Make The Most of Your Metabolism

Losing weight is not simply a matter of eating less. Several factors affect weight and metabolism is a one of them.

Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that occur in the body to maintain life. In plain English, metabolism is what turns your food into energy.

“Frequently metabolism is blamed for weight gain or stubborn pounds that won’t come off,” said Liz Applegate at the American College of Sports Medicine Conference in Atlanta, Ga. She is the director of sports nutrition at the University of California, Davis.

Applegate is a nationally renowned expert on fitness and nutrition. Her lecture titled “The Great Burn” focused on the various ways to boost a naturally lower metabolism.

Victims of low metabolism are those who shun cheesecake at every turn, but can’t lose the love handles. People with a high metabolism are most easily recognized by their ability to eat everything short of sticks of butter and maintain their figure.

This isn’t life’s cruel joke, it’s a difference in metabolic rate, and there are ways to increase your metabolism and trim that waistline.

An often overlooked tip is to not miss meals.

“Eating consistently throughout the day helps you maintain a steady metabolic rate,” said registered dietitian Alice Bender, the nutrition services coordinator for the health promotions department at the University of Georgia’s health center. According to Applegate, the body responds to calorie deficiencies by reducing the body’s resting metabolic rate, or RMR. Research shows that fasting, or not eating, for a 24-48 hour period reduces the RMR by 10-15%.

Exercise can also increase your RMR. One pound of muscle burns an extra 30 calories a day. “When people think about exercise they often think I have to go to Ramsey and do an hour workout every day, said Bender, “just making sure you are active throughout the day can also keep your metabolic rate at a steadier pace as well.”

Think of muscle as money in a healthy stock market. When you have enough, it will do the work for you.

“Understanding what your [metabolic rate] is can help you if you’re trying to gain weight, lose weight, or maintain weight,” said Bender.

Many people don’t think that much energy is required to watch television, but the body is burning calories all the time. Energy is required to keep the heart pumping, neurons firing, and the liver working, all involuntary functions of the body that go unnoticed. Over half of the body’s daily energy needs are devoted to these unconscious tasks. Physical activity, like exercise, requires around thirty percent of the body’s energy intake.

While it is true that your body is always burning calories, and eating consistently will aid in maintaining a healthy metabolism, three McMeals a day will make you fat. If you are consuming more calories than your body burns naturally, you will gain weight.

Knowing how many calories your body requires will make eating consistently a tool in shedding pounds.

For men, multiplying their current weight, in pounds, by 11 will give them a rough estimate of the amount of calories they need daily. Women should multiply their weight by 10. Approximately 60-70 percent of the daily caloric intake is that person’s RMR, but the calculation is not always exact.

“People can vary by several hundred calories and be the exact same height and weight,” Bender said.

The health center offers nutrition services that include metabolic rate testing. Bender uses a calorimeter to calculate a more precise RMR by measuring oxygen consumption. The cost of the test ranges from $25-$50.

“If people are really struggling with weight loss or weight gain, doing the test is a more effective way of doing that,” she said, referring to calculating RMR.

For more information on fees or to make an appointment at the University Health Center contact the health promotions department at (706) 542-8690.