How to raise your basal metabolic rate

Basal metabolism is the energy you spend simply by being alive: breathing, keeping your temperature, making your heart beat. It accounts for most of your daily expenditure, which is why it matters so much when you are trying to lose weight.

Build muscle mass

Muscle is metabolically active tissue: the more you have, the more you burn at rest. Strength training, two or three times a week, is the most effective lever and the most neglected one, especially in women.

Eat enough protein

Protein has the highest thermic effect of all macronutrients: part of what you eat is spent digesting it. It also protects muscle mass during weight loss, which is exactly what we do not want to lose.

Avoid long, very restrictive diets

Extreme restrictions kept up over time lower resting expenditure and make rebound easier. A moderate, sustainable deficit is preferable to an aggressive one you will not be able to maintain.

Sleep and move every day

Poor rest disrupts appetite hormones and reduces spontaneous activity. And everyday movement — walking, stairs, standing — adds up more over a year than any isolated gym session.