“Eating first thing in the morning kickstarts your metabolism. Skipping breakfast, on the other hand, decreases your metabolic rate for the rest of the day,” says Jaclyn Reutens, a dietitian at Aptima Nutrition & Sports Consultants. What you eat is just as important. Try a high-fibre, low-sugar cereal with skimmed milk or a simple wholemeal cheese sandwich.

While there are no foods that can significantly increase your metabolic rate, if you give your body nutritious whole foods, your metabolism will certainly function more effectively.

Pooja Vig, founder of The Nutrition Clinic, suggests including broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Asian greens and seaweed into your daily diet. These foods, she says, deliver plenty of nutrients to the body while encouraging detoxification. Try to eat about five cups a day. If it’s hard for you to eat enough veggies at every meal, make yourself a green juice using leafy greens like spinach and kale.

“The more muscle you build, the higher your resting metabolic rate,” says Jaclyn. “To help you build muscle while you exercise, make sure you consume high-protein foods daily. These include lean chicken, lean beef, lean pork, seafood, tofu, and low-fat dairy products.”

Build muscle to burn fat

Regular cardiovascular exercise is important because it burns fat and improves your circulation. But, on top of this, you should also find time for muscle-building exercises. The stronger your muscles are, the more energy your body uses and the more fat you will end up burning.

Growing up, we were told to exercise two or three times a week, for 20 to 30 minutes each time. But the World Health Organization revised this some years ago to 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardiovascular exercise per week.

Tan Yen Fang, founder & lead physiotherapist at PHYX Physiotherapy+, suggests spreading this over 30 minutes a day, five days a week. “Cardio can include activities and sports like brisk walking, cycling, swimming, playing frisbee, soccer, and even household chores,” she points out. “Alternate your cardio workouts with strengthening exercises like squats, push-ups, planking, yoga, pilates, weight training, or tai chi.”

If you already work out fairly regularly, you can rev up your metabolim even more with interval training. This form of exercise involves several minutes of high-intensity exercise followed by a few minutes’ rest. It’s a good workout for your heart and really speeds up your metabolic rate, to the point where your body will continue to burn calories for up to 48 hours after.

Many gyms offer HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) classes. If you prefer interval training on your own, Yen Fang suggests jogging for 400m and then sprinting for 50m. Repeat this routine a few times. Or, for every five minutes of cycling, try pedalling harder for one minute at a higher gear for added resistance.

Text: Sasha Gonzales/HerWorld

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