Matilda's Metabolism and 8 Ways To Improve It

Consider Matilda who has lost weight and now desires to maintain a certain weight. She has determined that she needs x number of calories everyday to do that. That works but as time goes by she notices she is gaining weight so she reduces her calories. Again that works but more time goes by and she finds she must reduce her caloric intake again, and then again and again and pretty soon she is living on carrot sticks!

And then there is Fred who decides that he will get his daily allotment of calories by eating Oreo's. He is sure he has consumed the right number of calories and yet the pounds pile on.

Here are two examples of why calories in verses calories spent is only part of the story about weight loss. What has happened to Matilda is that her metabolism is slowing and so she must reduce her calories. A better way would be for her to increase her metabolism. Here are eight ways for Matilda to do that.

1. High intensity interval training (HIIT). Besides it's fat burning effect it appears to increase growth hormone (a good thing) and increase metabolism. Interval training should always be done after a meal as your body can begin eating into muscle as glucose levels drop. (for more on intervals see previous post "More Fit In Less Time or Step Away From the Magazine")

2. ALWAYS eat breakfast!! Your metabolism slows when you sleep and eating breakfast gives it a kick start. You have been a long time without food. If your cells do not get fed they learn to function on less food and that means a lower metabolism. You may not feel like it at first but keep at it anyway and soon you will be waking up hungry.

3. Eat five to six times a day, every 2 1/2 - 3 hours. The actual act of eating and digesting builds metabolism. After a while your body will realize it is going to get fed and will let go of some of those pounds of fat. (see previous post "Eat and Lose Weight")

4. Resistance/weight training. More muscle equals higher metabolism. Without weight training adults will lose as much as a 1/2 pound of muscle a year.

Those are the big four. Here are some other idea's:

5. Get spicy! Spicy food has been shown to increase metabolism.

6. Get enough sleep.

7. Drink a lot of water.

8. Reduce stress. Stress increases cortisol which increases fat gain- especially belly fat. Daily stresses of life are hard to minimize very much. It is always good to re-evaluate and see what we can change and sometimes the only thing to do is change our attitude. What helps me is to realize I have a certain number of things to do and I can do them feeling stressed or I can do the same things with cheerfulness and find joy in the process. I have learned that multi-tasking is a sure way to suck the joy out of an activity and increase stress.

What about Fred? A subject for another post.