The truth about metabolism .

And how to facilitate metabolic increases without dieting Holly Leonard, CFT Weight Loss and Fitness Expert BeFit Personal Training Studio If you want to change your physique, and a part of that change involves losing bodyfat, it's critical that you understand the concepts of metabolism. A metabolism primer Metabolism, calories, energy, they all deal with one thing. HEAT! Think of metabolism as your internal fire with calories providing the necessary fuel to keep the flame burning . and a calorie is actually a measure of heat! More accurately, a "calorie" is a kilocalorie. It's the amount of heat necessary to raise 1 kilogram of water 1 degree celcius. What does that have to do with metabolism? You'll soon understand. Most often people refer to metabolism when they are referring to someone they know who can eat anything and not gain a pound of fat. Everyone thinks those people are genetically gifted with a fast metabolism. The truth is, we aren't victims of our metabolism, but the creators! We can speed up or slow down metabolism regardless of age. Metabolism simply means the speed at which your body burns through calories. Therefore, in order to increase metabolism, you must consume more calories frequently throughout the day! Eat more to lose weight? That's right! Stoking your internal fire There are three synergistic components that control your metabolism or metabolic rate. First is the amount of muscle you maintain or gain. Muscle is metabolically active tissue, therefore, the more muscle you have on your physique, the more calories you are going to burn. To break it down further, every pound of muscle mass you add to your frame requires approximately 50 extra calories per day to maintain. That doesn't include the amount of calories burned to create that muscle or the amount of calories burned during exercise to keep that muscle these 50 calories are simply the amount of calories needed to support that muscle while it's sitting there. That's why resistance training is critical if you seek long term weight reduction. Second, your natural production of thyroid hormones can be negatively impacted by continuous periods of caloric deprivation (dieting). To support optimal thyroid production and metabolic function, make certain you consume adequate calories frequently throughout the day. Third, the types and amount of calories you ingest with frequent feedings. Consuming a lean protein, starchy carbohydrate, and a fibrous carbohydrate every 3 hours is a supportive nutrition program guaranteed to rev up your metabolic furnace. The simple act of eating and digesting foods produces heat, but not all foods are created equal. Fats are simple for your body to digest and produce a small amount of heat. However, lean proteins and starchy carbohydrates require a lot more work and produce a tremendous amount of heat. By replacing high fat foods with more heat-producing proteins and carbs, the act of eating will boost your metabolic rate. With the proper combination of supportive nutrition, resistance training, and cardiovascular training, you too can become one of those "I can eat anything and not get fat" people! If you would like to obtain more health and fitness advice from a certified expert, you can request a free subscription to Holly's newsletter via email by visiting my web site at: www.befitonline.net; or you can receive it via regular mail by calling her fitness studio at: 774-218-3819.