Do you wonder why some people, who have a hearty appetite, remain slim? Are they just lucky? Others you know go to the extent of skipping meals and going on crash diets but they still look chubby and have a hard time in losing weight. The answer is metabolism.
It is the rate by which the calories are taken in and then burned. So, a slim person is said to have a higher metabolism rate than a stout person.
Here are the factors that affect your metabolism:
Age
Metabolism slows down as one grows older. It decreases by five percent every ten years from the age of forty.
Gender
Since men have more muscle mass, they have a higher metabolic rate than women.
Genetics
They say “It is all in the genes”. A person may have inherited his/her metabolism from a parent or grandparent.
Thyroid Disorder
A person with hypothyroidism has a slow metabolism. On the other hand, one with hyperthyroidism has a fast metabolism. Here is the formula (the Mifflin-St Jeor equation) for calculating your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate).
RMR = 9.99w + 6.25s – 4.92a + 166g – 161
w = weight in kilograms
s = height in centimetres
a = age in years
g = gender: 1 – male 0 – female
The causes of a slow metabolism are as follows:
Skipping meals
Contrary to the belief of many, dieting by starvation, or by excluding certain meals, slows down your metabolism.
Lack of exercise
When you exercise you burn calories and increase your metabolic rate, leading to weight loss. So when you don’t engage in any physical activity, your metabolic rate is low.
Low calorie diet
When you eat foods lacking in the required calories for the body your metabolism slows down.
Stress
When under a lot of stress, your emotions may cause you to overeat, adding pounds to your weight.
How to increase your metabolism:
Eat all your meals, especially breakfast. Since it is the first meal of the day it jump-starts your metabolism. Eating more frequently, or having multiple small meals also helps in the burning of more calories, increasing the metabolism and the loss of weight. Exercise regularly; for at least thirty minutes a day. Attend aerobics classes or go jogging or cycling with friends. At home, or in the office, you can do simple, practical things to make you move and exercise.
Do weight training to build more muscle mass. Even at rest, muscles continue to burn calories and so increase your metabolism. Avoid drinking carbonated drinks or alcohol and eating foods that are high in sugar. They are slow to burn and they slow down our metabolic rate.
Drink at least eight glasses of water, according to some sources before eating or drinking and at least thirty minutes after a meal. Water flushes the toxins out of your body. Eat foods that are rich in nutrients since they help in increasing our metabolic rate. Examples of these are white meat from chicken (skinless) or turkey, egg whites and natural carbohydrates such as brown rice and wheaten based bread. Follow these tips and you can achieve your goal; to increase your metabolism, lose weight and become slim.
