Lose Weight Faster - 2 Primary Ways to Increase Metabolism and Lose Weight

When we refer to your body's metabolic rate we essentially mean the speed at which your body burns calories.

Since excess calories are converted to fat stores on your body, it should be clear that either ingesting fewer calories or helping your body to burn the calories faster are key factors in maintaining or reducing body mass instead of getting fatter.

If you believe that losing weight is destined to be a very long, slow process, you may be following advocates of weight loss programs that focus primarily on cardiovascular exercise.

While cardiovascular exercise is important for burning fat, and quick-fix weightloss programs are rarely healthy, you may be relieved to know that you can speed up the weight loss process quite a bit by incorporating metabolism-boosting exercises and a healthy meal plan.

The fundamental premise is that muscle mass is more active metabolically than the other body tissues, in particular fat. This means that even while resting, the muscle on your body is burning more calories up than the fat that is on your body.

So, to really jump-start your weight loss, especially if you are obese or a couch potato, you may want to discuss with your medical practitioner or a fitness trainer the possibilities of getting started on a muscle-building (weight-training) program. That way as you begin to developing more muscle, that muscle mass chips in to help burn more calories as you do other cardio (aerobic) exercises.

Another way to increase your metabolism is simply through eating small healthy meal portions regularly. I know firsthand, and maybe you do too, that some people still believe that skipping meals or starving themselves is the way to lose weight - until it doesn't work, that is.

In fact, not only is it unhealthy, that practice will most often result in weight gain. Essentially, when the body is not nourished and energized appropriately, it will go into 'starvation mode' where it tries to use less of the calories you ingest while still maintaining your level of activity.

That means your body becomes more energy efficient, using less and storing more as fat.

Hey - since it looks like you're beginning to starve, it has to protect itself and stock up for the long-term. Your body will choose to use up its muscle stores instead of fat. That means you will be losing your metabolic power and layering on the fat, which is the opposite of your goal.

So, don't starve yourself. Eat healthy, regularly and ensure you add weight-training to your exercise routines and you should find that you will be kicking your metabolism into high gear.