How Metabolism Works - What is it?
Even if you’re lying in bed, lounging on the sofa, or sitting at the computer as you’re reading this, your body is burning calories. It’s burning calories to keep your heart beating, your lungs breathing, your brain dreaming about lying on a beach in Barbados...Hey, wake up!
That calorie burn I’m referring to is your metabolism, and how high it’s revving what determines where you’re losing fat right now – or gaining it. See, your body burns calories all the time, and it burns them in three different ways. One, you burn them when you eat, simply through the act of digestion (remember, it takes more energy to digest protein than it does carbs). Two, you burn calories by exercise and movement, whether you’re running a marathon or just walking down the hall. And the last way you burn calories is when you’re at rest; that’s called your basal metabolism, and it refers to the way your body uses fuel when you’re not doing anything. Incredibly enough, this is when the majority of your calories are burned – while you’re doing nothing.
That explains, in part, why watching those calories tick away on the treadmill or the exercise bike is an exercise frustration. If the majority of calories are burned during your non-exercising times, then it makes sense to boost your calories burn during those times, and the way you do that is by adding muscle. In fact, for every 455g/1 lb of muscle you build, your body will need to burn off up to 50 extra calories a day, just sitting around doing nothing. Add 2.75kg/6 lb of muscle, and you’re burning up to 300 extra calories a day, just hanging out being you.
One of the most potent fat-burners around is lurking right below your own skin. It's muscle, and building more can turn your body into a fat-burning machine!
Of course, you can't build that muscle by sitting still. Best to follow a super-simple workout built around an easy weight-training programme that anyone can do. It won't turn you into a gym rat, the Incredible Hulk or Arnie Schwarzenegger. But it will help you trade flab for lean, sexy muscle. (Feeling eager? Click on the Simple Workout link above for a quick peek at it.)
