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| Take Control of Your Metabolism | |
Quick Tips for Increased Muscle Tone, Faster Fat Burning, and Energy Levels Like a 9 Year Old!
Author: Jesse Cannone CFT, CPRS, CSPN
Article URL: http://www.achieve-
fitness.com/take_control_of_your_metabolism.htm
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")
Why does it 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...
1. you lose muscle due to the lack of physical stress
2. your body cannibalizes muscle when it needs energy but you won't
supply any because you are "dieting" and skipping meals
3. 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!
Author's Bio:
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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