You can CHANGE your METABOLISM.

Ok let’s talk about metabolism. Your metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories. People's metabolisms slow down as they age. You also lose muscle as you age. And muscle contributes to how fast your metabolism works. Muscle burns more calories, so its good to build muscle if you want a fast metabolism and you want your body to do the work for you. 

Everyone is different but I'm saying you can CHANGE your metabolism! I don’t care how fat or old you are, young or skinny, hungry or sick, pregnant or not! Eating small meals OFTEN is the key!! If you don’t your body will go into starvation mode, and your metabolism slows down. By eating enough food often enough, your body says “OK I’m getting what I need all the time so I can let go of all this extra fat I've been holding on to!” Which is what we want right? If you go hungry for too long your body HOLDS ON to stored fat and goes into 'starvation mode'. So tell your body that LIFE IS GOOD and all is well, 'we have enough food, we won't starve!'.  So small, balanced, frequent meals is the KEY! And when I say balanced, I mean combining a small portion of healthy fat (olive oil, coconut oil, raw nuts, seeds, avocado nut butters), lean protein (boneless/skinless chicken, fish, flank steak, sirloin steak, low-fat dairy, turkey, etc.), and complex carbohydrates or FIBROUS foods because they metabolize better together (quinoa, brown rice, whole wheat, beans, legumes, edemame, fruits, veggies, and other whole grains or whole grain products). So lean protein, healthy fat, and fiber should be the building blocks of each small meal you eat to help balance it out. Make sure you have normal serving sizes of each.

Can you speed up your metabolism? 
YES!! Can you slow it down, YES. You’d slow it down by eating one or two big meals a day, gorging on foods that are fatty and too sugary and then eating fats/sugars/refined carbs for snacks. My metabolism now is faster than it’s ever been in my life! I've been eating this way (5-6 small balanced meals a day) for almost a year now. How I knew my metabolism had changed and gotten much faster (after only about a month of eating this way and with exercise) was when I would wake up in the morning and be STARVING hungry!! I can’t go more than 3 hours before getting STARVING. Often times a few hours after dinner I’m starving again, and at night I have to eat a small protein snack (better to eat protein at night than carbs). Make sense? Can you do it? YES!

Another way to speed up your metabolism is to EXERCISE! The best time to exercise is in the morning! That increases your metabolism for the day. Different exercises have different effects, but my motto is just DO SOMETHING every day! Whether its cardio, weights, yoga, High Intensity Interval Training, kickboxing, dancing, jumping, biking, swimming etc. Just get in your workout! (Please contact me if you would like an optimal workout for weight loss. Beachbody programs are the perfect combo for the total body workout and transformation). You an also give your metabolism a DOUBLE boost by working out once in the morning and once in the early evening! Don't workout too late at night or you won't be able to sleep:)

WHEN should I eat? 
Eat within an hour of waking up in the morning, eat every 3 hours, and no less than 2-3 hours before bed. Shoot for 5 meals a day (3 meals and two snacks, or 5 small meals).  If you are HUNGRY, eat ASAP so your body doesn't go into starvation mode. Eat no less than 1-2 hours before a workout (unless its something very small like 50-100 calories just to get you through your workout, then it’s ok to eat it about 15 min. before if you workout early in the morning and don’t have 2 hours to digest but still need something in your system). Then after your workout you’ll want to eat within ONE hour something that is 4 part carbs/1 part protein to replenish you after your workout and help with muscle repair and muscle growth. (P90X Results and Recovery formula is what I use and it’s perfect!) 
So does that make sense about WHEN you should eat? 

So remember SMALL, BALANCED, FREQUENT meals will make your metabolism speed up and help you to feel great, never overly full, bloated, or sluggish. Just consistent energy, always feeling great! Try it!!

*One more tip: 
Drink plenty of water. You should always drink water between meals and before meals. This gets your stomach ready to eat and also curbs hunger if you're prepping your food. Then if you still need to drink while you eat, drink water! (Don't waste your calories on drinks!) Staying hydrated helps weight loss, helps detox, helps digestion (and many other things!) . You should drink half your body weight in ounces daily. So if you weighed 140 pounds you should drink 70 ounces of water a day. 

**Ok just ONE MORE tip:
There are certain FOODS that will help speed up metabolism and you should incorporate them in your diet regularly! 
-Chili peppers and spicy foods (for their thermogenic qualities)
-Yogurt (for its probiotic quality, helping digestion. And/or tempeh, kombucha, and kefir).
-Grapefruit (using a little before meals aids in weight-loss, in addition its great nutrition)
-Raspberries (ketones in raspberries help burn fat, and a great source of fiber)
-Eggs (eat 2 in the morning, great lean protein to help with blood sugar levels)
-Caffeine (I can't endorse this one, but it also has the thermogenic properties, as long as it doesn't have tons of sugar in it. And it causes dehydration...so...I stay away from caffeine in general) 
-...and we already talked about this one; Water! 

Good luck! Let me know how it goes getting that metabolism up to par!!