A person’s metabolic rate is a measurement of
how fast their body burns calories which are, in
turn, a measurement of energy.
Burn more calories than your body consumes and
you lose weight; burn more calories than your
body consumes and you gain weight.
The way to use your body’s metabolism to lose
weight, then, is twofold:
Consume less calories than you burn (as in
dieting);
Burn more calories than you consume (as in
exercising).
The average body’s metabolic rate, and the rate
at which the Percentage Daily Values of the
nutrients on a food’s nutrition label are based,
is 2000 calories per day.
Your body burns a certain number of calories per
day just by virtue of you being alive – I other
words, no exercise necessary. A person’s Basal
Metabolic rate (BMR) makes up about 60% of the
calories their bodies burn in a given day. The
remaining 10% of the calories burned in a day
are burned by what’s called Dietary
Thermongenesis, comprising the heat-producing
acts of eating and internally processing food.
It is entirely possible to boost your body’s
natural metabolism, in other words: burn more
calories in a shorter period of time, or burn
calories faster.
Strength training (as in lifting weights) is one
way to achieve remarkable effects. When you lift
weights, the muscles tear and must be repaired
by the body’s natural healing processes. Those
processes require the body burn more calories.
The body with a bigger muscle mass burns more at
rest calories in any given span of time. As a
general rule, we burn 50 extra calories a day
for each extra pound of muscle.
Beyond weight training, the other tried-and-true
method for boosting your metabolism is simply
remaining active. The mere act of moving around
burns calories, so logically the more you move
around the more calories you burn. Take walks on
your breaks at work. Park one or two streets
over. Tidy up around the house while you chat on
the phone. None of these require a gym
membership or an unscheduleable block of time. A
little bit over a long time adds up to a lot.
Lastly, there are dietary measures you can take
to help boost your metabolism. Caffeinated
beverages (green tea being one of the healthier
choices) and spicy foods have both been shown to
increase the body’s metabolic rate. Also, if you
start having more frequent smaller meals rather
than just 2 or 3 large ones (“grazing”
throughout the day, so to speak), your
metabolism will be in a constant state of
activity breaking down and processing your many
small meals.
For more ways to boost your metabolism, please
check out the 101 Weight Loss Tips report.
how fast their body burns calories which are, in
turn, a measurement of energy.
Burn more calories than your body consumes and
you lose weight; burn more calories than your
body consumes and you gain weight.
The way to use your body’s metabolism to lose
weight, then, is twofold:
Consume less calories than you burn (as in
dieting);
Burn more calories than you consume (as in
exercising).
The average body’s metabolic rate, and the rate
at which the Percentage Daily Values of the
nutrients on a food’s nutrition label are based,
is 2000 calories per day.
Your body burns a certain number of calories per
day just by virtue of you being alive – I other
words, no exercise necessary. A person’s Basal
Metabolic rate (BMR) makes up about 60% of the
calories their bodies burn in a given day. The
remaining 10% of the calories burned in a day
are burned by what’s called Dietary
Thermongenesis, comprising the heat-producing
acts of eating and internally processing food.
It is entirely possible to boost your body’s
natural metabolism, in other words: burn more
calories in a shorter period of time, or burn
calories faster.
Strength training (as in lifting weights) is one
way to achieve remarkable effects. When you lift
weights, the muscles tear and must be repaired
by the body’s natural healing processes. Those
processes require the body burn more calories.
The body with a bigger muscle mass burns more at
rest calories in any given span of time. As a
general rule, we burn 50 extra calories a day
for each extra pound of muscle.
Beyond weight training, the other tried-and-true
method for boosting your metabolism is simply
remaining active. The mere act of moving around
burns calories, so logically the more you move
around the more calories you burn. Take walks on
your breaks at work. Park one or two streets
over. Tidy up around the house while you chat on
the phone. None of these require a gym
membership or an unscheduleable block of time. A
little bit over a long time adds up to a lot.
Lastly, there are dietary measures you can take
to help boost your metabolism. Caffeinated
beverages (green tea being one of the healthier
choices) and spicy foods have both been shown to
increase the body’s metabolic rate. Also, if you
start having more frequent smaller meals rather
than just 2 or 3 large ones (“grazing”
throughout the day, so to speak), your
metabolism will be in a constant state of
activity breaking down and processing your many
small meals.
For more ways to boost your metabolism, please
check out the 101 Weight Loss Tips report.
