Metabolism and Weight Loss
We all have often come across people hearing that there are some people who do not have the capacity to put on weight or have known someone who despite of what he eats, how much he eats, and how little he engages in physical activities never appeared to gain weight. While there are others who tend to put on weight very easily. This is true and there are number of factors responsible for this. One of the major factors responsible for putting on or not putting weight is the metabolism rate of the body.
Metabolism is a process at the rate which your body converts the calories into energy. It is like an unceasing machine that functions throughout the day, even when you are asleep, and fulfill the energy need of your body. The rate of calorie to energy conversion depends upon the rate at which your metabolism functions. A person with high metabolism rate tends to burn more calorie compared to the one with low metabolism.
Now, if you are under the impression that metabolic rate of your body is responsible for putting those extra calories around your body, then let me correct you. It is in fact the amount of extra calories that you have been absorbing in the form of food and beverages. And the only way that you can get back to your natural self is by controlling your calorie intake. Weight loss is a direct result of calorie deficiency you create in your body by burning more calories everyday than you consume.
Let’s say you consume 3,000 calories every day, out of which your body needs 2,500 calories to sustain itself at the current level of weight—also known as BMR or Basal Metabolism rate. It means you are adding 500 extra calories to your fat reserve every day, which in turn will add one pound to your weight in a week time (3500 calories is equal to one pound). Therefore in order to stay in our natural self you can either lower your calorie intake by 500 or more than 500 in order to lose some weight or continue eating what you do now, but add some physical activities to your daily routine to burn more than 500 calories every day, or you can use a combination of the two: eat less and reduce calorie consumption by 400 and do some aerobics or cardiovascular exercises (running, jogging, swimming etc.) to burn 500 calories every day.
Once you know your BMR you can easily know how much calories are required by your body and how much you need to work out in order to stay in good shape. You can also increase the metabolism of your body which has slowed down by various factors like by age—sex, height, weight, eating habit, and genetic makeup are others by eating regularly and exercising regularly.
Therefore metabolism may not cause weight gain, but the increased rate of metabolism combined with burning more calories than you eat will certainly help you lose weight.
David Keller started http://www.calculatebmr.com to share his weight lost experiences. He lost 55 pounds using the tips documented in this website. Using a BMR Calculator was a key element for him setting weight loss goals.