HOW TO BOOST METABOLISM

What is Metabolism?

Metabolism is the chemical processes that happen in our body to keep us alive.  Everything we do, such as: breathing, blood circulation, nerve functions, eating, sleeping, housework, walking, thinking, etc. happens because our body takes energy (calories) from the food we eat 24-hours a day to keep us going.

What is Metabolic Rate?

Metabolic rate (BMR) refers to the number of calories our body uses each day while we are resting to keep all of our vital organs working.  We can burn lots of calories doing our daily activities and exercise; however, the highest percentage of our total energy (calories) that we burn each day is while we are resting.

What does Body Composition Mean?

This refers to the amount of muscle, bone, tissue, blood (no fat) compared to the amount of fat.  The size of our fat-free parts determines our metabolic rate.  Muscle uses more calories than what fat does.  People who are considered to have a high metabolism are more muscular and have a low percentage of body fat.  Strength training can boost your muscle mass. 

TRUTHS AND MYTHS

MYTH:  Aging Slows Your Metabolism.                                                                                         

Truth:  As we age, many of us put on weight because we don’t move around enough. This means fewer calories are burned each day.  When our activities go down, loss of muscle mass occurs and leads to a lower metabolic rate. If we do resistance-type exercise we burn more energy; and we can build muscle mass. 

MYTH:  You’re Stuck With The  Metabolism You Have, and Can’t Change It.                        

Truth:  How many people do we know who can ‘eat whatever they want and never gain weight’ or those who ‘just look at food and gain 10 pounds’. People who eat whatever they want probably make healthy, low-calorie choices and they are active – moving  around a lot during day.  We can build more muscle mass by moving around more each day. Aerobic exercise will help decrease the amount of fat in our body.

MYTH:  Eating A Grapefruit With My Meal Will Speed Up My Metabolism.                        

Truth:  Grapefruit is a watery, low-calorie food.  Eating half a grapefruit at the start of our meal will leave less space in our stomach for our higher-calorie foods. Grapefruit may be great for weight loss, but it does not have any effect on our metabolism.

MYTH:  If I Cut Calories, My Metabolic Rate Will Slow Down, So What’s The Point Of Exercising?                                                                                                                           Truth:  Our metabolic rate can slow a bit when we cut calories.  However, our body wants to hold on to all the calories it can.  Exercise such as aerobics is important when we are losing weight as it will help improve the rate at which our body burns calories.

Boost Your Metabolism and Keep Your Weight Down                                                         

Our body processes energy from the food we eat.  Our muscle mass burns calories and stored fat for energy.  We require some protein at every meal so that we don’t lose muscle mass or lower our metabolism. Daily exercise will stimulate our metabolism into giving us more muscle and less fat. The more muscle mass - the higher our metabolism – and the more calories burned.