Okay, so we all know that some of us have been working to get that ultimate ‘summer body’ from January 2009 been it didn’t quite work out as planned. You’ve exercised and tried every single kind of diet out there. Well, here’s a thought, maybe the problem isn’t what you’re doing to your body, but more what’s going on in your body. This is where your metabolic rate comes into play.

Your metabolic rate is the speed at which your body breaks down the food you eat to give you the energy you need. Some people have high metabolic rates, which help them to keep lean and trim even though they eat tons of junk. While some people on the other hand have low metabolic rates, which leave them feeling like they’re putting on weight no matter what they eat or do.

However, if you think you fall in the second category, don’t lose hope. Here are 10 ways to jump-start your metabolisms. So you can burn more have and have more energy to do all those fun things you love.

1 Lift weights

Muscle content is the key to a high metabolism. And girls, no need to be alarmed, this doesn’t mean you have to get ‘ripped’ like a wrestler. Building lean, sleek muscles increases your calorie-burning ability. Bet you didn’t know muscle burns more calories than fat, even while your sleeping.

2 Get moving with high-energy workouts

When you perform cardio, enzymes are produced that break down fat and enable the body to use it as an energy resource. For fat to be burned as energy, oxygen needs to be produced. People with a high cardio capacity are able to burn fat because when you perform a lot of cardio workouts, as easy as doing jump rope, your body learns to deliver more oxygen to your cells, as your breathing usually increases when you work out. Therefore, your body will become very efficient at delivering oxygen to muscle cells.

3 Perform interval training

This is because if you don’t change things up, your body might get stuck in a rut. With interval training you use ‘bursts of high-intensity moves’ to boost metabolism. Studies have that people who do interval training at least twice a week, in addition to their cardio, lose twice as much weight as those who just do straight cardio.

4 Don’t overdo calorie-cutting

We all know, if you take in too many calories, you’ll gain weight, but did you know, if you cut out too many calories, that will only make you keep the weight on! Yeah, it sounds strange, but it’s just your body’s way of protecting itself. This is because your body is making the assumption that you are starving.

5 Eat breakfast

So okay, that one way sound kind of obvious, but in today’s world, a lot of the time, we just can’t seem to find the time for ‘the most important meal of the day’. Listen, your metabolism slows when you’re asleep, and it doesn’t rev back up until you eat again. So if you really want to get the most calorie burning time out of your day, breakfast would be a good place to start, even if it by by eat a friuit-packed breakfast.

6 Space your meals wisely

If you find that you get frequent snack attacks, kick-start your metabolism and curb your appetite by dividing your meals into five to six small, nutritious meals a day instead of three square portions. Your body will expend more energy to digest the food and your metabolic rate will increase. However, this might pose a problem for those in school how only get on chance to eat, which is at lunch time. If this is the case, go back to the three meals, but make them slightly smaller and add a couple snacks strategically placed mid-morning and afternoon (like during your free periods).

7 Get some shut eye

Studies have in fact shown that sleep loss may increase hunger and affect the body’s metabolism, which may make it more difficult to lose weight. People who lose sleep may continue to feel hungry despite adequate food intake. Make sure you get in your eight hours or more of shut eye every night.

8 Drink water

Yes, something as simple as drinking water can help to increase your metabolic. The energy-burning process of metabolism needs water to work effectively. Water also fills you up thus curbing your appetite and flushes out your system

9 Skip alcohol

With the party lifestyle of a lot of TEENages these days, this might seem a bit ‘out there’. Research has found that the body burn will burn off alcohol before food. Meaning that the calories in the rest of the meal are more likely to be stored as fat.

10 Drink milk

If you’re not lactose intolerant, don’t shy away from low-fat milk. The reason is that calcium, along with other substances in milk, actually speed up your metabolism.