Who doesn’t want to lose a little extra weight and build some healthy muscle? It’s good for your health and it looks great. But how many of us are not doing the most important things to achieve these goals? More than you think, I’d venture to say.

One of the most important things you can do to lose weight and build muscle is to boost your metabolism – especially in the morning.

The Issue

Far too many of us go straight for coffee in the morning, perhaps eat some toast or cereal, and go on with our day. There’s nothing wrong with a routine, but if your routine is limiting your metabolism, then you’re not moving closer towards your goals to get in shape.

The Solution

Boost your metabolism. For some reason, many people view metabolism and weight loss as a challenge, when truthfully, it’s quite easy if you do it right.

Get your metabolism going early in the morning with these strategies:

1. Balance your pH. One of the most overlooked aspects to health and fitness programs is the pH balance. You may remember this from chemistry class in high-school. PH is the acid/base balance, and when it comes to your body, high acidity can lead to obesity, fatigue, and other health implications.

  • Balancing your pH levels in the morning can be a great way to start your day off on the right foot, enabling your metabolism to function as it should. The best way to balance your pH in the morning is to eat dark fruit and green, leafy vegetables.
  • Not only will they help you balance your pH, but they’ll also increase your intake of fiber, which has been shown to decrease appetite and lead to weight loss.
  • One really simple way to do this is to drink alkaline water.
  • You can also try things like adding more apple cider vinegar to your diet, taking probiotics, eating yogurt.
  • According to Crazy Sexy Diet author Kris Carr, “We can potentially tilt the pH scale in the alkaline direction with a diet filled with mineral-rich plant foods. By eating a more alkaline diet (leafy greens, wheatgrass, veggies, sprouts, avocados, green juices and smoothies) as opposed to an acidic diet (high in animal products, processed carbs, refined sugar, energy drinks, etc), we flood our bodies with alkalinity, vitamins and other nutrients. Healthy food creates healthy cells. “

2. Exercise. Running, walking, biking, lifting weights – it doesn’t really matter what you do as long as you’re making your muscles, heart, and lungs work.

  • Although research has shown that you won’t be able to train as hard as in the evening, a morning workout is one of the most effective methods to increase metabolism leading to weight loss.
  • But from a practical standpoint, anything that gets your body moving more is good, so long as it’s doctor-approved.

3. Hydration. Coffee is not hydration, no matter how much we wish it were. In fact, it has a negative hydration effect due to its diuretic value. Although drinking coffee in the morning can make you feel more energized, it doesn’t promote a faster metabolism in the long run. But real hydration will.

  • Drinking 7 or 8 glasses of water daily is recommended in order to stay as hydrated as possible. It’s not as hard as it seems once you get used to it!
  • Think about using a hydro flask if you’re not in the position to have a glass of water next to you all day.

4. Eat iron-rich food. This is especially important in a world where food is processed, and nutrients are being stripped from their original sources. Iron does more than we think, and emerging science is showing that it can have massive benefits to metabolism and overall vitality.

  • Lack of iron can lead to anemia, fatigue, and overeating.
  • Iron plays a crucial role in hemoglobin and erythrocyte production, both of which help to transport working nutrients and oxygen to muscle and other internal systems. New science is even showing that iron may be an important mechanism to assist in protein digestion.
  • Eating iron-rich foods can help you to increase your metabolism and live a life with greater vitality and lack of fatigue.
  • Some iron-rich foods include liver, lean red meat, chicken, seafood (including oysters), lentils and beans, tofu, fortified breakfast cereals, dried fruits, such as prunes, figs, and apricots.

The truth is that, whether we like it or not, our habits shape who we are. Perhaps you have a habit of having a cup of coffee with a muffin each morning. Of course, this is not the end of the world, but if your goals are to get stronger, boost metabolism, and lose weight, then it becomes important that you look to other methods.

If you’re looking to rev up your metabolism, take care to balance your pH, exercise regularly, hydrate, and eat iron-rich foods each morning.