Increase Your Metabolism and Shrink Your Belly
Friday, March 7th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
The fact is, our metabolism slows down with age and this begins to happen as early as 25 years of age and the simplified reason for this is the loss of muscle mass and increase in fat. This is not however an aging issue, this is a lifestyle issue. For most of us there is a drastic lifestyle change in which our priorities change from ourselves to that of work and family. Exercise and physical activity in general is the first to go. This leads to a decrease in lean muscle mass, which in turn causes our metabolism to slow down and pounds of fat to be added.
First of all in layman’s terms metabolism is the rate your body breaks down the food we ingest into energy for use in the growth, repair, and general function of your body. Muscle is the most metabolically active tissue in our body, for every pound of muscle a person loses the number of calories they burn per day decreases by as many as 50. Fat burns nothing; it just sits there hanging out, literally. Therefore, the amount of lean body mass you have is an important factor in determining the rate at which you burn calories.
We are spending billions of dollars each year on a quick fix solution to our expanding waist lines however the fundamental principles remain the same: don’t do time-wasting exercises or follow non-sense diets that do not contribute to your desired result. The only way too naturally increase your metabolism is through exercise however just three 20-minute strength training sessions per week will help you shed approximately 15 pounds over the course of a year without changing anything else. It is also a misconception that you have to spend time in a gym to achieve these results, working your muscles doesn’t have to be a complicated or time consuming endeavor. You can do many types of resistance training exercises in your own home, such as using a balance ball, doing leg lunges, or using hand weights.
It is generally believed that for women a regiment of weight training should involve higher repetitions with light to moderate weight. Higher repetition means 15 to 20 while light to moderate means only light enough to ensure that you are able to keep your proper form and complete range of motion. For men it is recommended to use moderate weight with lower repetitions, again you still must to able to keep the proper form and be able to complete the range of motion. If you are able to easily achieve this then adding a little more weight would be appropriate. Last but not least, working out with weights is not only an important weight loss tool but also a bone loss preventive activity. The health benefits from working out are numerous and just the fact that weight training gives your body natural stress relief due to all the endorphins that you are releasing while you are working out, makes it a powerful mental booster as well (who doesn’t like to be happy).
Typically low calorie diets wreak havoc on your metabolism and amount of muscle loss is substantial. For many individuals it is beneficial to use a calorie counter to monitor their calorie intake. One of the biggest problems for individuals is, they under estimate the number of calories they are actually ingesting during the day. For this reason it has been proven that individuals who document there food intake on a daily basis have a better understanding about what and how much they are actually putting into their mouths. It doesn’t take a lot of time to become familiar with the nutritional values and the calorie content of foods when you spend a certain amount of time activity seeking the information. There are endless numbers of diet programs out their and everyone claims they have the answers. It is important to not get overwhelmed with an eating plan. If you can make small changes, focusing on a balance of all your food groups and ensuring that you are getting all of your recommended serving of fruit and vegetables you will be well on your way. The number one problem for most individuals is the lack of fruits and vegetables in their diets. The other important thing to remember is that it is necessary to incorporate lean proteins into your diet because these are necessary for your body to build muscle.
The most important thing to remember is that a combination of exercise and a healthy diet are the key to not only weight loss but ultimately your health. For long term overall health it is necessary to incorporate both into your lifestyle. Neither part of the puzzle should be stressful and doesn’t need to be confusing, make small changes and have fun.
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