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In the never ending quest to loose weight people try all sorts of different diets, exercise routines and weight loss supplements. What most people don't realize is that if they are asking the question, 'what are the steps to increase my metabolism?' The answer is usually a combination of those three things.

Many others who have tried to loose weight and not succeeded may also ask 'why is it important to increase my metabolism?' If you understand what metabolism is then you come to realize how important it is when it comes to loosing weight. Metabolism is quite simply the rate at which your body burns calories. The more calories burn the more weight you can loose. There is a catch, you have to burn more calories then you consume. Now the amount of calories the human body burns can vary depending on any number of factors including age, weight, hormonal changes, diet, and fitness level.

While there isn't much you can do about your age and hormonal changes as you age is a subject best discussed with a doctor you can take steps to control your weight and increase your metabolism with diet and exercise.

When it comes to diet and your metabolism the first thing to understand is how many calories you are eating. The more calories you eat the more calories you need to burn in order to loose or maintain a certain weight. If you live a completely sedentary life your body only needs around 1500 calories a day to exist. The problem is it is very easy to eat 1500 or more calories in just one meal. In fact a normal candy bar contains anywhere from 250-350 calories. As you lead a more active life style the calories needed to maintain your weight go up, but it is important to remember that any excess calories will be stored as fat.

With diet it is important to eat healthy and nutrient dense foods. Foods that contain high sugar concentrations put great stress on the body and are quickly and easily converted to fat stores. It has been theorized in scientific studies that there are foods that actually require more calories to digest then they themselves contain. These negative calorie foods are mainly from the fruits and vegetables families and it is thought they cause a calorie deficit because of their high fiber content.

Aerobic and resistance exercise is another step to increase metabolism. Exercise places stress on the muscular and cardiovascular systems causing them to adapt and grow stronger. Part of this process involves the burning of calories, not only during the exercise routine but also post-workout. This post-workout metabolism increase happens because the body is recovering from the stress places on it by the workout. What most people don't realize is that lifting weights actually breaks down the muscle being used. After the workout the body rebuilds the muscles to be bigger and stronger and to do this requires energy in the form of calories burned.

So if you are asking yourself 'what are the steps to increase my metabolism?' It is actually quite simple. Eat a healthy diet of nutritious food and start an exercise program that incorporates both aerobic exercise and resistance training.