Boosting Your Metabolism

What is my metabolism?

In simple terms, your metabolism is the chemical process by which your body converts food calories into usable energy.

Specific proteins break down food into compounds and the energy from these compounds can either be stored in body tissues or utilised to power the body. The process of storing energy in order for the body to maintain itself and grow is known as anabolism or constructive metabolism. Catabolism, also known as destructive metabolism, is the process whereby carbohydrates and fats are broken down on order to release energy and fuel the body.

The speed of your basic metabolic rate (the speed at which they burn calories while resting) can vary according to factors such as weight, level of fitness, muscle mass and even your genetic makeup. If you have a slow metabolism you may feel sluggish and low on energy, and find it harder to lose weight. However, there are ways to speed up your metabolism, the most effective being to do more exercise.

Our bodies uses up calories all the time, even when we are at resting. But when you exercise the extra exertion causes your metabolism to speed up, thus burning more calories. Your metabolism will even carry on working at a higher speed in the hour or so after you have stopped exercising.

Even more importantly, exercise builds muscle mass, and muscle tissue burns many more calories than fat tissue. This will give you a higher basal metabolic rate and make it easier to lose weight. This is one of the reasons why exercise is such a good way of kick-starting weight loss if you've hit a bit of a dieting plateau. Vary your training schedule by including resistance training and high intensity cardio activity in order to stop your body from becoming too accustomed to one regime.