Understanding Metabolism

We all hear about metabolism however, have you ever really known what it is and what is does?

Essentially metabolism refers to a complex series of chemical processes that convert food into energy as well as establishing the rate at which your body burns calories.

Ultimately, your metabolism is responsible for how quickly or easily you gain and lose weight.

Everyone’s metabolism works differently and there are many factors that influence how efficiently it works. Some of these factors include your age, gender, amount of body fat and family genetics which all play a role that determines an individuals metabolism.

Some of these factors cannot be changed however there are other things we can do to increase the efficiency of our metabolism.

These include:

1.   Participating in regular cardiovascular exercise as you continue to burn calories for 12 to 48 hours after you've finished working out depending on the intensity.

2.   Resistance training (Toning Classes) also assists with your metabolisms efficiency. For every pound of muscle you can maintain or build up, your body burns an extra 70 to 120 calories per day, thus increasing our metabolic rate.

3.   Exercising in the morning raises your metabolism for the whole day.

4.   According to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Green Tea helps you burn 35 to 43% more calories per day.

5.   Drink lots of water because even the slightest dehydration will slow down your metabolism, as our body needs water to effectively metabolize our food.

6.   Don’t skip meals, as skipping meals will make your body go into starvation mode. Once in starvation mode the body will retain fat for survival. This is why breakfast is the most important meal of the day as we have not eaten for 8 hours and it prevents the body from going into starvation mode.

Healthy Eating Tip: Instead of eating three medium to large-sized meals per day, you should be eating five smaller meals

7.   There are certain foods that help speed up your metabolism. These include: Wholegrain foods and oats, Yogurt, green tea, tea coffee, water, almonds, Fibrous fruits and vegetables such as apples, asparagus, beans, berried, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery, cucumber, grapefruit, lemons, limes, oranges Herbs - chili, cinnamon, jalapenos, garlic, cayenne peppers and lean meats.

8. As we age, our metabolic rate naturally slows, so we have to eat even less and be even more active just to maintain our weight. A frustrating reality, but if you’re aware of it, it wont sneak up in you.

Essentially if you participate in regular exercise and eat a health balanced diet you will be giving your metabolism the best chance of working efficiently.