Your metabolism involves a hormones and enzymes that not only convert food into fuel but also affect how quickly you can burn that fuel or calories. It is often that many people who do the HCG diet complain of a slow metabolism. There are many ways to increase your metabolism. Here are a few tips to help give it the boost it may need:
Tips to Increase Your Metabolism After Completing the HCG Diet
- Exercise 3-5 times per week for at least 30 minutes each time. If you exercise enough, you can actually prevent your natural metabolic slowdown that can happen in your late 20s. Exercising 20-30 minutes a night before bed can keep your metabolism boosted while you sleep. The average woman’s metabolism decreases by 15 % while they sleep. Doing this would keep it at its peak throughout the night. Sitting too much or working at a computer can slow your metabolism. This can be fixed by stretching or taking a walk around the office every hour. It doesn’t need to be a long walk, but just enough to get your body moving.
- Build muscle. Aerobic exercise is great, but by adding in strength training you are going to boost your metabolism. To maintain muscle, it takes more calories than it does to maintain fat.
- Don’t skip meals. The more frequently you eat, the more it boosts up your metabolism. By eating 3 meals a day of 300-400 calories per meal and then having 2 snacks consisting of 200-300 calories every day, will keep your metabolism at its peak. Focus on eating healthy snacks too. You want to start out by having a protein for every meal. Protein not only helps to build lean muscle mass but also it takes more calories to digest. For your snacks, you want to have things rich in protein such as raw almonds, avocados, or legumes. Also having a healthy breakfast can boost your metabolism. It primes your body to turn calories into muscle.
- Eat spicy food. Spicy food contains chemical compounds that increase your metabolism. For example, as a snack have some air-popped popcorn. Then sprinkle it with Tabasco or your favorite hot salsa.
- Stay hydrated. A general rule of thumb is to drink at least 64oz of water per day. This may need to be increased if you are working out or if the weather is very warm. While on the HCG Diet, we recommend drinking at least half of your body weight in ounces of water a day.
- Get plenty of rest. If you get 2 hours less sleep a day then normal, it can trigger your appetite which will then increase your hunger. This can make it more likely to overeat which will cause slowing of the metabolism.
- Get enough B vitamins and magnesium in your diet. Eat foods that are high in B vitamins and magnesium such as green, leafy veggies, fish, egg yolks, black beans and broccoli.
- Medications can also slow your metabolism down. Medications such as birth control and antidepressants slow it down because of the way it effects the thyroid gland, which is what regulates your body’s use of energy.
Increasing Your Metabolism Takes Time After You Complete the HCG Diet
There are many ways to help boost your metabolism over time. The HCG diet will help you reset your hypothalamus which is conjoined with your metabolism. After the diet you will notice a large increase to your metabolism. Keep in mind though your metabolism didn’t slow down overnight, it won’t be boosted overnight. Be patient and focus on what’s best for your metabolism, long term.
