How to Increase Your Metabolic Rate

Hey guys,

How is your weekend? I had a surprisingly good measurement session this week, considering that the week itself has been so busy, that I hardly managed any exercise and my meals have been … how can I say… less than perfect. Anyway, I am now 53.8kg, and my total weight loss to date is 5.5kg. Pretty good, hey?

The new week, on the other hand, didn’t get off to a great start. I missed my exercise session today. Partly due to the vast amount of work I had to get through for Monday and partly, to a pounding headache from too much partying the night before. (Again!) It is now over, however, no more parties, no more birthdays, just serious work on getting the next 5kg off and preparation for the big race.

Mel

Jeni:

Well done Mel! Your results are totally awesome!

Melissa is now reaping the benefits of her hard work over the last two months and thus, is able to steadily drop the pounds, even though (as per her own admission), her program has taken a bit of a knock during the week. The reason behind all that is that she has now managed to increase her metabolic rate and her body is using more energy to basically “do nothing” and hence, is burning up the excess calories she is consuming.

For those of you who are new to this blog (and the whole weight loss science thing), metabolic rate is the rate at which the body burns up calories. A body that consumes 2500 calories a day, and burns 2500 calories a day will stay at the same weight. A body consuming 2500 calories daily but burning only 2000 will gain weight at the rate of about half a kilo a week. This explains why that ‘lucky’ person across the table from you doesn’t get fat from all that junk food. And this is also what is helping Mel shed weight in her third month of training and proper nutrition.

Before I give you the low down as to what can you do to actively increase your metabolism, I will try to explain the basic principles surrounding your metabolic rate in the least scientific lingo I can master.

All the food you consume (from steamed vegetables to candy bars) provides your body with calories, which it, in turn, burns to sustain itself. Your body burns calories to provide energy for three main functions:

1) Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
This is the amount of calories you burn just by being alive – even when you are lying down, doing nothing (you know … your lungs breathing, your heart pumping and your body maintaining its own temperature is very “expensive” calorie-speaking). BMR accounts for approximately 60% of the calories burned for an average person.
2) Activity
This is the energy used during movement – from brushing your teeth in the morning to cleaning the windows to doing a Tae Bo class. This accounts for approximately 30% of the calories burned by an average person.
3) Digestion
Believe it, or not, digesting the food you just ate is quite a calorie-expensive activity too. Proteins generally take more calories to get digested than carbs and fats, but overall, about 10% of your meal goes into its own digestion.

These three things together make up the overall amount of calories you burn daily. The trick, then, is to figure out how much that is and balance it with the amount of calories you consume. If the two are in perfect balance, you will not lose or gain weight. If the calories going in are more than the ones going out, you will accumulate a “calorie bank account” around your hips, thighs, stomach and other unsightly locations. And, of course, if you eat less than you burn… you will lose weight.

Now, how do we do that? There are a number of things you can do to speed up your metabolic rate and I am not talking about using pills!

1) Build Muscle
Increase the amount of muscle in your body. For every extra pound of muscle you put on, your body uses around 50 extra calories a day. In a recent study, researchers found that regular weight training boosts basal metabolic rate by about 15%. This is because muscle is ‘metabolically active’ and burns more calories than other body tissue even when you’re not moving.
Training with weights just 3 times a week for around 20 minutes is enough to build muscle. Not only will you be burning more calories, you’ll look better – whatever your weight.
2) Aerobic Exercise
As well as the actual amount of calories burned during exercise – studies have shown that sustained, high-intensity exercise makes you burn more calories for several hours afterwards. Try 30 minute sessions of heart rate raising exercise, such as walking up hills, jogging, tae bo class, cycling or swimming, 3-4 times a week.
3) Move More
Although the average person burns around 30% of calories through daily activity, many sedentary people only use around 15%. Simply being aware of this fact – and taking every opportunity to move can make quite a dramatic difference to the amount of calories you burn. The trick is to keep the ‘keep moving’ message in mind. Write the word ‘move’ on post-it notes and put them in places you’ll notice them when you’re sitting still. You’ll find lots of opportunities for burning more calories if you remember that you’re looking for them! Keep thinking ‘keep moving’.
4) Eat Little and Often
Eating small, regular meals will keep your metabolism going faster than larger, less frequent meals. There are two reasons why meal frequency may affect your metabolism. Firstly, levels of thyroid hormones begin to drop within hours of eating a meal, and metabolism slows. Secondly, it may be that the thermogenic effect of eating several small meals is slightly higher than eating the same amount of calories all at once.

Mel’s success in her weight loss endeavours is a direct result of the combination of all these four strategies. Now you have the rationale, the proof and the motivation. Are you going to join the weight loss revolution?

Ciao! Enjoy your week!

Jeni