31 WAYS YOU MESSED UP YOUR METABOLISM TODAY

Your metabolism fuels the fire that burns calories and fat, even when you're just sitting around. But are you accidentally extinguishing the flame?

Metabolism. It’s the elusive set of life-sustaining chemical transformations and a characteristic of bodies that can vary from person to person. It’s such a big concept that you might believe you’re at the mercy of it. Well, actually, you are! It’s thermodynamics at work, after all.

But there are a bunch of simple — even easy — things you can do to boost your metabolism and make your body run more efficiently, "good genes" or not. Make tomorrow a great day by grabbing a cup of rooibos tea (which boosts metabolism!) and learning about the common metabolism mistakes you probably made today.

1

YOU DIDN’T GET A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP

If you're chronically sleep deprived, don’t be surprised if you gain a few pounds without eating a morsel of extra food. “A lack of sleep can cause several metabolic problems,” says nutritionist Seth Santoro. “It can cause you to burn fewer calories, lack appetite control and experience an increase in cortisol levels, which stores fat.” Lack of sufficient sleep — which experts say is 7 to 9 hours a night for most people — also leads to impaired glucose tolerance, a.k.a. your body's ability to utilize sugar for fuel. “We all have those less-than-adequate nights of sleep,” says nutritionist Lisa Jubilee. “But if it's a regular thing, you're better off lengthening your night's sleep than working out, if fat loss or weight maintenance is your goal.” You may also want to brush up on these 30 Best and Worst Foods To Eat Before Sleep!

2

YOU STARTED YOUR DAY DEHYDRATED

For Jubilee, one of the best and cheapest ways to give your metabolism a jolt is to drink water (she suggests 20 to 32 ounces) shortly after waking. Why? During sleep, your body’s metabolic function slowed, and unless you woke up in the middle of the night to swig some water, it didn’t receive any fluids. Jubilee suggests completely rehydrating before stressing your body with any other food or drink. “My clients who have implemented this report less bloating, more energy and a smaller appetite,” she says. Her motto for getting your inner furnace stoked and ready for the day: “Rehydrate, then caffeinate!” And caffeinate with tea. New science in The 7-Day Flat-Belly Tea Cleanse showed that white tea can simultaneously boost lipolysis (the breakdown of fat) and block adipogenesis (the formation of fat cells). The tea’s combination of caffeine and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) seems to set fat cells up for defeat.

3

YOU HAD ROAD RAGE

Okay, it doesn’t have to be road rage, but that kind of unnecessary stress doesn’t do your body good. Not only can stress cause headaches, stomach distress, high blood pressure, chest pain and sleep disturbances, it also causes the body to metabolize food more slowly, according to research published in the journal Biological Psychiatry. To add insult to injury, the types of food we crave when we’re stressed out tend to be fat and sugar-laden treats like doughnuts and chocolate. Researchers say that the combination of high-cal cravings and a stress-induced snail-paced metabolic rate can result in significant weight gain.

4

YOU DRANK TOO MUCH CAFFEINE

Plenty of studies indicate that caffeine can boost your metabolism in the AM. But nutritionist Amy Shapiro says that guzzling coffee and other caffeinated drinks all day could actually work against you. Caffeine is a natural appetite suppressant. If you’re constantly consuming it, you may not eat much — or realize how hungry you really are — until you get home for dinner. “Not eating enough throughout the day can make your metabolism sluggish,” she says. “By the time you eat dinner, instead of immediately using that food for energy, your body is aggressively storing it as fat, just in case it will be deprived again.”

5

YOU PASSED UP YOUR FRUIT

When metals like mercury take the place of iodine at binding sites, thyroid hormone production grinds to a halt. The good news is you can instantly detox with fruits that are rich in pectin — a gelatin-like fiber that sticks to toxic compounds in the blood and flushes them out of the body through the urine. In fact, citrus pectin increased mercury excretion in the urine by 150 percent within 24 hours of supplementation, according to one study. As a weight loss bonus, research shows pectin can limit the amount of fat your cells can absorb. Grapefruits, oranges, and peaches are all good sources, but since most pectin is found in the fibrous pith and peel, whole apples are one of the best.

6

YOU CHOSE THE WRONG AFTERNOON PICK-ME-UP

We get it. You’re totally obsessed with your double shot skim latte. It gives you the boost you need when the work day gets to be too much. But if you always opt out of green tea—an amazing choice—you could be missing out of some major metabolism-boosting effects. In a recent 12-week study, participants who combined a daily habit of 4-5 cups of green tea with a 25-minute workout lost an average of two more pounds and more belly fat than the non tea-drinking exercisers. What’s its magic? The brew contains catechins, a type of antioxidant that triggers the release of fat from fat cells and helps speed the liver’s capacity for turning fat into energy.

7

YOU DIDN’T EAT ORGANIC

“Hormones dictate how our body utilizes the energy we give it,” says Jubilee. “Between our reproductive, thyroid and growth hormones, appetite, insulin andhunger hormones — leptin and ghrelin — our bodies have to perform a tricky balancing act to keep us lean, energized and viable reproductive beings.” Those tasks have become much more difficult because of the hormone residues we consume via cage-raised foods. If you want to give your metabolism a leg up, Jubilee says, switch to organic, grass-fed, pasture-raised beef, eggs, and dairy products, thereby avoiding those nasty hormones at mealtime.