Contributed By Sandy | Published: Oct 8, 2005
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Metabolic Rate is the rate at which the body burns up calories. A body
that consumes 2500 calories a day, and burns 2500 calories a day will
stay at the same weight. A body consuming 2500 calories daily but
burning only 2000 will gain weight at the rate of about 1lb a week. You
can do quite a lot to speed up your metabolism – the secret of burning
calories lies in knowing what determines your metabolic rate and what
you can do to influence it.
You burn calories to provide energy for three main functions:
- Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
This is the amount
of calories you burn just by being alive – even when you are lying
down, doing nothing. BMR accounts for approximately 60% of the calories
burned for an average person.
- Burning Calories for Activity
This is the energy used during movement – from lifting your arm to
operate the remote control to cleaning the windows. This accounts for
approximately 30% of the calories burned by an average person.
- Dietary Thermogenesis
The 'thermogenic effect' described as meal-induced heat production –
the calories burned in the process of eating, digesting, absorbing and
using food.
You can influence all these factors, and speed up your rate of burning calories using some, or all, of the following tactics:
1) Build Muscle
Increase the amount of muscle in your body. For every extra pound of
muscle you put on, your body uses around 50 extra calories a day. In a
recent study, researchers found that regular weight training boosts
basal metabolic rate by about 15%. This is because muscle is
'metabolically active' and burns more calories than other body tissue
even when you're not moving. Training with weights just 3 times a week
for around 20 minutes is enough to build muscle. Not only will you be
burning more calories, you'll look better – whatever your weight.
2) Move More
Although the average person
burns around 30% of calories through daily activity, many sedentary
people only use around 15%. Simply being aware of this fact – and
taking every opportunity to move can make quite a dramatic difference
to the amount of calories you burn. The trick is to keep the 'keep
moving' message in mind. Write the word 'move' on post-it notes and put
them in places you'll notice them when you're sitting still. Here are
some ideas for burning calories:
- Tap your feet
- Swing your legs
- Drum your fingers
- Stand up and stretch
- Move your head from side to side
- Change position
- Wriggle and fidget
- Pace up and down
- Don't use the internal phone – go in person
- Use the upstairs (or downstairs!) bathroom
- Park in the furthest corner of the parking lot
- Stand up when you're on the phone
- Clench and release your muscles
You'll find lots of opportunities for burning more calories if you
remember that you're looking for them! Keep thinking 'keep moving'.
3) Eat Spicy Food
There is evidence to
show that spices, especially chilli, can raise the metabolic rate by up
to 50% for up to 3 hours after you've eaten a spicy meal. Drinks
containing caffeine also stimulate the metabolism, as does green tea.
4) Aerobic Exercise
As well as the
actual amount of calories burned during exercise – studies have shown
that sustained, high-intensity exercise makes you burn more calories
for several hours afterwards.
5) Eat Little and Often
There is some
evidence to suggest that eating small, regular meals will keep your
metabolism going faster than larger, less frequent meals. There are two
reasons why meal frequency may affect your metabolism. Firstly, levels
of thyroid hormones begin to drop within hours of eating a meal, and
metabolism slows. Secondly, it may be that the thermogenic effect of
eating several small meals is slightly higher than eating the same
amount of calories all at once.
Provided your small meals don't degenerate into quick-fix, high fat,
high sugar snacks, eating little and often can also help to control
hunger and make you less likely to binge.
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