What is metabolism? Your metabolism, experts say, involves a complex network of hormones and enzymes that not only convert food but also affect how efficiently you burn that fuel. Our metabolism establishes the rate at which we burn our calories and, ultimately, how quickly we gain and how easily we lose weight.
Of course, not everyone burns calories at the same rate. Your metabolism is influenced by your age. Metabolism naturally slows about 5% per decade after age 30. Men generally burn more calories than women. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate will be. And yes, heredity makes a difference. Some people just burn calories at a slower rate than others. Occasionally, a defect in the thyroid gland can slow metabolism.
The more weight you carry, the faster your metabolism is likely running. The simple fact is that the extra weight causes your body to work harder just to sustain itself at rest. That’s one reason it’s always easiest to lose weight at the start of a diet and harder later on.
Reviving Your Engine!
Though some of the factors affecting metabolic rate can’t be changed, happily there are ways to maximize the metabolism you’re born with, even while you’re dieting. Among the best ways is exercise. This includes aerobic workouts to burn more calories in the short term and weight training to build lean muscle that will boost your metabolism in the long run. Since muscle burns more calories than fat—even while at rest—the more muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate, which means the more calories your body will be burning just to sustain you. Each pound of muscle in our bodies burns 35 to 50 calories per day. Each pound of fat burns just two calories per day. Wow, what a difference!
Having extra muscle also means you can eat more and gain less. While 30 minutes of aerobic exercise may burn more calories than 30 minutes of weight training, the weight training session will burn more calories for hours and days after your session. In a sense, there’s no comparison to how much more calories weight training burns versus aerobic activity.
Weight training will also help you keep the weight off. Some women fear that they will bulk up with weight training, but research says that women don’t have the hormones necessary to develop those huge muscles, so you can feel good about weight training. Even men with the proper diet and cardio and weight training routine will just get leaner and won’t bulk up if they follow the correct guidelines of exercise and nutrition.
Eating frequent small meals works best for a faster metabolism and weight loss. When you put too many hours between meals, your metabolism is functioning as if you’re starving, and slows it up.
Fat Burning Foods
Actually, any food will increase your metabolism, mostly in the first hour after you eat. Especially after weight training or resistance training—that’s when you rev up your system. There are some foods, according to research, that will help your metabolism, such as red peppers and green tea. Protein generally requires 25% more energy to digest, so a high protein snack might rev metabolism a little more than a carb-heavy food with the same number of calories. In some studies, researchers found that red pepper can increase body heat and rev metabolism. The same appears true for green tea, which contains a substance called EGCG, a powerful antioxidant that some believe can bring the same calorie burning effect as peppers. In another study, researchers found that caffeine taken with meals boosted 24 hour burning energy expenditure by 4%. But it’s not clear whether this effect would be enough to boost weight loss.
The bottom line—all these so-called fat burning foods may have a slight impact on metabolism, but the increase is still insignificant compared to what you need in order to lose weight. Your best bet for keeping your metabolism revved is to build muscle, snack on low calorie, high-protein foods, cut calories about 20% and do some aerobic exercise.
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Body By Mike—35 years of exercise experience. Michael consults with fitness professionals on a daily basis.
