Now that the holiday season has returned, many people are gearing up for some pretty substantial indulgence! From large family meals to drinks with friends, the festive season revolves largely around social food and drink. But while all this decadence can feel good in the moment, it’s not that great for your health or waistline.

That being said, there are ways you can mitigate the potential negatives of the holiday season when it comes to eating and drinking too much. One such way is working on speeding up your metabolism – the bodily process that converts food and drink into energy. But how do you speed up your metabolism fast? Read on to learn all you need to know about how to boost your metabolism before the holidays.

How can I quickly speed up my metabolism?

Metabolism and personal metabolic rate are terms that are often used interchangeably; however, the reality is that they’re two different things – and to boost your metabolism, you will have to increase your metabolic rate, which is how many calories you burn. There are various ways you can do this.

Eat protein with every meal

The simple act of eating can actually boost your metabolism for a few hours because of the thermal effect of food. This is the term used to describe how many calories your body burns by consuming, digesting, absorbing, and processing all the nutrients in your meal.

Eating protein with every meal causes the largest increase in thermal effect, which leads to an increased calorie burn. In fact, your metabolic rate can increase by as much as 30% by adding protein to every meal. Eating protein also helps keep you fuller longer, which leads to lower overall food consumption.

Hydrate with cold water

The often sugar-filled drinks that are staples of holiday fare are hard to stay away from, but if you’re going to indulge, make sure you’re also staying hydrated with cold water as much as possible. Drinking water can lead to an increase of metabolism by up to 30% for an hour after you take the last sip.

Temperature can play a role here too. Drinking cold water has actually been shown to increase that metabolism boost even further because the body has to use more calories to heat the water up to body temperature. Drinking water 30 minutes before a meal can also reduce how much you eat, so you can still indulge without going overboard.

Move more often

If you spend most of your time sitting, you’re doing your metabolism a disservice. While it can be difficult to move around if you work a desk job (or are relaxing at home with your loved ones during holiday get-togethers), standing up and moving around more often burns more calories than sitting does. This can help to keep weight gain over the holidays at bay.

Add green or oolong tea to your diet

Both green and oolong tea have been shown to help boost metabolism. Drinking a serving of each can lead to a modest increase in calorie burn (roughly 4–5%).

Drinking more green and oolong tea can also help to convert fat stored in your body into free fatty acids, which in turn helps to increase your fat burning rate by an additional 10–17%.

Eat more spicy food

Not everyone can handle spicy food, but if you’re one of the lucky ones who isn’t too bothered by that extra kick, adding spicy food to your diet can boost your calorie-burning abilities. This is because spicy peppers such as chili or jalapeno peppers contain a substance known as capsaicin, which has been shown to help boost metabolism.

While the effects of spicy food on metabolism boosting are modest, when combined with other tips on this list, it can make a real difference in how many calories you’re burning this holiday season.

Can I exercise to increase metabolism?

Not everything you do to boost your metabolism has to revolve around food. While getting moving during the busy shuffle of the holiday season may be the last thing on your mind, it’s crucial to boost your metabolism so all that overindulgence doesn’t catch up to you in the new year.

The trick is knowing what types of exercises are best to do when it comes to boosting your metabolism. All exercise is good, but some types are better than others at increasing calorie burn.

Lift weights

Muscle burns more calories than fat when the body is at rest. Lifting weights can be a great way to build more muscle on your body, thus increasing the amount of calories your body burns this holiday season. This means that even when you’re sitting around a fire enjoying holiday snacks, your body will be burning more calories than it did when you had less muscle mass.

Do high-intensity interval training

High-intensity interval training, or HIIT for short, is a type of exercise that involves short and intense bursts of activity cycled by short periods of rest. When you participate in regular HIIT exercises, your metabolic rate increases because it can help you burn more fat. What’s more, HIIT exercise can actually lead to higher fat burn even when you’re finished working out.

The holiday season is meant to be enjoyed, so don’t be hard on yourself if you do happen to overindulge in the delicious aspects of this festive time! All you have to do is add in a few metabolism-boosting activities and you can help your body burn more calories and avoid that holiday weight gain.

Featured image by Nicole Michalou on Pexels

The holidays are typically the time of year where everyone loosens their restrictions around diet and exercise. After all, with all the get-togethers and fun seasonal treats, it’s hard not to overindulge.

Research finds that the average person gains anywhere from 1–2 pounds during the holidays, which is much less than most people suspect. The main reason for the discrepancy in how much weight people actually gain and how much they think they gain is how they feel. Temporary bloating following heavy meals and lots of snacks can be the culprit behind feeling 10 pounds heavier.

Since weight gain can vary from person to person, only you will know how much weight you’ve put on over the holidays. The good news is that two to three weeks of overindulgence doesn’t tend to lead to too much weight gain. It can, however, lead to difficulty getting back into the swing of your diet and fitness routine. So, how can you get back on track after all the holiday fun is over?

Here’s how to fast-track your fitness – and how to drop holiday weight along with it.

How can I lose holiday weight fast with exercise?

The holiday weight you gained may be a little or a lot, depending on how relaxed you chose to be about your diet. The good news is that no matter how much weight you gained, there are some simple tips and tricks that can help you drop holiday heaviness. Since losing weight generally comes down to a combination of a calorie deficit and adequate exercise, focusing on what you eat and how much you move can lead to a quick reduction in that weight gain.

To get started with exercise in the new year, it can be helpful to add a new activity that you enjoy into your routine. The addition of something you’ve never done before will stimulate the mind, hold your interest, and provide you with a fun way to exercise. Research has shown that people who partake in physical activities that they enjoy and that provide more benefit than just healthy weight were more likely to stick to a routine, as well as to report higher levels of physical activity overall.

Exercises such as running or jogging, dancing, hiking, bicycling, and water sports can all lead to a high calorie burn. It’s all about finding something you love and sticking with it.  

How can I lose holiday weight fast with diet?

When it comes to diet, it may be hard to make the switch between all those sugary and salty treats you consumed over the holidays for plates of vegetables and low-carb foods. But it’s not impossible. There will be a period of adjustment, because sugar addiction is a real thing and it can be tough to deal with. The good news is that it passes relatively quickly, especially if you are someone who stays away from sugars for the better part of the year.

Cutting down on your sugar or refined carbohydrate intake, you’re likely to experience less hunger, which will lead to fewer calories eaten throughout the day. Adding in protein sources, vegetables, and healthy fats such as olive oil will also keep you satiated for longer, leaving you without the snack cravings that often come with the territory of overindulging in refined carbs and sugars.

If you want to lose the weight fact, restrictions will need to be set in place. Once you’ve dropped those extra couple of pounds, you can begin to slowly reintroduce some extra foods in moderation. After all, moderation is vital in limiting the chances for binge-eating unhealthy foods.

Some supplements can also be of great assistance when trying to lose weight after the holidays. Vital RX’s Fat Loss Subscription Box contains a combination of peptide supplements, vitamins, and nutrients to help kickstart a healthy weight loss journey.

How can I get workout results fast?

It’s crucial to take small steps in the right direction when it comes to changing diet and upping your workout routine. Research has shown that doing too much too quickly can lead to injury, burnout, or a stress response within the body. To get results quickly, you’ll have to improve your nutrition first.

Then, you’ll want to focus on the right type of exercise. An hour-long walk is good for you; however, an high-intensity 20-minute workout may help speed up results. This is because these types of exercises lead to the body’s improved ability to metabolize foods, leading to higher calorie burn in less time.  

How long does it take to get fitness levels up?

Fitness level improvements will vary depending on your starting point. If you work out all year round and just skipped the holidays, you will suffer from loss of muscle mass starting about two weeks after your last workout. Easing back into things will make it easier to keep up with form and prevent injury.

The first week back at your regularly scheduled routine will be harder than you remember, but your fitness levels are likely to be completely restored within one to two weeks. For those who are just starting a new routine, it may take a lot longer. Beginners can expect around eight weeks of hard to work to get to a moderate level of fitness.  

Taking a few weeks off every year to enjoy life and let loose can be good for the mind, which in turn is good for the body. It’s important to remember that those few weeks of holiday indulgence aren’t causing too much damage, and getting back into your healthy lifestyle is easier than you think. Motivation is crucial following the off time, and dropping holiday weight can be done by following the above tips closely.

Featured image by Victor Freitas on Unsplash