By increasing your metabolism - the speed at which your body burns calories, you can achieve and maintain an ideal body weight. We explain how:
Overview:
Everyone knows that maintaining weight depends on a simple equation - calories in not to exceed calories out.
So you do your workouts, watch what you eat, and bingo - you gain weight! Not massively, not in big chunks, but little by little, the pounds creep on. What's happening?
Most people blame themselves - "I skipped a run this week," or "I ate too much last night." The truth, however, may be down to something else entirely - your metabolism.
Metabolism refers to the speed at which you burn calories, and like the thermostat on your central heating, if you crank it up a notch, you burn more fuel.
Simply watching calories in and calories out is just that - too simple. Learn how your metabolism works, though, and you will have taken the first step towards losing that extra weight.
Regular cardio equals weight loss - true or false?
Moderate intensity aerobic exercise is the bedrock of most people's weight control programme. However, a review of hundreds of weight-loss studies shows that diet and aerobic exercise combined only increase weight loss marginally when compared to diet alone.
So if steady aerobic exercise doesn't get the job done, what does?
Set in your ways
Think about it - most calories are actually burned not when working out, but when you are at work, watching TV, or sleeping. So it follows that to lose weight, you need a plan that increases the calories you burn twenty-four hours a day - that's where your metabolism comes in.
Some things speed up your metabolism, others slow it down. Every time you work out, you crank up your metabolism, thus increasing the calories you burn.
During your workout there's a sharp spike, but there is also an afterburn effect - in other words, you continue burning extra calories for hours after your workout. So what can you do to maximize this boost both during and after your workout? There are six strategies you can follow:
