You, or maybe a friend who is trying to lose weight and get into shape, have probably uttered such words as, "I merely eat once a day to lose weight." Alas, this misconception is precisely why so many people are in a constant battle with their weight and don't achieve lasting results.
Dieters are convinced that eating three meals a day would certainly result in weight gain. The fact is, as long as the proper kinds of foods and some kind of exercise program is undertaken, then three standard meals, or six smaller meals are likely to rev up their metabolism, than not eating would do.
Reuters published a report in the last quarter of 2011 saying that the overall percentage of adult Americans who are overweight or obsese had dropped slightly. However, it's staggering to know that 35.8% are overweight and 25.8 percent are considered obese.
More than ever, we need to understand how metabolism affects weight loss or gain.
Metabolism is made up of three parts. Physical activity (20%), digestion (10%), and resting metabolic rate (70%). When a person eats more than they should, the energy needed for digestion increases. It's at this point where metabolism causes so much confusion.
A pound is equal to about 3500 calories, so let's say a person consumes 3500 more calories than normal. That individual would not gain one pound because digestion is increased. However, over time, the digested food will be stored as fat and you will gain weight.
If 3500 calories were trimmed trying to lose weight, then digestion decreases since there are fewer nutrients to process. The outcome is that energy expenditure would decrease, meaning that the individual would lose less than one pound in weight.
Cutting your intake of food too drastically means your digestive system can't work as it was designed to do. Your body will try to get it's energy from your muscles and not from the stored fat (after all, your body wants to keep these reserves for emergencies).
When you don't eat, you are in reality, working against your body in fighting weight gain, not the other way around.
Energy is either known as stored, or potential energy; and, as working, kinetic energy. Potential energy comes from the foods we eat. There are three elements of balanced energy. They are:
- calorie ingestion
- calories retained
- calories spent
If the total number of calories consumed equals the amount of calories being burned, body weight remains stable. However. if more calories are being eaten than burned, potential energy is stored as body fat.
For those of you who want to put your metabolism to work for you, some simple steps can be taken:
- Add a few extra pounds of lean muscle. Your metabolic rate can be amplified by up to 200% each day
- Keep in mind that lean weight can burn as much as 20 times more calories than fat weight
- Consistent activity is one of the best ways to boost metabolism
- By simply eating modest meals and eating them more frequently, you can increase your metabolism rate
Although you really want to eat healthy foods, research confirms that what is the most important thing, is how much a person's body weight is attributed to fat.
It's important you maintain a healthy weight, but more imperative that you keep track of your fat to muscle ratio.
Never forget you are in control. You need to make the choice to attempt and do something good for yourself. Take control and fight to live a lean and healthy lifestyle.
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