Increase
Metabolism
Quick Tips for Increased Muscle Tone, Faster Fat Burning,
and Energy Levels Like a 9 Year Old!
by Jesse Cannone CFT, CPRS, CSPN
So many people are talking about how slow their metabolism
is and why they need to start taking the latest diet
supplement scam yet they don’t even understand
how the human metabolism works. So before I even go
into how to speed yours up, I want to first go over
some of the basics.
What is metabolism?
Although there are many scientific ways for me explain
it, and I could make it seem really confusing like
most of the so-called experts do, but I won’t.
I’m going to give you my extremely simple and
easy to understand definition...
Metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories
to sustain life I should also note that your body,
yes yours, burns calories 24 hours a day, everyday
– regardless of whether or not you workout.
Remember that your body needs energy all the time,
even while you’re asleep and that is why skipping
meals is the absolute worst thing you can do if your
goal is to lose weight (body fat).
Before we go any further let’s talk about what
affects metabolism...
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”)
|
