What Is Metabolism? Metabolism is the speed at which your body burns calories and stores energy for later use. Metabolism is a continuous process of storing energy and releasing energy. In order to burn 1 pound of excess fat, you need to burn off 3500 calories. The number of calories you burn in a day is determined by several factors.

What do you think has the most impact on boosting your metabolism?

Age? Sure our metabolism slows down as we age, but it doesn't have to come to a standstill. Whether your 30 or 70, you still have control over your metabolism.

Thyroid? If you have tried everything to lose weight and still haven't, it would be a good idea to get your thyroid checked. If you're Dr. confirms a thyroid condition, you may be put on a medication. You will still be responsible for losing those extra pounds and you can do it even with an under-active thyroid.

Your activity level? The answer is none of the above has the MOST impact. Yes age, thyroid and amount of activity affect your metabolism, but not anywhere near as much as muscle tissue. Younger people have higher metabolism due to increased activity of cells but the metabolism doesn't slow down only due to aging, but to lack of muscle.

7 Easy Tips to Increase Your Metabolic Rate.

1. Don't skip meals, don't fast and eat breakfast every day. Your body burns approximately 60 % of energy while you sleep. When you skip breakfast, your metabolism goes into starvation mode and slows down. You'll also be very hungry later, increasing your susceptibility to eating foods with larger portions that result in weight gain. If you eat 6 mini meals a day, you won't go hungry and you'll trick your body into speeding up your metabolism.

2. Drink 8 - 10 glasses of Water. One of the functions of the liver is to convert stored fat to energy. Another function of your liver is to aid the kidneys, which need lots of water to function properly. If your kidneys are deprived of water, they don't work as efficiently and can't metabolize fat as quickly. So drink water and increase your metabolism.

3. Incorporate Resistance training into your exercise routine. Resistance training is different for different people. If you live a sedentary lifestyle, just using your body weight in an exercise routine would be considered resistance training. If you're a body builder, lifting heavy weights is resistance training. If you're somewhere in between, try using light dumbbells and slowly progress to heavier dumbbells. You can incorporate resistance training at the gym or at home with an exercise DVD.

4. Get 30 minutes of yoga exercise every day. Have you ever wondered why yoga people are so slim? Here's how you achieve a sleek healthy body and speed up your metabolism without harming your joints by jumping up and down. Incorporate yoga breathing into your schedule. Have you ever noticed how slim the yoga teachers are as they come out of the yoga room without a drop of sweat? Yoga is an excellent form of exercise to speed up your metabolism. Your oxygen efficiency plays a vital role in determining the speed of your metabolism. To boost your fat burning power, your body needs to deliver an ample supply of oxygen to your cells. People who practice yoga incorporate yoga breathing with each yoga exercise resulting in increased fat loss. Include yoga in your weekly routine and watch your body turn into a fat burning machine.

5. Avoid high sugary foods. High sugary foods first raise your blood sugar level followed by lowering your blood sugar level resulting in feelings of fatigue. The body stores excess sugar as fat. That's why sugary foods and drinks are a major contributing factor to obesity and rob you of your motivation to work out.

6. Choose foods high in nutrition and avoid empty nutrient foods. Foods high in nutrition increase your body's ability to work more efficiently and burn fat. Make sure your food is not fried, instead try baking, grilling or roasting.

7. Take a multivitamin. Make sure you get your body's energy requirements by taking a multivitamin every day. With busy schedules, it's hard to ingest your daily allotment of nutrients. Taking a vitamin is a daily investment in your health.