If you know someone that has been trying to lose weight and get
into shape, you have probably heard words such as, "I just eat
one meal a day to lose weight" or "I'm afraid if I eat, I'll gain
weight" but sadly, this misnomer is why so many people are in the
"battle of the bulge". People all over the world still believe
that eating breakfast, or even three meals a day will cause them
to gain weight. In truth, as long as they are eating the right
types of foods and exercising, then three normal meals or six
small meals a day will actually work better with their metabolism
than eating the wrong quantities or not eating often enough.
With more than half of Americans over the age of 20 now being
considered "overweight", now more than ever, we need to
understand how metabolism works in relation to losing weight.
Why risk having a heart attack, a stroke, developing cancer,
or diabetes when all you have to do is make a few minor changes
and live a healthy life? First, a person's metabolic rate is
determined by the number and size of respiring cells that
compromise the body's tissue, and the intensity of the metabolism
in these cells. These two factors combined are what makeup the
physiological foundation of the amount of energy (calories) in
which a body uses.
Keep in mind that energy cannot be created or destroyed, just
changed. As we know, potential energy comes from the foods we
eat. When talking about weight loss, there are three components
of balanced energy, which include calorie intake, calories
stored, and calories expended. The way it works is that if the
amount of calories taken in equals the amount of calories being
expended (burned), then there is balance and the body's weight
is stable.
On the other hand, if the balance becomes positive, caused by
more food being eaten than is burned, energy is destroyed or in
better terms, stored as body fat. It is important to remember
that you can be eating a diet considered low-fat and still gain
weight. The reason is that most dietary fat is stored while the
body is burning carbohydrates and proteins for energy. The
problem is the when a person gains weight, the increased level of
fat becomes stored energy until the calorie balance is negative.
For that to happen, the amount of calories burned needs to exceed
the number of calories being consumed, no matter what the
macronutrient content.
Metabolism is the rate at which the body uses energy to support
the basic functions essential to sustain life. This metabolism is
comprised of three parts, which include physical activity (20%),
Thermic Effect of Food, also called TEF (10%), and Resting
Metabolism Rate or REM (70%). Physical activity is the amount of
energy your body burns up during normal, daily activities to
include housework, recreation, work, exercise, and so on.
Obviously, someone that is physically active will burn more
energy than a sedentary person will. TEF accounts for the energy
used in digesting and absorbing nutrients, which would vary
depending on the meal's composition. When a person overeats, TEF
is increased because more food must be digested. Here is where
metabolism becomes very interesting and what causes so much
confusion.
One pound is equal to 3,500 calories, so let us say a person
consumes 3,500 more calories than normal. That individual would
not gain one pound because the TED is accounted for but if 3,500
calories were cut trying to lose weight, then TEF decreases since
there would be fewer nutrients to process. The result is that
with energy expenditure would decrease, meaning that the
individual would lose less than one pound in weight. In other
words, by cutting out too much food, TEF cannot work as it was
designed to do. Now keep in mind that you cannot go around eating
a bunch of junk food. After all, the calories you do consume need
to be healthy foods but what this does mean is that when you do
not eat, you are actually working against your body in fighting
weight gain, not the other way around.
Finally, the RMR refers to the number of calories the body needs
to run its essential functions, as well as chemical reactions
while in a rested state. This aspect of metabolism accounts for
the greatest number of calories burned every day. What happens is
that if lean weight should be lost because of increased protein
metabolism, then RMR decreases. Typically, you would see this
happen when a person goes on a very strict diet. In this
situation, the body is forced into a negative nitrogen balance,
which means a greater amount of protein is lost than what is
replaced because of less protein/energy intake. When this
imbalance occurs, there is a gradual loss of lean weight, which
then lowers RMR.
What happens many times is that dieters will limit the amount of
lean weight loss with intense exercise for the muscles to develop
a need to maintain more protein. When this happens, the body is
forced to use more energy from stored fats. If you want to put
your metabolism to work for you, some simple steps can be taken:
* By adding a few extra pounds of lean muscle, the metabolic
rate can be increased by up to 200% each day
* Remember that lean weight can burn as much as 20 times more
calories than fat weight
* Regular exercise is one of the best ways to boost metabolism
* By eating smaller meals and more often, you can boost your
metabolism rate
While you need to eat healthy foods, studies prove that what
matters most is how much of a person's body weight is attributed
to fat. Remember, excess fat is what links to major health
problems. Therefore, it is important that you maintain a healthy
weight but more crucial that you monitor the fat-to-muscle ratio.
For example, a woman standing 5'5" might weigh only 125 pounds
but have a 27% body fat ratio, which is not good. This individual
worked hard to diet, while staying involved with aerobics.
However, much of what she lost was not fat, but muscle. Even
though this weight would be considered ideal for her height,
her body fat to muscle ratio is too high.
An excellent way to optimize your fat-to-muscle ratio is by
getting involved with weight training in addition to the
nutrition and cardio. As you will see with the tools provided at
http://www.comptracker.com, you can analyze the thickness of the
subcutaneous fat at various areas of the body. The benefit is
that you know exactly what your ratios are so you can achieve
a healthy fat-to-muscle ratio as well as body weight.
Remember, you are in control and need to make the decision to do
something good for yourself. Therefore, now is the time to take
that control and fight to live a lean and healthy lifestyle.
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