Does your metabolism need a boost? Are you feeling lethargic and tired more than you would like? Do you put on weight too easily? Our metabolism decides how readily we gain weight, so how can you boost the effectiveness of your metabolism? In this two – part post, I will explain what drives our metabolic rate.
Metabolism is the name given to myriad chemical reactions that occur in every cell in our body, changing energy from food into energy used to power every aspect of staying alive and moving. At any one time, thousands of metabolic reactions are occuring in your body.
The basal metabolism (BMR) is the greediest of these metabolic processes. The BMR is the amount of energy needed to perform all its basic ’staying alive’ functions, such as beating the heart, breathing, keeping your brain alive and keeping your body warm. This accounts for about 70% of the kilojoules you will burn each day. The rest of your metabolic activity is used for digestion of food and assimilation of nutrients, as well as physical activity.
A person’s BMR is influenced by a number of factors, with genetics at the top of the list. Males have more lean muscle than females, so will have a higher BMR. Aging slows down the metabolic rate, so if one contines to eat as much after, eg, age 55, than before, one will put on weight as fewer kilojoules are required to maintain the BMR. If one is anxious, or depressed, this fires up the metabolic rate and that is why one tends to lose weight when depressed.
But, through dietry and lifestyle changes, it is possible to increase your metabolic rate and lose excess kilos. Tomorrow I will discuss 6 ways to achive this.
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