Maintaining a healthy weight is vital for health. Additionally to lowering the chance of cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, and high blood pressure, it also can lower the chance of the many different cancers.

Proper weight management is important. It not only helps keep you healthy but can also save your wallet. A good deal of health insurance policies offers lower rates for people in healthy BMI ranges or people who accrue a certain level of activity.

Every country has its own rules & system. In the US, there is no National Health Service funded by the government & hence health care is largely operated by private businesses. In Australia, the health care system is jointly operated by all levels of government & private businesses as well. Many citizens have opted for private health insurance cover-for the choices it provides outside of the public system. Some people with private health insurance have either hospital cover or extras cover, and some people have both.

Henceforth talking about being healthy, what are some ways to maintain a healthy weight? Metabolism is key. Most people associate the word metabolism with weight loss but what exactly is it? Metabolism is the process in which the body produces energy from the food you eat. Many factors affect your metabolism rate including age, gender, weight, and medical history. Although some factors can’t be changed, there are some healthy, natural ways to help boost your metabolism.

Weight Training

Everyone has heard that metabolism slows with age but why? The main reasons for this decrease are due to a less active lifestyle and loss of muscle mass. In every decade after 30, the average person loses 3-8% of their muscle mass. Every pound of muscle burns 6 calories per day compared to a pound of fat burning 2-3. Replacing 10 pounds of fat with muscle can make a huge difference in your metabolism.

High-Intensity Workout

After an intense workout, the body has a period where it repairs itself and cools down. During this time the body requires more oxygen raising your metabolism. One great way to create this effect is through interval training.

Get a Good Night’s Sleep

If you make an excuse for lack of sleep, here is a good reason to stop. Sleep is integral in maintaining a healthy metabolism and weight. Sleep helps regulate the hormones associated with both hunger and appetite control. The body’s ability to process insulin is affected due to lack of sleep. Insulin sensitivity not only affects weight control but also increases your risk of developing diabetes.

High Protein Diet

Maintaining the proper diet is key to boosting your metabolism. Whole foods like trans-fats can slow down the metabolism, foods high in protein can speed it up. Protein has a long list of positive effects on weight management. Protein is integral to building lean muscle, decreasing insulin levels, decreasing appetite, and increasing metabolism. More than 80 per cent of Americans fail to eat the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables while More than one in four Australians (29.9%) found their diet to be neither healthy nor unhealthy while just 8% per cent found their diet to be unhealthy.

A certain per cent of calories taken in will be used to process the food. This is known as the thermic effect of food(TEF). The rate of TEF is different depending on which food is eaten. While 5-10% of carbs are exhausted in thermal energy, 30% of the protein is. This means for every 100 calories taken in, 30 are exhausted in the metabolic process. The slower process also keeps you feeling full longer!

Limit Alcohol Intake

Most people know that alcohol is a big no when you are trying to lose weight but why? Alcohol actually speeds metabolism up but its other effects will slow you down. When alcohol enters your body, your organs make metabolizing it the top priority. While this is going on, the alcohol actually increases your appetite. This means all the delicious tacos you drank after your night out are accumulating while your body is sobering you up.

Drink Water

Water makes you more alert, energized and gives skin a healthy glow. If you needed another reason to drink water, it also boosts the metabolism! 10 minutes after drinking cold water, the body’s metabolism raises by as much as 30%.

Metabolism is an important part of weight management and weight management is important to overall health. We can’t help genetics but implementing some of these natural, healthy metabolism-boosting practices can help. Not only will having a healthy metabolism improve your health, but will also help your wallet.