Health Fitness Articles and Resources

Fitness Articles

Take Control of Your Metabolism
by Jesse Cannone
http://www.achieve-fitness.com/

So many people are talking about how slow their
metabolism is and why they need to start taking the latest
diet supplement scam yet they don't even understand how
the human metabolism works. So before I even go into how
to speed yours up, I want to first go over some of the
basics.

What is metabolism?
Although there are many scientific ways for me explain it,
and I could make it seem really confusing like most of the
so-called experts do, but I won't. I'm going to give you my
extremely simple and easy to understand definition...

metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories to
sustain life
I should also note that your body, yes yours, burns
calories 24 hours a day, everyday ~ regardless of whether
or not you workout. Remember that your body needs energy
all the time, even while you're asleep and that is why
skipping meals is the absolute worst thing you can do if
your goal is to lose weight (body fat).

Before we go any further let's talk about what affects
metabolism...

What affects metabolism?
What do you think has the biggest impact on your
metabolism? Activity levels? Your Thyroid? Age?

WRONG! WRONG! and WRONG! Activity levels, Thyroid function,
and age do affect metabolism but not nearly as much as...
any idea? It's muscle tissue! The more muscle you have the
more calories you burn regardless of how active you are,
how old you are, etc. It's live tissue and it's there
working for you and burning calories 24 hours a day ~ each
and every day!

Here's a list of some of the factors affecting metabolism
in order of greatest impact to least:

muscle tissue (you already know why this is on the
top of the list)

meal frequency (the longer you go between meals the
more your metabolism slows down to conserve energy)

activity level (important but doesn't make any
difference if you don't match your eating to your
expenditure)

food choices (ex. low-fat diets tend to result in
poor hormone production which leads to a slower metabolism)

hydration (over 70% of bodily functions take place
in water ~ not enough water causes all your systems to slow
down and unnecessary stress)

genetics (some people have higher metabolisms than
others - you can't change genetics but you can still win
the battle!)

hormone production and function (think you have a
slow thyroid? it's not likely - before you go blame it on
the thyroid first stabilize your blood sugar and throw in
some progressive exercise 2-3 times each week)

stress (stress also can slow metabolism by placing
extra stress and strain on numerous systems. plus, many
people tend to overeat when "stressed out")

Why does it slow down?

How many times have you heard someone say, "as soon as you
hit 30 your metabolism slows down"? Maybe you've said it. I
know I hear it all the time and I got tired of hearing it
so I did a little research and found that the metabolism
does NOT slow down significantly due to aging but DOES due
to a lack of muscle. And, you don't lose muscle quickly due
to aging either but due to a decrease or lack of physical
stress.

So, the major cause of a slowing metabolism is three fold...

1. you lose muscle due to the lack of physical stress

2. your body cannibalizes muscle when it needs energy but
you won't supply any because you are "dieting" and skipping
meals

3. your activity levels tend to decrease as you get older

So now that we know the problem... what's the solution?
Address those 3 issues! I've found through years of
experience helping hundreds of people, that increasing your
metabolism and getting rid of that excess body fat can
often times be quite easy! Yet you'll hear of all these
experts telling you how hard it is and why you need to buy
their new diet program, supplement, or fitness contraption.

It's not that hard, it doesn't have to be confusing, and
you don't need any of that crap! All you need is an
understanding of how your body works and the willingness to
make some small changes.

Here's my basic formula for jump starting your metabolism:

Step 1 - Stop the storage of new fat

It doesn't make any sense to start an exercise program if
you just end up adding new fat later that day. This is a
problem that is very common among people who start an
exercise in an attempt to lose weight.

See the problem is this...

We don't get fat due to a lack of exercise - we get fat
because we supply the body with more calories than it needs
at a given time. So the solution has nothing to do with
exercise - it's all about your eating! And I'm not saying
you have to eat low-fat, super clean and healthy diet
consisting of salad and tofu only. You can still eat the
foods you like IF you can give the body just the amount it
needs.

The key is to give the body the energy it needs, but just
that amount and not a bunch extra because extra is extra is
extra, it doesn't matter what it's from. Salad can be
stored as fat, celery can be stored as fat ~ if it results
in extra it can be stored as fat. I should also note that
not all extra energy is stored in the fat cells and I will
touch on that later.

So forget about trying to burn off any fat unless you can
first stop storing new fat! Again, you do that by matching
your eating to your activity level. This means small,
balanced meals or snacks every 2-3 hours and the amount of
calories in each feeding should depend on how active you
are at that time of day.

Step 2 - Attack the existing fat

This requires a combination approach consisting of stable
blood sugar/energy levels, and progressive
cardiovascular/aerobic exercise and strength training.

We already talked about how important stable blood sugar
and energy levels are and how to match your eating to your
activity level so now I'd like to cover the exercise part
of the equation.

In order for the exercise to even be worth your time you
must be sure it's progressive. Just because you run on the
treadmill for 30 minutes three times a week, that doesn't
mean your body has to burn off that unwanted body fat! You
have to force the body to make changes and improvements and
the ONLY way to do that is to consistently provide a
stimulus or stress that is greater than what the body is
used to.

Here are some general guidelines on how you can make your
exercise progressive and productive:

Strength training

Change exercises frequently (every 2-4 weeks)

Increase resistance

Perform more reps

Slower reps

Advanced techniques

Cardiovascular training

Increase speed/resistance

Perform intervals

Increase distance traveled

Cross train by performing numerous activities

For more specific techniques please check out the all the
great articles on metabolism and fitness in the free
resources section of my website here: http://www.achieve-
fitness.com/free_resources.htm

I should also say that it is extremely important that you
have a well thought out and detailed plan to follow. You
can't just say "ok, now I know what to do" and then try a
little of this here and little of that there. You need a
roadmap. If you are serious about achieving your weight
loss and fitness goals I highly recommend you get the help
of a professional. Whether that means one on one, personal
fitness training or just a do-it-yourself fitness plan ~
your chances of success are much greater.

In closing, please remember, it doesn't have to be
confusing. Hopefully this information has shown you how
easy it can be if you know what you are doing. If you have
any questions or would like to learn more about how you can
guarantee your fitness success, please visit my website
http://www.achieve-fitness.com or you can give me a call at
240-731-3724. While your'e at my website be sure to sign up
for my free email newsletter, Fitness Success News ~ it's
full of great articles, tips, healthy recipes, contests,
and more!

Jesse Cannone is a certified personal fitness trainer, post-
rehab specialist, nutritionist, and a national fitness
presenter. He is also the author of Burn Fat FAST and A
Bride's Guide To Fast Fitness + Weight Loss in addition to
many other popular fitness articles. He is known for his
hard-hitting and to the point style and offers a great free
email newsletter called Fitness Success News, which you can
subscribe to at his website http://www.achieve-fitness.com

This website is hosted by a consultant who is presently conducting Research Project on this subject.