Everyone should have a basic familiarity with metabolic processes.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist, but there are several important facts about metabolism and weight loss you’ll want to know. In order to harness your body’s true fat burning abilities, you must first know how your body uses energy. Metabolism is a sophisticated process, but I will make use of a simple supply and demand analogy and state that your metabolism is your body’s demand for energy. A man or woman with a high metabolism has a greater demand for energy than a person with a low metabolism. As the body uses energy, it must create additional energy for basic bodily processes, activity, and to react to fight or flight. This means of making more energy in itself requires energy. Thus, somebody who uses more energy will have to generate more energy and will use more energy in the process of creating more energy. Confused yet?
Allow me to dumb it down.
The body is amazingly efficient. It knows exactly how much energy it must be generating based on your age, body type, and exercise level. So it understands it’s going to need to provide more energy for an active individual than it will for an inactive person and this is just what it does. The supply and demand energy situation for somebody with a high metabolism is like a fire hose. The supply and demand energy situation for somebody with a low metabolism is like a dripping faucet. There are many factors that impact your body’s energy needs which include age, calorie intake, activity level, bodily proportions and muscle to fat ratio. There also are a handful of dangerous myths related to these variables that you must quickly get out of your head. If you do buy into them, then you may be approaching fat loss in a counterproductive way or in a suboptimal way, at best.
Myth 1: Metabolism and Calories
If you consume more, your body will expend more energy digesting the food. This makes sense, right? It requires energy to break down food and this is the reasoning behind the idea of eating six meals a day to keep your body “constantly burning fat”. Hold up, don’t get too excited. Calorie intake is yet another misunderstood piece of the metabolism puzzle. Yes, your body will expend a little more energy digesting your food. However, that doesn’t give you free reign to eat whatever you want because if you eat beyond your body’s energy requirements, you’ll still put on weight. Think about it this way. Say you consume a 500 calorie meal and your body burns 20 calories digesting the meal. There are still 480 calories remaining. Now, if you’re active and using up these 480 calories or more either to replace depleted energy from prior exercise or for future exercise then you’re in the clear. If you’re not, they simply get stored as fat. Don’t forget, at the end of the day it’s still a supply and demand equation.
Myth 2: Metabolism and Aging
A lot of people I know are convinced age is the biggest factor driving your metabolic rate. This is simply not true. What’s worse, some people think age is the only factor driving your metabolic rate. People who see me eat a lot and remain lean have actually told me “Wait until you reach 30, you won’t be able to do that anymore since your metabolism will slow down.” It’s as if they believe that on the day of my 30th birthday, my body will flip a switch and instantly de-activate my metabolism. This is complete rubbish and my argument against this is that if age is the only issue, then everyone who is 30 would look the same. Everyone who is 40 would look the same. Everyone who is 50 would look the same. Clearly, this isn’t the situation. There are some folks their 50s who are in far better shape than some individuals in their 20s. So don’t let anyone tell you that age is the only factor driving your metabolic rate.
What’s the the crucial element behind your metabolism?
If it’s not age, then what is it? The real key to your metabolism is your activity level. Remember, the body will only provide as much energy as it perceives your body needs. So if you are active, it will produce more energy and doing that will require more energy. The best practice to increase your metabolism is to be more active. This is tricky because depending on how fit you are, it will require some time for the body to respond. If you are heavy and in poor condition, going out and working out a couple of times won’t raise your metabolism over night. Initially, your body will still take its time replenishing your energy levels because it’s accustomed to a low energy demand. This is why it’s very difficult for an unfit individual to endure very rigorous exercise the very first time. His body won’t supply enough energy to keep up.
Your metabolism is stubborn.
When an inactive person goes to workout, his body thinks he is bluffing so until he consistently proves that his requirement for more energy is legitimate, he will get no respect. A fit person, however, gets instant respect from his body. When he starts to workout, his body reacts straight away since it has seen time and again that he means business. Moreover, his body is providing more energy during rest periods to replenish depleted stores and in expectation of higher energy need in the future. This is precisely why a fit person with a high metabolism uses up more calories 24-7, even while in rest. Elite athletes are at the ultimate upper end of this range. This is the reason they are able to eat 6,000 calories a day in some instances and remain lean and toned. Meanwhile, the inactive cubicle worker is gradually gaining weight on half that intake.
So which would you prefer to be?
As you can tell, your metabolism can be your best friend or your worst enemy when it comes to managing your weight. Now that you comprehend the facts about metabolism and weight loss, you are able to apply them to your lifestyle. Try to be more energetic and eat in accordance with your energy demands. When you’re very active, consuming more will in fact benefit you since you also will be fueling your body with the energy it needs, but there is a fine line. If you take in too much you will still gain body fat. Learn to calibrate this. If you’re way out of shape, be smart about it and slowly work your way up. Challenge your body and your muscles without overdoing it. As you get more fit, you will notice your demand for energy increasing and that you’re burning more fat, even when you’re sitting around. If you are already trim and fit, keep doing what got you there because your body adapts swiftly and can easily go the other way if you begin to let up.