5 Ways to Speed Up Your Metabolism

Do you feel like your metabolism has slowed down or plateaued? There are things you can do to speed it up, according to an expert. Nicole Bauserman is a woman’s metabolism and fitness coach whose goal is “helping women build fast metabolisms + strong bodies, so they can drop fat for good.” In a recent series of viral Instagram videos she addresses a question from one of her followers: How do you “heal” your metabolism? Here is exactly what you need to do, according to Nicole. Body Network’s Resident RDN, The Diet Diva, Tara Collingwood, MS, RDN, CSSD, LD/N, ACSM-CPT, a Board Certified Sports Dietitian, co-author of the Flat Belly Cookbook for Dummies, also weighs in on her strategies.

Your Metabolism Has Likely “Adapted to Your Lifestyle”

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“So if you are feeling this way, you are feeling like you need to heal your metabolism, I am assuming that you have tried to lose weight on your own and nothing has worked,” Nicole says. “The good news is your metabolism is not broken, it's just adapted to your lifestyle. And there are things that we can do to speed it back up again.”

You Need to Stop Dieting

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“The biggest thing that you can do, and you're probably not gonna like it, spend time, not dieting, spend time not trying to lose weight,” she instructs. “When we are constantly dieting, when we are constantly hopping from one diet to the next, and when one stops working, you start another one. And you're constantly eating low calories, trying to lose weight. Your metabolism learns how to adjust to those lower calories, AKA, it slows down, which is why no matter how hard you diet or what new diet you try, nothing seems to work.”

Increase Calories

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“So in order to fix this, in order to speed our metabolism back up and get our body responsive to losing weight again, we have to increase our calories and take a break from trying to lose weight,” Nicole continues. “And I'm not talking about just for like a week or two, I'm talking about for a few months, spending time, not dieting.” Collingwood agrees. “I see a lot of clients who are eating too little and over exercising and have hit plateaus in their weight loss that they just can’t get over,” she says. “I will increase their calories, spread out throughout the day, and sometimes even decrease their exercise and their body responds by letting go of some stored fat that wasn’t budging before.”

However, You Can’t Eat Whatever You Want

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However, she explains that in order to get “your metabolism to speed back up,” you cannot take a “free for all” or “eat whatever you want” approach. “There are a couple of things that you wanna focus on when you're increasing your calories and eating at maintenance,” she says.

The Type of Food You Eat Matters

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In Part 2, she takes a deeper dive into food. “Focus on what you are eating,” she explains, recommending metabolism boosting food.

You Need to Amp Up Protein Intake

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She explains that the food you need “is not eaten enough of most of the time” and isn’t considered a “superfood” but it is “as close to a superfood as you’ll get.” The answer? “Im talking about protein,” she writes. “It has the highest thermic effect out of all foods. Which is just a science-y way to say that protein helps you burn the most amount of calories just by eating and digesting it. So you’ll burn more calories just by eating more protein!” It will help you “work smarter not harder,” she adds. Plus it’s gonna help you build and maintain muscle - which the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn just at rest.” Collingwood agrees. “Protein is great for all of these reasons, but you also need to have a balance of carbs and fats,” she adds. “Some people are eating way too much protein because of messages like this and still stuck with not losing weight.”

Here Are the Protein Sources She Recommends

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“Generally you should aim for 0.8-1g of protein/pound of body weight,” she says, recommending her “favorite protein sources,” adding that they are more “delicious” than just “boring plain” chicken:

🥩 lean cuts of steak

🍔 lean ground

🍣 salmon

🍤 shrimp

🥪 sliced turkey for a classic sandwich

🍗 flavorful chicken (chicken parm, honey garlic chicken, bbq pulled chicken just to name a few of my favs!)

👉🏼 Greek yogurt, beef jerky, cottage cheese

🥤 protein powder in a smoothie or oatmeal

💪🔥Body Booster: If you want to “heal” your metabolism, start by adding calories in the form of lean protein.

A healthy metabolism is important not just for weight loss but for overall well-being. “Metabolism can vary greatly from person to person,” Linsey High, PA-C tells UnityPoint Health. “For example, two women who are the exact same height and weight can have completely different metabolisms due to many different factors.” While there is certainly a genetic factor to take into consideration, lifestyle habits can impact your metabolism for the better and the worse. Here are seven ways to boost your metabolism naturally, according to experts.

Weight Training

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Lifting weights is a great way to boost your metabolism and get fit. “Strength training is a key component of overall health and fitness for everyone,” says the Mayo Clinic. “Strength training can help you manage or lose weight, and it can increase your metabolism to help you burn more calories.”

Good Sleep Habits

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Studies show not getting enough sleep can slow down your metabolism, encouraging the body to hold onto fat stores. "The primary problem in obesity is how fat tissue functions to store fat energy,” says Greg Shearer, PhD. “By storing fats quickly, fat tissues appear to shift fuel utilization away from fats and prioritize the use of sugars for fuel. Here we show evidence that sleep restriction exaggerates this process, conserving energy stores."

Exercise More

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A study from UT Southwestern Medical Center shows even a single workout can boost your metabolism for days, thanks to the impact of exercise on specific neurons. “It doesn’t take much exercise to alter the activity of these neurons,” says UT Southwestern neuroscientist Dr. Kevin Williams. “Based on our results, we would predict that getting out and exercising even once in a semi-intense manner can reap benefits that can last for days, in particular with respect to glucose metabolism.”

Don’t Skip Meals

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Eat breakfast to help boost your metabolism—but opt for healthy, high-protein choices. “Our energy use slows overnight and is usually lowest in the early morning,” High tells UnityPoint Health. “Eating breakfast is an easy way to ‘wake-up’ your metabolism. People who don't eat breakfast often have several hours of slower metabolism compared to people who do eat breakfast.”

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Manage Stress

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Stress can negatively impact your metabolism, so managing it through methods such as meditation or exercise is very important. “Your body does not know when a stressful situation will end,” says Penn Medicine. “To prepare, it saves energy by not burning as many calories, which can lead to weight gain. More commonly, people turn to — or away from — food as a way to help deal with stress. Your metabolism can change if you regularly eat large amounts of food or don’t eat enough or at all.”

Eat More Protein

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Protein helps rev your metabolism thanks to its higher thermic effect. “Swapping out high-carb foods for high-protein foods will increase the amount of energy the body uses to digest food, burning more calories in the digestion process alone,” High tells UnityPoint Health. “This is why paying attention to the nutritional content of our foods is so valuable. It’s also why junk food, which is typically high-fat and/or carb, is detrimental to our health.”

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Move More

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Sitting all day can negatively impact your metabolism. "So much of improving metabolism is understanding what it is you do with most of your time," endocrinologist Dr. Laila Tabatabai tells Houston Methodist. "If you're sitting in front of a computer for eight hours a day only to go home and sit in front of your TV for another two or three, that's certainly going to reduce your metabolic rate."

💪🔥Body Booster: The same healthy habits that lead to weight loss will help boost your metabolism.

Family Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Educator Brigitte (@BrigitteNP) was a personal trainer in the past and is still very passionate about all things diet, exercise, and wellness. Brigitte knows first-hand how difficult it can be to lose weight if your metabolism isn’t being supported. “I was not blessed with a very fast metabolism,” she says. “There are certain people who can eat anything they want and stay skinny. That was never me, has never been me, and will probably never be me, but there are things that you can do to help boost your metabolism.” Read on to learn about her top metabolism-boosting tips!

Yearly Checkups

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Keep up with your yearly checkups to rule out any medical conditions that could undermine your weight loss, Brigitte says. “I always recommend that you schedule your yearly visit with your healthcare provider or make an appointment anytime you feel there's a change in your health conditions, such as hypothyroidism, which is a sluggish thyroid or a slow thyroid that can decrease your metabolism,” she says. “Hypothyroidism can be detected through lab work.”

Thyroid Issues

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Brigitte says to watch out for specific symptoms of thyroid issues. “Depending on your lab results, it must be corrected with medication. So if you're feeling very fatigued and cold all the time, and you've put on a lot of weight, I urge you, please go to your healthcare provider and get your thyroid checked out because sometimes a low thyroid can get missed and that does need to be treated as soon as possible. But let's say you've had your blood work checked out. Your thyroid is in great function, and if you don't have hypothyroidism, then let's boost your metabolism.”

Metabolism 101

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Brigitte gives some background into what metabolism is. “Your basal metabolic rate is your BMR, and it's essentially how many calories do you burn at rest,” she says. “So, for example, those people who can eat a lot of food and never gain weight most likely have a very high basal metabolic rate. Their body burns more calories at rest, and therefore, they are able to eat more without gaining weight.”

Not Naturally Blessed

Brigitte works hard to keep her metabolism in tip-top shape. “I was not blessed with a good metabolism, but there are hacks around this,” she says. “As always, make sure you always check with your healthcare provider before following these tips.”

Tip #1: Get Enough Protein

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Brigitte is vegan and consumes vegan protein powder. “Tip number one is during meals, consume some type of lean protein,” she says. “When you eat protein, you get a temporary rise in your metabolism by around 15 to 30%. Additionally, protein helps you feel more full and prevents you from eating. When I'm working and I don't have time to eat, I will use my blender cup and I'll add a scoop of protein, and it helps satisfy my cravings.”

Tip #2: Eat Lean Protein

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Brigitte recommends lean protein for non-vegans. “So if you're not vegan, you could opt for a lean grilled chicken breast,” she says. “As a vegan, I eat vegan alternatives such as gardening or beans and lentils, and sometimes I'll even add edamame to salads.”

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Tip #3: No Soda or Sports Drinks

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Eliminate sodas and sports drinks from your diet, Brigitte says. “The third tip to boost your metabolism and even to help you lose the weight is to ditch the soda and even sports drinks,” she says. “Unless you are a marathoner or you're an elite athlete that is using up all these calories and all these electrolytes, you don't need sports drinks. Many sports drinks are loaded with sugar. They barely have any electrolytes, and if your workout is light, you don't need to replace electrolytes. If you're just walking by drinking a sports drink or even a soda, everything that you would have burned, you just drank back.”

Drink Water

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Brigitte recommends drinking plenty of cold water instead. “You're better off drinking cold water. Sugar equals calories, and when you drink water, you automatically decrease your calorie intake. Drinking water also boosts your metabolism. Studies have found that drinking 17 ounces of water, which is around 0.5 liters, increases your resting metabolism by 10 to 30% for about an hour. A pro tip is to drink cold water to burn even more calories. This is because by drinking cold water, your body has to work harder to regulate your body temperature back to normal.”

Tip #4: HIIT Workouts

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Brigitte recommends HIIT workouts to boost metabolism. “Walking alone is not going to help you lose a lot of weight,” she says. “A lot of times, providers will tell patients like, oh, make sure you walk at least 30 minutes a day. But if you're walking and you know you're not even getting your heart rate elevated, that's not doing much. So don't get me wrong, walking is better than not walking any day. But there's a more efficient way to maximize your workouts.”

Tip #5: Lift Weights

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Brigitte strongly encourages strength training. “The fifth tip, and possibly my favorite, is to lift some weights. I can tell you that when I solely did cardio, I barely lost any weight. That all changed when I learned one huge hack to losing weight, which involved lifting weights. The truth is that muscle burns more calories and fat, so the more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolism.”

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More Muscle

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The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest. “Men naturally have more muscle mass than women, and this is why they can eat more than us,” she says. “Research shows that one pound of muscle burns seven to 10 calories per day, while one pound of fat burns only two to three calories. This was according to the American Council on Exercise. Also, as we age, our muscle mass tends to decrease, and lifting weights helps combat that drop in metabolism. If you've never lifted weights, start lightly and slowly build up. Don't overdo it.”

Life-Changing Workout

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Brigitte says you don’t need to lift huge weights to get good results. “A small amount of weight goes a long way,” she says. “Lifting weights has been life-changing for me. It helps keep me toned, and it has helped boost my sluggish metabolism. I'm 35 years old, and I actually weigh less than what I weighed in high school.”

Find Something Fun

Brigitte makes the excellent point that if you find something fun, you’re more likely to keep up with it. “Find something that you enjoy doing. Running on a treadmill is so boring for me,” she says. “So now I opt for hot Pilates, Pilates, which incorporates core training I do, and that Pilate class I go to also incorporates high interval intensity training and calisthenics, and that helps tone and strengthen.”

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Yoga and Stretching

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Brigitte makes sure to incorporate lots of stretching into her workouts. “I incorporate hot yoga into my workouts, and this helps keep me flexible and injury-free,” she says. “I have an autoimmune condition, so it's very important that I prevent injury and that I stay flexible because I tend to be predisposed to tendon and ligament injuries and inflammation.” And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 20 Superfoods for People Over 50.