In order to get the most out of your weight loss efforts, it’s important to boost your metabolism efficiently.
A faster metabolism equals more calorie burn, even when you’re at rest (and who doesn’t want that?)!
Thankfully, you can boost your metabolism by doing what you already love to do i.e. eating and drinking!
Just by eating and drinking more water you can increase your metabolism by as much as 30%!
Without further delay, let’s get into it 🙂
THE SCIENCE OF WATER AND METABOLISM
The science of how water boosts metabolism was demonstrated in a study with 14 men and women.
The study group was given 17 ounces of water and then they were closely monitored to see how much energy (calories) they burned.
Interestingly, the study showed three fantastic results:
- The men and women had a 30%increase in metabolic rate within 10 minutes of drinking water!
- Their metabolic rate reached its peak 30 – 40 minutes after the water was consumed.
- The elevated metabolic rate lasted over an hour.
How cool is this??
Now, if you’re wondering if this is all a coincidence, it’s not.
You see, many years ago, in my nutrition classes, I learned something really basic but significant: the body generate the energy that it needs from the energy (i.e. calories) in the food we eat.
The body uses 2 molecules of water for this process…
…so if you’re dehydrated or you don’t drink enough water, you literally make it harder for your body to use up the calories from the food you eat.
So, why not just take the easy way out and consume more water? 🙂
HOW TO BOOST METABOLISM WITHOUT EXERCISING
Now that you’ve seen why water helps boost your metabolism, how can make sure you consume enough of it every day?
1. Use A (Stainless Steel) Water Bottle
A simple way to increase your water intake is to have a water bottle that you can take with you anywhere you go.
This allows you to sip on water regularly throughout the day.
Ideally, you should use a bottle that is BPA-free.
You want to stay away from BPA because it disrupts hormones and can contribute to estrogen dominance (which adds to more weight gain).
(Pssst…estrogen dominance is a major contributor to weight issues and I show you how to tackle it in this post).
2. Eat Water-Rich Fruits and Veggies
Let’s face it, plain water can get old after a while!
My favorite way to eat more water is to eat water-rich fruits and veggies because they come with many other benefits, such as:
- rich source of vitamins
- provide disease-fighting enzymes
- excellent source of healthy fiber
- satisfy the sweet tooth
Some water-rich foods you can choose from are:
- cucumbers (96% water)
- celery (95% water)
- tomatoes (95% water)
- watermelons (95 water)
- grapefruit (91% water)
- cantaloupe (90% water)
- peaches (88% water)
3. Drink Lemon Water and Other Fruit-Infused Water
Lemon water is a refreshing drink to start your day with and it’s also great to have throughout the day, especially after a meal.
Not only does it help rev up your digestion and flush out toxins, but personally, I find that it neutralizes any after tastes that are in my mouth.
And this ultimately cuts down on unnecessary cravings.
To keep things interesting you can also make your own infused water!
The idea is very simple: place your favorite fruits or veggies in water, and allow the water to be infused with all the goodness of the fruit/veggie.
Whether it’s strawberries, kiwi, oranges or cucumbers, the sky is the limit when it comes to which foods you use.
The end result is a refreshing and mildly flavored water that makes the “task” of drinking water much more enjoyable!
And there you have it! My top tips to help boost metabolism by 30% without exercising.
Now, I’d love to hear from you…do you keep up with your water intake? What do you do to make sure that you’re drinking enough water? Share in the comments and let’s continue the discussion 🙂
