting health benefits, it is always recommended to have a balanced lifestyle. Rather than yo yo dieting and needing to kick start your metabolism every few months, try to work all of these things into a balanced lifestyle.

It takes a lot of energy to reset your metabolism again, but fuelling your body correctly in the long term will improve your mood, health, energy, brain function and immune system.

How to reset your metabolism full breakdown

1. Increase water intake

Did you know that water is essential for your metabolism? There is a chemical reaction (called Hydrolysis) between water and the fats, carbs and proteins we eat to decompose the food so we can use it as energy. Without water, the food cannot be broken down by our metabolism.

Therefore, increasing your water intake will have metabolism boosting benefits. Adults are recommended to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.

2. Get enough sleep

Our resting metabolic rate is the energy needed to repair, breathe and recover. If we don't get enough rest then our RMR will slow to conserve energy and we will start storing fats which can cause weight gain. Getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night will promote a faster metabolism and increase weight loss.

3. Calculate enough calories for energy expenditure

Fuelling your body correctly to give it the energy it needs for your lifestyle and goals is the best way to support a faster metabolism.

Weight Loss Journey

If your goal is to lose weight, you still need to eat for energy! Starving yourself will only cause your metabolism to store fat and slow down to conserve energy. However, a small calorie deficit will encourage your metabolism to get the gap from fat burning.

Building Muscle

If your goal is to have more muscle mass, you will need to eat more calories as your body will require additional energy for cell repair, RMR and to move, contract and release.

Fuel your body throughout the day by eating little and often. Keeping your metabolism revved throughout the day will increase the rate it works at. Remember, don't skip breakfast! Power your day with energy first thing.

4. Increase protein intake

Protein has a much more complex molecule build and takes more energy to digest than carbohydrates and fats. It is also essential for cell repair and remember when we build muscle we are tearing and repairing the muscle cells. Therefore, a high protein diet can naturally encourage a faster metabolism as the body needs more energy just to take in the nutrients.

5. Spice up your life

Studies show spices containing capsaicin, such as chilli peppers, burn up to 50 calories more per day which can add up over time. Further research shows the increase in temperature and taking in more oxygen when you eat spice can also speed up your metabolism.

So, add a little spice to your life and boost that metabolism.

6. Drink coffee

Caffeine acts as a performance booster and encourages you to burn more calories to get more energy. Therefore, drinking coffee could contribute to resetting your metabolism.

7. Build muscle mass

As covered, muscle requires more energy, first of all to build by cell repair, and to move, contract and release. The more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism will be resting and exercising. This does not mean you need to become a body builder to have a fast metabolism but working your muscles weekly will help to keep a faster metabolic rate.

8. Boost your physical activity

When we exercise, we need more energy so our metabolism is boosted into action to burn more calories. If you have an active routine, you will promote a faster metabolic rate and lose weight more easily. But remember weight loss must be balanced with your diet, starving yourself can have the opposite effect.

9. Find your zen

Stress uses unnecessary energy on your brain and nervous system and will throw your metabolic rate out of whack. In fact, when we experience stress, we produce a hormone called cortisol which specifically causes a slow metabolism. Try practicing mindfulness meditation to manage stress if you are learning how to reset your metabolism.

10. Create a supplement routine

Dietary supplements are a great way of getting the nutritional gap we may not get from food. They are made from natural herbs, vitamins and minerals which work with your body's natural processes to aid digestion, metabolism, hormone regulation and energy production. If you want to supplement your diet to reset your metabolism, look for formulas with the following ingredients:

• Dandelion
• Cinnamon
• Ginger
• Iodine
• Vitamin B5
• Vitamin C
• Gymnema
• Zinc
• Magnesium
• Chromium

The takeaway on how to reset your metabolism

Just like a plant, our bodies need the correct amount of water and food to grow, breathe and repair. Fuelling our body with the right calorie intake and enough water to perform the tasks it needs to do will naturally improve our metabolic rate.

Whether your goal is to lose weight, gain muscle or just kickstart your metabolism after a period of rest, these 10 healthy lifestyle steps will aid your metabolism to work faster. So, get enough sleep, eat your breakfast, do a little mindfulness meditation and reset your metabolism today!