Just a few simple tricks can get your metabolism back to being an efficient energy-burning machine.

Metabolism is the processes our body follows to create energy, keeping us moving and alive. It’s a very complex mechanism, one that’s commonly associated with the amount of calories we burn on a daily basis; a fast metabolism means more calories burned.

While this is true, boosting your metabolism is no easy feat, especially if you’ve gone years doing things to slow it down. Every body has its way of functioning, influenced by genes and lifestyle. Still, some habits we do in our daily lives could be slowing down our metabolisms. Here are some common habits you should avoid for a better functioning metabolism:

You’re eating too little

Not giving your body food when it’s hungry will essentially train it to hoard calories and slow down your metabolism. You need sufficient food to keep your body running. When you introduce less calories to your body, it will likely enter starvation mode, resulting in using muscle mass as fuel. Your metabolism slows down in order to preserve energy.

You’re drinking too much alcohol

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When alcohol is consumed, it’s burned first as a source of fuel. All the lipids and glucose that you consumed through meals are then transformed into body fat. Alcohol is a substance that requires a lot of attention from your metabolism, making it work hard to detoxify itself instead of burning calories and creating energy like it’s meant to do.

Disrupted sleep schedule

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Sleep affects every aspect of our life, for better or worse. When our body gets too little sleep or too much of it, our metabolism is disrupted. A disturbed sleep schedule can result in our body burning fewer calories, growing cortisol levels, and an increase in our appetite, which can result in overeating the wrong things.

You don’t refuel after workouts

Refueling after workouts is important, even if you’re not that hungry. Eating within an hour after working out will help your metabolism act faster, making you feel more energized while prompting your muscles to grow and rebuild themselves when they need it most.