What affects metabolism?
What do you think has the biggest impact on your
metabolism? Activity levels? Your Thyroid? Age?
WRONG! WRONG! and WRONG! Activity levels, Thyroid
function, and age do affect metabolism but not nearly
as much as...
any idea? It’s muscle tissue! The more muscle
you have the more calories you burn regardless of
how active you are, how old you are, etc. It’s
live tissue and it’s there working for you and
burning calories 24 hours a day – each and every
day!
Here’s a list of some of the factors affecting
metabolism in order of greatest impact to least:
- muscle tissue (you already know why this is on
the top of the list)
- meal frequency (the longer you go between meals
the more your metabolism slows down to conserve
energy)
- activity level (important but doesn’t make
any difference if you don’t match your eating
to your expenditure)
- food choices (ex. low-fat diets tend to result
in poor hormone production which leads to a slower
metabolism)
- hydration (over 70% of bodily functions take place
in water – not enough water causes all your
systems to slow down and unnecessary stress)
- genetics (some people have higher metabolisms
than others – you can’t change genetics
but you can still win the battle!)
- hormone production and function (think you have
a slow thyroid? it’s not likely – before
you go blame it on the thyroid first stabilize your
blood sugar and throw in some progressive exercise
2-3 times each week)
- stress (stress also can slow metabolism by placing
extra stress and strain on numerous systems. plus,
many people tend to overeat when “stressed
out”)
Why does metabolism slow down?
How many times have you heard someone say, “as
soon as you hit 30 your metabolism slows down”?
Maybe you’ve said it. I know I hear it all the
time and I got tired of hearing it so I did a little
research and found that the metabolism does NOT slow
down significantly due to aging but DOES due to a
lack of muscle. And, you don’t lose muscle quickly
due to aging either but due to a decrease or lack
of physical stress.
So, the major cause of a slowing metabolism is three
fold...
- You lose muscle due to the lack of physical stress
- your body cannibalizes muscle when it needs energy
but you won’t supply any because you are “dieting”
and skipping meals
- Your activity levels tend to decrease as you get
older
So now that we know the problem... what’s the
solution? Address those 3 issues! I’ve found
through years of experience helping hundreds of people,
that increasing your metabolism and getting rid of
that excess body fat can often times be quite easy!
Yet you’ll hear of all these experts telling
you how hard it is and why you need to buy their new
diet program, supplement, or fitness contraption.
It’s not that hard, it doesn’t have to
be confusing, and you don’t need any of that
crap! All you need is an understanding of how your
body works and the willingness to make some small
changes.
Here’s my basic formula for jump starting your
metabolism:
Step 1 - Stop the storage of new fat
It doesn't make any sense to start an exercise program
if you just end up adding new fat later that day.
This is a problem that is very common among people
who start an exercise in an attempt to lose weight.
See the problem is this...
We don’t get fat due to a lack of exercise
– we get fat because we supply the body with
more calories than it needs at a given time. So the
solution has nothing to do with exercise – it’s
all about your eating! And I’m not saying you
have to eat low-fat, super clean and healthy diet
consisting of salad and tofu only. You can still eat
the foods you like IF you can give the body just the
amount it needs.
The key is to give the body the energy it needs,
but just that amount and not a bunch extra because
extra is extra is extra, it doesn’t matter what
it’s from. Salad can be stored as fat, celery
can be stored as fat – if it results in extra
it can be stored as fat. I should also note that not
all extra energy is stored in the fat cells and I
will touch on that later.
So forget about trying to burn off any fat unless
you can first stop storing new fat! Again, you do
that by matching your eating to your activity level.
This means small, balanced meals or snacks every 2-3
hours and the amount of calories in each feeding should
depend on how active you are at that time of day.
Step 2 – Attack the existing fat
This requires a combination approach consisting of
stable blood sugar/energy levels, and progressive
cardiovascular/aerobic exercise and strength training.
We already talked about how important stable blood
sugar and energy levels are and how to match your
eating to your activity level so now I’d like
to cover the exercise part of the equation.
In order for the exercise to even be worth your time
you must be sure it’s progressive. Just because
you run on the treadmill for 30 minutes three times
a week, that doesn’t mean your body has to burn
off that unwanted body fat! You have to force the
body to make changes and improvements and the ONLY
way to do that is to consistently provide a stimulus
or stress that is greater than what the body is used
to.
Here are some general guidelines on how you can make
your exercise progressive and productive:
Strength training
- Change exercises frequently (every 2-4 weeks)
- Increase resistance
- Perform more reps
- Slower reps
- Advanced techniques
Cardiovascular training
- Increase speed/resistance
- Perform intervals
- Increase distance traveled
- Cross train by performing numerous activities
For more specific techniques please check out the
all the great articles on metabolism and fitness in
the free resources section of my website here: http://www.achieve-fitness.com/free_resources.htm
I should also say that it is extremely important
that you have a well thought out and detailed plan
to follow. You can’t just say “ok, now
I know what to do” and then try a little of
this here and little of that there. You need a roadmap.
If you are serious about achieving your weight loss
and fitness goals I highly recommend you get the help
of a professional. Whether that means one on one,
personal fitness training or just a do-it-yourself
fitness plan – your chances of success are much
greater.
In closing, please remember, it doesn’t have to be
confusing. Hopefully this information has shown you how
easy it can be if you know what you are doing. If you have
any questions or would like to learn more about how you
can guarantee your fitness success, please visit my website http://www.achieve-fitness.com or you can give me a call at 240-731-3724. While your’e
at my website be sure to sign up for my free email newsletter,
Fitness Success News – it’s full of great articles,
tips, healthy recipes, contests, and more!
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About the Author
Jesse Cannone is a certified personal fitness trainer,
post-rehab specialist, nutritionist, and a national fitness
presenter. He is also the author of Burn Fat FAST and A
Bride’s Guide To Fast Fitness + Weight Loss in addition
to many other popular fitness articles. He is known for
his hard-hitting and to the point style and offers a great
free email newsletter called Fitness Success News, which
you can subscribe to at his website http://www.achieve-fitness.com
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