In some cases, you may want or need to slow down your metabolism and gain weight. Being underweight can cause serious health problems just as being overweight can be unhealthy. Metabolism involves many chemical reactions that your body uses to make energy from the food you eat. The faster your metabolism, the quicker your body breaks down food and prevents you from gaining weight. Although there are many factors that affect metabolic rate, you could influence the speed of your metabolism in some ways.
Step 1
Eat fewer meals throughout your day. Spacing your meals apart more than three hours helps to decrease your metabolism, which leads to weight gain.
Step 2
Exercise less during the day. Moving around increases your metabolism because your body has to convert food into energy. Don’t cut exercise out completely. Strength train every day to build muscles. Continue to do some cardiovascular exercise but only two to three times a week for 20 to 30 minutes.
Step 3
Increase the amount of calories you eat to gain weight. Eating 500 additional calories per day will help you gain one additional pound per week. There are many ways to add calories without changing your diet too much, such as replacing water with healthy, high-calorie beverages. You can also snack on nuts and seeds to add calories. You can add cheese to different meals increase calories.
Step 4
Avoid certain foods that rev up your metabolism. Any foods that causes you to sweat, such as foods with cayenne pepper, increases metabolism. High-protein foods also take more energy to digest than carbohydrates or fat.
Step 5
Eat a snack or meal before bedtime. Consuming a large meal after 6 PM is associated with weight gain and slower metabolism.
