A fast metabolism is one of the keys to losing weight and keeping it off. Your metabolism is, simply put, the rate at which your body burns calories. The more calories you burn, the more you can eat without putting on extra weight, and the easier it is to lose weight if needed. Most people who are overweight suffer from a slow metabolism, which makes it harder for them to shed the excess pounds. However, your metabolic rate can be changed with a few simple tricks. Here are seven easy ways to get your metabolism burning.

1. Eat first thing in the morning - Your metabolic rate slows down to nearly zero when you sleep. It doesn’t get going again in the morning until you either eat or exercise. Both are great ways to start the day, but eating is essential, whether or not you get exercise in the morning. In fact, if you eat a healthy breakfast, you’ll likely burn enough extra calories during the day just from eating breakfast to negate the calories you consumed for that meal.

2. Exercise – Exercise burns calories and revs up your metabolism. In fact, exercising keeps your metabolic rate elevated for several hours after you’ve finished exercising, too. Change up your exercise routine regularly. Adding new exercises on a regular basis shocks your metabolism into working a little harder.

3. Forget the “3 meals a day” rule – Eating smaller amounts of food at more regular intervals actually makes your metabolism run more efficiently than eating three larger meals. Eat something small every 3 hours.

4. Avoid carbohydrates late in the day. To keep your metabolism burning and help drop weight, eat the majority of your carbohydrates earlier in the day. Eat protein and fat for dinner. Many experts recommend never eating carbohydrates and fat in the same meal for maximum weight loss.

5. Build some muscle – Muscle burns more calories than fat – even when resting. Get to the gym and lift those weights to build a little muscle. You don’t need to bulk up, unless that’s your goal. Just a little extra muscle can help your metabolic rate. Three sessions of strength training a week should be sufficient. If you’re doing cardiovascular training and weight training in the same day, do the weight training first. This helps ensure that your body has the strength to perform the weight training effectively and helps ensure that you burn fat during your cardio.

6. Walk, walk, walk – Though exercise sessions are important, a more active lifestyle in general will keep your metabolism burning. Even pacing while you chat on the phone burns extra calories. Avoid sitting still as much as possible.

7. Add some spice. Spices have been shown to increase your metabolic rate. Sprinkle cayenne pepper on your meats and add cinnamon to your coffee to increase the number of calories you burn in a day.

A fast metabolism is critical to maintaining a healthy weight. Just a few simple changes can add up to a metabolism that never stops burning!

Phyllis Zerkle blogs about various health care job issues, including how to study to obtain a
Masters in Health Administration degree.

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