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Your Metabolic Rate and Weight Management


 Posted by Susan Bowerman, M.S., RD, CSSD, CSOWM, FAND – Senior Director, Worldwide Nutrition Education and Training  0 Comment

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No two metabolisms are alike.

We hear a lot about metabolism, and we often blame a ‘slow metabolism’ for our inability to keep our weight under control. Find out what factors affect your metabolic rate and what can you do to change it.

When patients tell me their weight problems are due to a “slow metabolism,” I think they truly believe that their bodies simply burn calories at a slower pace than other people’s bodies. In their minds if they only could speed up the process, their weight problems would be solved. But what is metabolism, exactly? And, more importantly, is there anything you can do to change it?

Truths and Myths About Metabolism

In truth, your body weight and your metabolic rate are linked, but perhaps not in the way you might think. Simply stated, the term metabolism refers to all the chemical processes that your body undergoes every day in order to keep you alive. When your body converts the calories in your food into energy, or manufactures specialized chemicals that your cells need in order to do their job, those are metabolic processes. These hundreds of processes your body performs every day make up your metabolism.

I can see how the term metabolic rate could confuse people. When you hear the word “rate,” you might think “speed” or “tempo.” So, it’s reasonable to assume that metabolic rate can only mean how fast (or slow) your body performs its work.

In reality, though, your metabolic rate—or, more accurately, your resting metabolic rate—refers to the number of calories you burn during a 24-hour period just to keep your body’s most basic processes going. These are processes like pumping blood or breathing.

Of course, this isn’t all the calories you burn in a day, but your resting metabolic rate accounts for a sizable chunk. About 75% of total calories you use up every day are used simply to keep your body ticking. Most of the remaining calories get used up during your daily activities and bouts of exercise.

What Factors Influence Metabolic Rate?

Some people’s bodies use up more calories to perform these basic metabolic processes than others. You might think they have a “fast” metabolism. And for those who seem to require very few calories, you might think their metabolism is “slow.” But now that you know that your metabolic rate isn’t really about how quickly you burn calories (it’s really the number of calories you burn each day), you can’t technically make your body burn calories any faster.

Let’s look at what affects your metabolic rate in the first place: it will give you a better sense of what you can and can’t do to change it.

Body size

Larger people have higher metabolic rates than smaller people do, and this is due largely to the simple fact that they just have more cells—each of which is doing some metabolic work. That’s one reason that men usually have higher metabolic rates then women; they tend to have bigger bodies overall.

Body composition

A very important factor in determining your metabolic rate is the amount of lean body mass you have. Imagine that your body is divided into two parts: one part is your fat, and the other part is your lean body mass. In other words, everything else that isn’t fat like bone, fluids, organs and muscles. This lean body mass determines your metabolic rate, because every pound of lean mass you have burns about 14 calories per day, or about 30 calories per kilogram. A pound of fat only uses up about two. Muscle cells have a lot more machinery that converts calories into energy than your fat cells do. So, it makes sense that as your muscle mass increases so would your metabolic rate, since, metabolically speaking, your muscle cells are very active.

Age

As you age, there is a tendency to lose some muscle mass. There are a couple of reasons this happens. For one thing, natural hormonal changes can contribute to some loss of muscle mass. And the muscle damage that results from everyday wear and tear isn’t repaired quite as quickly as you age. And that can contribute to some muscle loss, too. With fewer muscle cells overall, you can’t help but burn fewer calories over the course of the day.

Gender

Men have higher rates than women do for two simple reasons.  They tend to be larger overall, and they tend to have more muscle mass than women do.

Cutting your calorie intake too much

It’s true that when you cut your calorie intake too much your metabolic rate can take a dip. This makes sense if you think about it: your body is just trying to do the same metabolic work with fewer calories in order to keep you alive. In general, these decreases are relatively small, especially if you make modest—rather than dramatic—decreases in your calorie intake as you attempt to lose.

What can I do to boost my metabolic rate?

Now that you know what factors affect your metabolic rate, what can you do about it?

  • Eat enough protein. Your body uses the protein you eat to build and repair muscle tissue. If you don’t consume enough protein in your diet, your body simply doesn’t have the raw materials it needs to manufacture and repair your muscle cells.
  • Build muscle mass. This is probably one of the most important things you can do, since building muscle will increase the amount of lean body mass you have—which increases your overall resting metabolic rate. And don’t think strength training is only for the younger set. With the right diet and proper exercise, your body is capable of building muscle at any age.
  • Increase your daily activity. Any activity, of course, burns calories, but that, in itself, doesn’t affect your metabolic rate. When you exercise, you are using your muscles to move your body, and that helps to preserve your lean body mass. And bumping up your activity can also help to offset any dips in your metabolic rate as a result of cutting your calorie intake.
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Susan Bowerman, M.S., RD, CSSD, CSOWM, FAND – Senior Director, Worldwide Nutrition Education and Training
Susan is the Senior Director of Worldwide Nutrition Education and Training at Herbalife, where she is responsible for the development of nutrition education and training materials, and is one of the primary authors of the Herbalife-sponsored blog, www.discovergoodnutrition.com. She is a Registered Dietitian and holds two Board Certifications from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as a Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, and a Certified Specialist in Obesity and Weight Management. Susan is also a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Susan graduated with distinction in biology from the University of Colorado, and received her master’s degree in Food Science and Nutrition from Colorado State University. She then completed her dietetic internship at the University of Kansas. Susan has taught extensively and developed educational programs targeted to individuals, groups and industry in her areas of expertise, including health promotion, weight management and sports nutrition. Prior to her role at Herbalife, she was the assistant director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, and has held appointments as adjunct professor in nutrition at Pepperdine University and as lecturer in nutrition in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Susan was a consultant to the (then) Los Angeles Raiders for six seasons, and was a contributing columnist for the Los Angeles Times Health Section for two years. She is a co-author of 23 research papers, 14 book chapters, and was a co-author of two books for the public: “What Color is Your Diet?” and “The L.A. Shape Diet” by Dr. David Heber, published by Harper Collins in 2001 and 2004, respectively.


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