I was a skinny kid. Really skinny. This was not by choice. I went to the doctor in my teens and asked him how I could put weight on. He said, “Eat more”. Me: “I do eat!!!” “Well Michael, you just happen to have a very fast metabolism. Eventually as you get older it will slow down and you will start to fill out”.

He was right. On my 23rd birthday I stepped on the scale and saw those three digits jump out at me. 200. I was ecstatic. I know what you are thinking. It is a nice problem to have. What about the majority of the population with average to slow metabolisms who find it a real struggle to lose weight? The good news is that you can speed up your metabolism and you can do it naturally. There is no need to starve yourself, take fat burners or get your stomach stapled. Follow these 4 rules and I guarantee that your daily caloric expenditure will increase:

Strength training is imperative if you want to increase your metabolism. This is non-negotiable. Muscle burns more calories at rest than anything else (50 calories per day per pound of muscle). By building lean muscle through strength training you will increase your levels of testosterone and growth hormone – hormones that play a vital role in sustaining lean muscle mass and a healthy metabolism. In addition to increasing metabolism just by building muscle, resistance training also boosts metabolism through a process called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC, which refers to the amount of calories you burn after a workout. Most people think they can only burn more calories during a workout while their heart rate is up, but with strength training you get the benefits of both.

Sprint/Interval training is a superior metabolism booster. It focuses on alternating periods of high-intensity exercise with periods of low-intensity exercise. For fat loss this style of training has been proven to be superior to any other style of training. And it gets you in and out of the gym faster (30 minutes or less) with an increased metabolism. Much like strength training, interval workouts increase growth hormone levels, which aid in building muscle mass and, subsequently, the increased metabolic effects seen when we build muscle. And it increases the release of fatty acids. Interval training also increases EPOC, the same way as strength training does.

Exercise in the morning. The morning is a great time to elevate your metabolism for the next several hours. The quicker you start, the quicker your body will begin to elevate your metabolism the rest of the day. If you’re unable to get a strength training session in first thing in the morning, try going for a brisk walk. Or if you work in a building, ditch the elevator and take the stairs. The more sets of stairs the better. This will give your body the signal to increase your metabolism.

A healthy thyroid is vitally important to determining your metabolic rate. When it receives a signal that something is off kilter (excessive exercise, extreme low calorie dieting) it immediately slows down your metabolic rate and goes into survival mode. “Your body doesn’t know the difference between dieting and famine.” It is also not a big fan of stress either. It is extremely important to get stress levels under control to avoid lowering your calories too much.

You can support a healthy thyroid by eating iodine and selenium-rich foods like seaweed, kale and Brazil nuts. These minerals play important roles in overall thyroid function. You can improve your digestive health by eating fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi and pro-biotic yogurts.

Muscle mass, movement, and a healthy thyroid are the keys to a healthy, fast metabolism.