Slower Metabolism

Your metabolism -- how your body converts food into energy and then burns that energy as calories -- is slowing down. This is a natural process that begins at about age 30. From then on, your body burns energy about 2 to 4 percent slower every ten years. So fewer calories are burned, and more are stored as fat. You can see that if you do nothing to counter this trend, you'll become heavier and less energetic. And you'll put yourself at greater risk for serious health problems such as high blood pressure and heart disease. Hardly a recipe for a youthful life. 

The bad news is that some of what's happening is beyond your control. 

You naturally burn calories slower than a man does. Men burn calories faster for two reasons. Firstly, they are usually heavier and are burning more calories all the time. Secondly, they have a greater proportion of fat-burning muscle whilst your body has a higher fat content. As a result, the average basal metabolic rate in women is 5 to 10 percent lower than in men.

And your percentage of body fat inevitably increases with time. Metabolism changes are a direct response to changes in body composition. As we age, we tend to lose muscle and gain fat. Since muscle burns a lot of energy, our energy needs diminish as we lose muscle, and our metabolism slows.

But here's the good news -- most of this metabolic slowdown is our own doing. Yes, we lose some muscle as we age, but the major cause of this muscle loss is inactivity. The more inactive we become with age, the less lean muscle we have. The less lean muscle we have, the more inactive we become. Over the years, the two feed on each other, and our metabolism plummets.

How can you increase your metabolism?

Weight Training and Aerobic Exercise

Exercise sets your metabolism at a higher rate, so calories are incinerated for hours after you've stopped. 

The best way to boost your metabolism is to participate in an aerobic activity and a regular period of a strength training, such as weight lifting. 

The biggest factor which determines you resting metabolic rate is how much muscle you have. Muscle is where the fat-burning action is, as muscle cells are crammed with power sources called mitochondria, which are where your calories get "burned" or oxidized. So the more muscle you have, the more power sources you have to break down fat. All things being equal, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even while sleeping. 

So, the major reason one person burns 1 calorie per minute and another burns 1.5 calories per minute is that the second person has more muscle mass, and muscle is an extremely energy-hungry tissue. 

Strength-building exercises such as weight lifting will add muscle mass at any age. And the more you do such exercises, the better for your metabolism.

To prove that point, a study was conducted in which the basal metabolic rates of 96 people were measured: 36 did aerobic activity, 18 did weight lifting, and 42 did nothing. The aerobic group had a 13 percent higher metabolic rate than the sedentary group; the strength group's metabolic rate was 18 percent higher than the sedentary group's. 

This study shows that both aerobic exercise or strength training may provide a metabolic boost.

Aim to do aerobic exercises 3-4 times per week, with each session lasting for a minimum of 45 minutes. And you should also do strength/resistance exercises 2-3 times per week, for at least 30 minutes each session.

Take Chromium Picolinate Supplements

Research has shown that chromium picolinate can help people get improvements in lean body mass and decrease in body fat. Learn more about how chromium picolinate helps with weight loss...

Soy

Soy can increase your muscle mass. Your muscles burn energy (in the form of calories) for daily maintenance and during exercise. Increased muscle mass burns more daily maintenance calories even if you are not exercising. In other words, greater lean muscle mass contributes to weight loss or weight maintenance even when you are just sitting around doing nothing.

Soy also increases the rate at which your fat cells burn stored fat. Other studies have shown that soy protein increases 'brown fat' activity directly inside of fat cells. In simpler terms, soy protein increases your fat cells' metabolism rate. Learn more about how soy helps with weight loss...

Adopt the Right Eating Habits

• Start your day with breakfast. Experts say your body burns calories at a slower rate as you sleep. Breakfast acts as your metabolism's wake-up call, kicking it into the calorie-burning mode. If you don't eat something in the morning, you may ultimately burn fewer calories during the day.
• Spread out your meals. Instead of eating 3 big regular meals each day, opt to have 5 smaller meals. Eating small meals throughout the day instead of your standard three may be better for fat burning. After you eat, your body releases the hormone insulin, which causes your body to store fat. The larger the meal, the more insulin your body releases. But smaller, more frequent meals keep insulin levels lower and more stable. The less insulin you have in your blood, the more fat you burn, and the less you store.
• Don't skip meals. Skipping meals and then eating one big meal at night can be a triple whammy. Firstly, it puts you into a slow burn mode during the day. Secondly, the big meal provides an energy overload: The body can metabolize only so much food at one time, so the excess is likely to become fat. Thirdly, most of the metabolizing will take place while you sleep--when your metabolic rate is at its lowest.

 

Still got a question on metabolism? Email us at and we'll do our best to answer any questions you have... We're here to help!

 

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Want to know how the latest happenings in the weight loss industry can affect you?  Is there something new in the market that can speed up your fat loss program?  If I find out anything worth reporting to you, it'll be in my blog.  Go check it out!

 

Got a question on weight loss for women over 40? Email us at and we'll do our best to answer any questions you have... We're here to help!