Many people say they want to lose weight, but few take steps to improve their metabolism. Metabolism is the process by which you convert food into energy for your body.[1] You have probably heard people say they have a "slow metabolism" or a "fast metabolism." This is usually their explanation for why they can either gain weight easily or eat whatever they want without gaining weight. While the rate at which your metabolism runs is based on genetics, there are some ways you can speed up your metabolism by gaining muscle mass. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you will burn.[2] Be sure to improve your diet, exercise, and change your lifestyle in order to lose weight.

1. How to Lose Weight and Help Accelerate the
Metabolism
Co-authored by Claudia Carberry, RD, MS
Last Updated: July 1, 2020 References
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Many people say they want to lose weight, but few take steps to improve their metabolism.
Metabolism is the process by which you convert food into energy for your body. You have
probably heard people say they have a "slow metabolism" or a "fast metabolism." This is usually
their explanation for why they can either gain weight easily or eat whatever they want without
gaining weight. While the rate at which your metabolism runs is based on genetics, there are
some ways you can speed up your metabolism by gaining muscle mass. The more muscle mass
you have, the more calories you will burn. Be sure to improve your diet, exercise, and change
your lifestyle in order to lose weight.
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Method
1 Improving Your Diet
Eat a healthy breakfast. Starting your day with a healthy meal sets an important
tone for the rest of your day. Eating a breakfast low in sugar and refined grains
while being high in protein may be the best way to increase your energy levels and
boost metabolism. The following are good ideas for simple, healthy breakfasts:
2 scrambled eggs with ¼ cup of 1% cottage cheese
2 boiled eggs sliced with 2 pieces of whole-wheat toast
1 cup of plain nonfat Greek yogurt mixed with 1 cup of raspberries
1 cup of a fiber cereal with ¾ cup of fat-free milk
Cook with chili powder or peppers. Adding chili powder to your food can improve
your weight loss and metabolism. It contains compounds called capsicums that are
shown to improve metabolism for a short period of time after eating. Studies have
shown that eating just 5 grams of chili pepper can increase your metabolism for up to
30 minutes.
Try adding chili powder to meat and vegetables to get this important compound.
[3]
[4]
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Eat more fiber. Include at least 30 grams of fiber in your diet every day to help you
lose weight. Fiber has also been shown to help improve your blood pressure and
blood sugar. Try to get your fiber from food, rather than supplements. Good sources
of fiber include:
Cereals: oatmeals, whole-grains, brown rice, quinoa
Vegetables: spinach, broccoli, carrots, green beans
Legumes: beans (kidney, lima, chickpeas)
Fruits: dried fruit (prunes, raisins), pears, apples, banana
Nuts and seeds: peanuts, popcorn, almonds
Eat more lean protein. Protein is an important nutrient needed for muscle growth,
which will increase your metabolism. Metabolism increases when your body has a
higher amount of lean muscle. To increase your lean muscle, exercise and diet are
important. Try to eat a minimum of 0.8-1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body
weight. (One kilogram is equal to 2.2 lbs.) For example, a person who weighs 150 lbs
weighs 68 kgs. (150/2.2) This person should eat a minimum of 54-82 grams of protein
each day. (68 x 0.8 = 54) (68 x 1.2 = 82)
Make sure that the protein you add to your diet comes from a lean protein source
like chicken or turkey breast, low-fat dairy options, or egg whites.
Avoid protein that adds a high amount of saturated fat to your diet like fatty meats
or high fat dairy options such as fatty steak, high-fat ground beef or turkey, whole
milk, and cheese.
[5]
[6]
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Method
2 Changing Your Lifestyle
Calculate your metabolic rate. Our bodies burn a certain number of calories each
day in order to properly function. This amount of calories burned at rest is termed
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). To find out your BMR, you can use an online calculator
which will ask for your ask, gender, height, weight, and activity level. The calculator will
show you the number of calories you burn based on a low, light, moderate, high, or very
high activity level. This will show you how many calories your body burns a day.
BMR does not take into account the amount of calories you burn through activity
such as exercising or just walking around each day. To account for these, you need
to use an activity factor. To do this, multiply your BMR by:
1.2 if you are inactive
1.375 if you are lightly active (you exercise once or twice a week)
1.55 if you are moderately active (you exercise three to five days out of the
week)
1.725 if you are very active (you exercise six to seven days a week or do
intense sports)
[7]

3. 2
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1.9 if you are extra active (you have a physically demanding job and/or extreme
sports activity)
Calculate and reduce your calorie intake. If you want to lose weight, you first
need to reduce the amount of calories you eat each day. Use the number you
calculated from your Basal Metabolic Rate with the activity factor and subtract 500
calories. Eat this amount of calories each day and you will lose about 1 pound each
week.
To make it easier to track your calories, use an online calorie tracker such as
MyFitnessPal, FitClick, or the USDA Food Tracker. These online trackers
have large databases to help you find out the calorie information on the foods that
you eat.
Eat regular meals. Skipping meals can raise your blood sugar and delay insulin
responses. Do not skip any meals throughout the day. Instead, eat every 3 to
4 hours to help boost your metabolism. Eating more frequently throughout the day can
lower your risk for obesity.
Remember to eat breakfast. It wakes up your metabolism after fasting overnight.
Studies have found that those who skip breakfast on average weigh more, have
diminished mental function, and do not get as many essential vitamins and
minerals.
Drink more coffee. Drink 1 to 2 cups of coffee a day to improve your energy
levels. Just make sure not to add lots of cream or sugar, which could cause you to
gain weight. Instead, drink black coffee, which contains healthy antioxidants. The
caffeine in coffee has been shown to increase metabolism after drinking by a small
amount. It also increases fat oxidation to help you lose weight.
If you need to sweeten your coffee, consider using a natural sweetener like Stevia.
You can also add almond or low fat milk in place of cream.
Avoid late-night snacking. Do not eat past 8pm at night. Although there is no
research that shows that late night snacking can slow your metabolism, it can
cause you to gain weight because you're adding calories by overeating. Preventing
yourself from eating past 8pm every day will allow your body to get used to not eating
at night and will cut out any added calories that you normally would eat.
If you feel hungry at night, drink a large glass of water with the juice of half a fresh
squeezed lemon. Eventually, your body will get used to not eating and you will no
longer get hungry.
Do strength training. Strength training will increase your muscle mass the most.
Increased muscle mass will accelerate your metabolism. Strength training can be
done using weights, resistance bands, or body weights. Try to focus on different muscle
groups in order to increase muscle mass throughout the entire body. The following are
some exercises that can be done to target different muscle groups:
[8]
[9]
[10] [11] [12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
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4. 7
Chest: chest press machine, push-ups
Shoulders: overhead press, flies
Biceps: bicep curls
Triceps: tricep extensions
Back: lateral pull-down machine, bent over rows
Calves: calf raises (weighted or bodyweight)
Quads: leg extensions, squats
Abs: sit-ups, planks
Do cardio exercise. Cardio is also an important way to losing weight and
maximizing fat-burning. Aim for 2 ½ hours of cardio exercise each week to help
maximize weight loss. Below are some sample cardio exercises that can be done:
Briskly walking
Running
Swimming
Biking
Cardio Machines (stair climber, elliptical, treadmill)
Playing sports
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References
1. http://www.eatright.org/resource/health/weight-loss/tips-for-weight-loss/metabolism-
myths-and-facts
2. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/metabolism/art-20046508
3. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/breakfast
4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14649970
5. http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/making-one-change-getting-fiber-can-help-weight-
loss-201502177721

5. 6. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-much-protein-do-you-need-every-day-
201506188096
7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15674762
8. http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/
9. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/calories/art-20048065
10. https://www.myfitnesspal.com/
11. http://fitclick.com
12. https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/foodtracker.aspx
13. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2121099/
14. http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/158/1/85.short
15. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/breakfast
16. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7369170
17. http://www.eatright.org/resource/health/weight-loss/tips-for-weight-loss/metabolism-
myths-and-facts
18. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14692598