What Is Your Metabolism?What is metabolism? Metabolism is the process by which the food we eat is broken down by our bodies and turned into energy. This energy is used for very single bodily function. The fact that your heart beats and you breathe in and out is all down to the energy provided by your metabolism. All the activities you carry out during the course of your daily life are made possible by the provision of energy courtesy of your metabolism. Where do I find my metabolism? Metabolism is an ongoing process which occurs throughout your body rather than in one specific area. Every single cell in your body uses the process of metabolism to function. The whole process is driven by hormones produced by the thyroid gland in your neck which in turn is controlled by a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. Does my metabolism stop at night? Even when you are asleep, metabolism continues to work, producing the energy to keep your body functioning. Liken it to a power station. Even at night, when everyone is asleep, a power station keeps working to supply energy for the basic needs. In your case your own internal power station is working to provide the energy to keep your heart beating, your lungs working, maintaining your body temperature etc. What is metabolic rate? This is the rate at which your body uses energy. Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the rate at which your body uses energy when at rest, and includes the energy needed to perform basic life functions such as breathing and maintaining body temperature. Assuming there is no medical condition affecting your metabolism, your metabolic rate (the speed of your metabolism) is determined by factors such as your body size, body composition, your age, sex, and how active you are. For example if two men weigh the same, but one is much more muscular than the other, the more muscular body will have a higher BMR as muscle uses more calories to maintain itself than fat. Generally men are bigger than women and also have a higher muscle to fat ratio than women and consequently have a higher BMR. Over the age of thirty, your body tends to lose muscle and so your BMR will slow as you age. Does that mean it is inevitable that I will get fat as I get older because my BMR will slow down? There are a couple of things you can do to counter the effects of ageing.
If I eat less, will it counter any slowing of my metabolic rate? This certainly seems logical on the face of it. However, reducing your food intake by too much can actually reduce your metabolic rate even further. This is your body’s natural defence mechanism kicking in. Reducing your intake by too much will make your anti-starvation instinct kick in, and the first defence is to slow down your metabolism! The same thing can happen if you change your eating habits and start to miss meals. What are calories and where do they come into all this? In terms of weight loss a calorie is simply a unit of measurement, used to measure the energy we can metabolise from our food. For example a tub of yoghurt may be said to contain 100 calories. What this means is when you eat it, your body will turn it into 100 calories of energy. So how many calories do I need? It is difficult to calculate a figure to use. As in most things, we are all different, but there is a rough guide (and I stress the words rough guide) you can use to give you an idea. This guide assumes you are reasonably active. Your BMR accounts for about 80% of the calories you burn and can be calculated by multiplying your weight in pounds by 10. This means a person weighing 160lbs would have a basic metabolic need of 1600 calories. Remember that is just to stay alive. You then need to add a further 20% for your everyday activities. In the case of our 160lb person this would mean consuming a further 400 calories, making a total of 2000 calories in total. To find out more about how you can lose weight, subscribe to our free e-course here
|
|
