Are you jealous of the girls who seem to eat anything they want and never put on a pound?

It all comes down to metabolism and unbeknown to some, your metabolic rate is something you can change. While some girls are blessed enough to have a super fast one, many of us need to pull a few tricks out of the bag to work on speeding ours up.

Metabolism 101
First up a quick little lesson on how this dreaded metabolism works. Basically, your metabolism consists of a combination of physical and chemical reactions, which work to distribute nutrients absorbed in the blood. There are three factors that influence the rate at which you can do this, including the rate your body uses energy for vital bodily processes, the rate you burn energy during physical activity and the rate you use energy during digestion. With that science lesson out of the way, we are left with the more important question of how, exactly, you can speed up your metabolism? There are three different things to consider, which if used in conjunction with each other, will kick start your body back into shape and leave you looking gorgeous.

Food
Eat breakfast! Your body naturally slows down during the night, so in order to effectively function you’re going to need to replenish your energy supplies. This means that breakfast really is the most important meal of the day and is not to be skipped! Oatmeal is great because of its cholesterol fighting and stomach filling properties, but if you’re not a fan then the golden rule is just to stay healthy with fresh produce and foods high in lean protein. Think fish, dark green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, fruits, whole grains and at least 8 glasses of water per day.

Exercise
Exercise is first and foremost the best way to kick start your metabolism into high gear. Through exercise you will replace body fat with lean muscle cells, which will use more calories because of their higher metabolic rate. Aerobic exercises such as walking and running have the added bonus of speeding up your metabolism for up to eight hours after you stop exercising. While weights don’t directly impact on your metabolic rate, they do lead to the development of that lean muscle.

Breathe!
As well as getting your body looking hot, you also want to make sure your skin is functioning properly. Our skin needs oxygen to breath, just as much as any other part of our body. Research proves that oxygen assists the skin cells’ metabolism to regenerate more quickly. The epidermis (the top layers of skin) gains most of its energy from the air around us which, with increasingly polluted air in cities, isn’t too good! This may mean you need to take matters into your own hands and get a bit more oxygen into your day with simple breathing exercises (click here for some to start you off) and the great new NIVEA VISAGE Oxygen
Power range of products to keep your skin healthy.

You may not have been blessed with a naturally fast metabolic rate but it doesn’t have to stay that way! With your new skincare products, a healthy diet and a bit of exercise you’ll have your metabolism under control in no time. Get out there, get healthy and you’ll be left looking and feeling great.

Liselle

Help your skin metabolise with the NIVEA VISAGE
Oxygen Power range of products
This great range includes a cleanser, day cream and night cream, which contain 15% pure oxygen to accelerate skin cell activity and enhance regeneration. With more oxygenated skin comes a look that’s fresher and more radiant. The specially designed packaging means that the oxygen stays infused in the product until application so you don't miss out on any of the goodness. The range is available now for $19.22 RRP for the day and night
creams and $12.35 RRP for the cleanser.