If you’re following a weight-loss plan and hope to see as fast of results as possible, one thing that you need to be paying attention to is your metabolic rate. Your metabolic rate is going to establish how many calories you burn off on a daily basis. The faster it’s moving along, the faster the results you’ll see.

Some people are quick to blame a slow metabolic rate for their lack of weight-loss success, but the truth is that you can do a number of things to increase your metabolic rate and improve your chances of reaching your goals.

Let’s look at some of the top metabolic boosting tips that you should know.

The Details:

• Perform strength training. No other form of exercise is going to increase the metabolic rate quite as well as a good weightlifting workout will.
• Eat more protein. Protein is the one nutrient that will boost your metabolism by up to 25% when you eat it due to the process of digestion. This is called the thermic effect of food.
• Snack on walnuts. Walnuts are a good source of omega fats, which can help to foster a stronger metabolic rate.
• Do interval training. Interval sprints boost your metabolic rate far more effectively than moderately paced, steady cardio training will.
• Use short rest periods. When doing your weightlifting workout session, keep the rest periods shorter to get a faster metabolic boost.
• Add cayenne pepper to your meals. This simple spice contains a certain compound called capsaicin, which will help to increase the total body energy expenditure for a few hours after consuming it.
• Drink green tea. Green tea has certain compounds that will help to naturally increase your metabolic rate as long as you drink two or more cups daily.
• Use caffeine. Whether it’s from coffee, supplements or otherwise, caffeine does elevate the metabolic rate. Just use this in moderation as caffeine is addictive and can cause issues with sleeping.
• Get enough sleep at night. If you aren’t sleeping enough, this can have a very large negative influence on your metabolic rate as well.
• Focus on compound movements. When in the gym, do exercises that work more than one muscle group at once such as squats, lunges, push-ups and pull-ups.
• Don’t diet too intensely. An extremely low-calorie intake is one of the fastest roads to a very slow and sluggish metabolism.

The Bottom Line:

Don’t let your weight-loss progress come to a standstill. If you aren’t seeing the results that you are hoping for, have a look at what might be able to be done to help spike your metabolic rate so that you burn more calories all day long.

If you use this technique rather than constantly focusing on bringing your calorie intake lower and lower and spending more time in the gym, you will see long-term success and enjoy the process that much more.