April 20, 2006
Breaking Down Your Metabolism
An automobile's engine uses fuel to power and operate the car. Similarly, your body functions because the metabolism converts food into energy. If you have a fast metabolism, it doesn't mean you will be skinny, and if you have a slow metabolism, it doesn't mean you will be overweight. The key is to consume only the amount of calories your metabolism can burn. If you eat more food (essentially more calories) than your metabolism burns in a day, you will eventually gain weight.
Your total metabolism has three components:
- Basic body functioning (or basal metabolic rate)—this is the energy needed for your vital organs, such as the heart and lungs, to work; rate decreases with age.
- Food processing (or thermic effect of food)—a relatively consistent rate, it’s the energy needed to process food.
- Exercise—energy needed for any physical activity; you have total control over this rate; the more frequent and intense your activities are, the more you will burn.
Age, sex, and body composition (like size, shape, and lean muscle mass) affect the rate at which food is burned in your system.
The most effective way to alter your metabolism is to increase your physical activity. Activities should include an exercise routine, but incorporate lifestyle changes that keep you moving—vacuuming, taking stairs, and shopping. Expand your workout routine beyond just aerobic exercises. Also, engage in anaerobic exercise, which is resistance training, such as weight lifting. This will help you build lean muscle mass.
Avoid the trap of supplements and drugs that claim to increase your metabolism and burn fat. Many of these products create little or no results and may have unwanted, and even serious, side effects.
Don’t skip meals. When you go for an extended period of time without eating, your body thinks it’s starving. It kicks into survival mode. Your metabolism slows to conserve energy. Then when you eat again, the body stores calories as fat in preparation of future food deprivation. To avoid a metabolism dip, eat small meals, consistently, throughout the day.
Incorporating minor and easy-to-adopt habits into to your daily routine will avoid loss of stamina and weight gain due to metabolic slow-down. Simply packing nutritious snack foods in the morning, eating a healthy breakfast, and avoiding sedentary behavior whenever possible will ensure you are feeling energized and help to manage weight.
Visit the Revival Soy Web site
Weighing in on Your Health Front
Page
More from Dr. Aaron Tabor
E-mail your comments