The Relationship of Metabolism and Weight Loss

Your metabolic rate is simply the rate at which your body uses up energy in the form of calories. If an individual has a high metabolic rate, that person will burn calories faster than someone with a slow metabolic rate. This in turn means that those individuals are more likely to lose weight faster than those with slow metabolic rates. However, the body's metabolic rate also depends on a variety of other factors.

It's a common misconception that eating less in quantity as well as less often will speed your body's metabolism and encourage weight loss whereas in actuality, eating less sends your body into starvation mode; it doesn't know when you're going to eat again so it stores whatever it can from what you last ate.

Your body needs to keep reserves of fat in order to keep you alive in case you're ever food deprived for a long period of time. By eating small amounts of the right foods often, you're effectively reprogramming your brain and body into not storing up so much fat because it will 'believe' that you're going to eat again soon.

Whether we lose or gain weight is determined by not only metabolic rate but also how many calories we actually need per day. This varies according to height, age and gender and a good guideline to use is the average body mass index (BMI) which will show you what weight you should be when all those factors are taken into account. Your doctor or dietician can advise you about your BMI or you could research it on the internet yourself.

So for example, if a woman of 30 years old who is 5ft 7 requires say, 1500 calories a day, anything over that will add weight and anything under that will cause weight loss. Most people's ideal BMI is around 20 - 25 and adjusting your calorific intake can help you to achieve your ideal BMI.

Exercise and a general increase in activity levels will also speed up your metabolism which again aids weight loss by burning calories. It also encourages muscle development and growth which will aid your overall wellness.

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