How to increase your metabolism

The term metabolism refers to the number of calories that your body burns every day in order to sustain the function of your vital organs and keep you alive. Metabolism seems to make the perfect scapegoat every time that we put on a few extra pounds, because we think that our metabolic rate is beyond our control. Fortunately, there are ways to increase metabolism. Read on.

Calculating metabolism

Your metabolism is the amount of calories that you burn every day. Even though you do burn energy during exercise, your body uses most of the calories that you consume just to survive. This is called the basal metabolism or BMR. The basal rate represents the energy your body burns to maintain its normal functions, like breathing, heart rate and brain function.
Some of the factors that affect BMR 1. Weight: The heavier you are, the higher your BMR. In fact, it has been found that the basal metabolic rate of obese women is 25 percent higher than that of thin women. 2. Age: As a person grows older, BMR decreases by about 1-2% per decade. 3. Gender: Men have a higher metabolic rate than women because they carry more muscle mass. 4. Body composition: People with a high percentage of muscle mass, usually have a high metabolism. 5. Pregnancy: Pregnancy can boost your metabolism by up to 15 percent. How to calculate BMR One BMR formula you can use is the following: For women: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years) and For men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years).

Increasing metabolism

How to raise metabolism Most people believe that their metabolism is responsible for their weight problems and by increasing its speed, they will magically lose weight. Rest assured that this is rarely true. We are not born with low metabolism (unless we have thyroid problems). In fact, our genes only account for 5% of total daily calorie consumption. This means that speeding up your metabolism is a simple process, regardless of your genetic make-up. Increase energy level You just need to increase your body’s need for energy. Physical activity is the only real and safe way to increase your metabolism. What about the high metabolism foods or the fat burning foods that you have read about in magazines? It’s true that some foods can cause a small metabolic spike, but their effect is actually negligible. The best foods that you can eat are the ones that are rich in protein.