Make Metabolism Your Friend!

After you've adjusted to changing a few of your habits and exercising more, there's another thing to contemplate....metabolism!

According to Lisa Balbach, "Metabolism is the amount of energy (calories) your body burns to maintain itself. Whether you are eating, drinking, sleeping, cleaning etc... your body is constantly burning calories to keep you going.

"Metabolism is affected by your body composition. By body composition, I mean the amount of muscle you have versus the amount of fat. Muscle uses more calories to maintain itself than fat. People who are more muscular (and have a lower percentage of body fat) are said to have a higher metabolism than others that are less muscular. For example, let's say you have two people who are the exact same height and weight. One exercises on a regular basis with weights, in addition to aerobic exercise, and has a low percentage of body fat. The other never exercises and has a higher percentage of body fat. The first person who exercises will have a higher metabolism than the second person. What this basically means is that person #1's body will use more calories to sustain itself than person #2."

So, metabolism is your friend, or foe, based on how you nurture it. There are things you can do that will rev it up (hence, increasing weight loss) and things you can do that will slow it down (hence, making fat stick to you like molasses)!

Here are the top 4 ways to rev your metabolism according to AOL Body:

1. Rev up your aerobic workout: Your metabolism may stay revved up to five times longer after a vigorous aerobic workout than after an easy one.

2. Eat mini-meals: Physically, eating small amounts every two to four hours helps keep your blood sugar on an even keel and may even help your metabolism to keep burning at a higher rate.

3. Sip green tea: Researchers believe that flavonoids in the tea are responsible for a metabolism boost.

4. Have a cup of coffee: The amount of caffeine (about 135 mg) in an 8-oz cup of brewed coffee is enough to raise your metabolism for more than 2 hours. Drinking it before a workout may give you an extra kick. Caffeine may help free stored fat, so your body can burn it for energy as you exercise. (If you have high blood pressure, avoid caffeine before exercise.)

Here are the top 4 ways to sabotage your metabolism according to AOL Body:

1. Eat too few calories: When you deprive your body, it thinks you're stranded on a deserted island. The result: Your metabolism slows so you don't have to resort to eating rats to stay alive.

2. Skip breakfast: Not eating breakfast may cause your resting metabolic rate to dip by 5 percent - a small decline, but one that may creep up to a 10-lb weight gain in just a year's time.

3. Extreme stress

4. Neglecting strength training: A 10-week study of more than 2,000 women found that those who participated in a simple twice-weekly workout (20 minutes of strength training and 20 minutes of aerobic exercise) not only shed 4 pounds of fat but also regained 3 pounds of muscle they'd lost during the aging process. One set is fine, just make sure the weight is heavy enough to fatigue your muscles after the 12th rep. Remember: As you lose weight, you may also lose muscle, leading to a slower metabolism, so always remember to challenge your muscles.

There you have it - plan to make metabolism your friend! Rev up!