Boost your metabolism

30Jul08

Most people should know what metabolism is…or, so they think. They mostly just know it means something about how fast or slow their body burns calories. Essentially, they are right, but first let’s take a better look at what metabolism is and how it works.

Metabolism is a range of biochemical processes the occur within you.It consists of the buildup  (anabolism) and breakdown(catabolism) of substances. Of course one thinks metabolism, they think of the breakdown of food and conversion into energy.

People obviously do not metabolize at the same rate. There are a number of things that will influence your metabolic rate. Age, sex,percentage of lean body mass, and genetics. There are some people who do have a thyroid condition ( which is not very common). If you TRULY believe you have hypothyroidism, GO SEE YOUR DOCTOR!

Some other little facts about metabolism you may want to know:

– A pound of muscle burns 35 calories while at rest.

– A pound of fat burns 2.

Now, math has never really been my strong point, but even I can see that is a huggggggge difference.

Knowing that these variables affect how your body burns calories, what can you do to maximize your metabolism?

1- Meal frequency: Ideally, you should be eating every 3 hours. The longer you wait between meals, the slower your metabolism will work. It slows down as a survival mechanism, and will begin to store everything instead of burning what it needs.

2- Cardio: Short term, cardio will boost your metabolism and begin to work harder during that cardio session.

3- Weight Training: I really want to emphasize a point here for all the females reading this. Are you reading? Are you paying attention? Ok, well, just in case , let me make this part jump out at you UNLESS YOU ARE PUTTING TESTOSTERONE IN YOUR MORNING COFFEE EVERYDAY, LIFTING WEIGHTS, EVEN HEAVY WEIGHTS, WILL NOT MAKE YOU GET BIG! Woman, we do not have the hormones necessary to “bulk” up. So please save the barbie weights for when we are too old to lift heavy things. In the long run, the muscle you build will burn more throughout the day then a cardio session. Remember the part about a pound of muscle burning 35 calories vs fat burning 2? If you don’t, scroll up and write it down this time. Muscle burns more and obviously, the only way to build it is to lift.

4- Eat your Protein: Protein takes about 25% more energy to digest. So grab a high protein snack vs. a muffin next time.

So next time you feel like you may be dieting with no results or exercising and still not seeing a change, look at this post and see if you are really giving your metabolism the boost it needs.

~Cher

http://www.chermartinetti.com

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