Why is it that some people can eat
almost anything they choose with apparently no weight gain? It
seems so unfair if you suffer from the opposite and put on
pounds just by seemingly, looking at food. It doesn't help
either if you are someone who really likes and enjoys their food
because temptation is everywhere you look, with so many foods
instantly available.Some
people have been blessed with a very efficient metabolic rate,
which means that their calorie intake is very quickly
transformed into energy, with none left to be stored away as
fat. Unfortunately, it seems that other people have a sluggish
metabolic rate and this can result in surplus unused calories,
being stored as fat. Many factors can have an affect on how
efficient your metabolic rate is, and gender, age, genes, stress
levels, physical activity and even depression all play a part.
People, especially women tend
to comfort eat and this usually means all the wrong types of
foods. Always being stressed out or going through a bad
depressing time can lead to people reaching to food for solace.
These factors, although minor influences on your metabolic
performance, are nevertheless factors, and many of us suffer
from stress these days. Stress has a negative effect on the body
and it can disrupt some of its normal processes, which in turn
put the brakes on the speed at which your body can turn food
into energy.
Women suffer more from weight
gain than men and this is because generally speaking, men have
more muscle mass than women and it's the muscles that are the
engines that stoke the fire, so to speak, and are very efficient
at burning up calories. So perhaps girls, we need to spend a
little more time and effort building and toning the muscles that
we do have. It can only help in the war against weight gain.
What we eat and how regularly
we eat during the day also has a major influence on the
efficient functioning of our metabolic rate. Even the amount of
water we take in, is a factor because if our water intake in
inadequate it will have an adverse effect on the bodies
processing ability resulting in a slow down of the metabolic
rate. We are always being told to drink more water so it's
another good reason to keep well hydrated.
The amount of muscle you
develop together with the type of food you choose and the
frequency of when you eat, is according to some experts, what
you need to be aware of in order to speed up your metabolism. If
you can master these things, you are much more likely to lose
weight and keep it off because you will have given your
metabolism a good kick-start. Understanding this will help you
achieve your weight loss target for 2009 and beyond.
