(it's my metabolism!)
WebMD article here!According to this WebMD study, blaming your metabolism for your sluggish frame is not scientifically accurate! In fact, metabolism is an incredibly intricate chemical reaction, one that is as fickle as an evil Chihuahua.
Take for instance, the myth that tiny people have a super fast metabolism and larger people don't. It's actually the opposite!
""The simple fact is that the extra weight causes your body to work harder just to sustain itself at rest, so in most instances, the metabolism is always running a bit faster," says Molly Kimball, RD, sports and lifestyle nutritionist at the Oscher's Clinic's Elmwood Fitness Center.
That's one reason it's almost always easiest to lose weight at the start of a diet, and harder later on, Kimball says: "When you are very overweight your metabolism is already running so high that any small cut in calories will result in an immediate loss."" - (WebMD)
Take for instance, two people at 150 lbs, one who lost the weight by dieting from 200 lbs, and one who was always 150. The person who cut needs less food energy to sustain his or herself, because of the mere fact that s/he is lighter. therefore, the person who cut has a SLOWER metabolism, which makes it EASIER to gain weight back. Scary, no?
Lucky for us there are ways to maximize your metabolism. For instance, muscles burn more energy, so it stands to reason that muscle training, in the long run, will make you burn for food energy. 30 mins of cardio still burns more energy, but to sustain your work, make sure you lift some weights.
Another tip is to eat more often! It stands to reason if you are starving, any calorie you put into your body will be hoarded! Snacking is a non issue, so long you keep your overall intake the same!
So what have we learned? Your best bet for keeping metabolism revved: Build muscles, snack on low-calorie, high-protein foods, and keep moving!
What do you guys think? Is this common knowledge or do you think you learned something new?
(it's my metabolism!)
Comments (30)
Great, now I need a new excuse.
;P
I was always under the influence that weight didn't determine the speed of someones metabolism. Numerous factors do; as this pretty much states.
ditto to what pillowpixies said.
That actually makes a lot of sense. I weight 115 and am finding it almost impossible to take off the pound or two that I want to get rid of. My metabolism goes crazy in the winter, but I just end up ravenously hungry (and eating every moment of the day) and burning no fat; my body is just trying to keep warm.
I do have a friend who is an exception to this, though--but no generality is correct for every case after all. He's 6'2, weighs 150 lbs, and eats constantly. He just has always had a very fast metabolism.
but what if I'm tiny and I have never been able to gain weight... I started working at Olive Garden 2 years ago so my intake of fatty buttery breadsticks and pasta jumped, i eat almost constantly. Even when I go out and have a huge meal, I'm hungry again within an hour or 2. Other people I know can't eat the rest of the day because they're so full... but here I am sitting at the same weight I've been at for 5 years.
yuuup. knew this.
I actually have a pretty high metabolism...and I'm skinny.
yeah I mean it makes sense...to an extent. it only holds true for when your first starting to lose weight. of course bigger people will have a higher metabolism in ratio to to the amount of cals they are intaking. go from 2600 to 2000 the metabolism that was used to burn 2600 is now only having to burn 2000...so yeah technically the metabolism is better. but then once the person drops weight its harder to lose weight because the metabolism adjust to the "new" cal intake.
so my point being i dont think there is such thing as a good or bad metabolism. and i dont think its based on whether or not ur fat or skinny.
Actually, it's only true that a person who weighs less will need less calories to maintain their weight, not factoring in the fact that some people have faster metabolisms than others.
yeah i read about this before. i guess skinny people don't need high metabolism as much because they have less food to digest?? no idea. kind of confusing haha
I guess I'm weird because my metabolism is ridiculously fast. I can't gain weight for the life of me. When I was in middle school, I tried to gain weight because I thought I was too skinny...no dice. It just doesn't work, I ate more than my stomach could handle and because I was eating like I was practicing for a food eating contest, I thought I was gaiing weight. Nope. For my height and my body size, the lowest I should weigh is 111 pounds. I don't know how, because I love eating and don't excersize regularly, but I managed to lose weight and I weigh 109 pounds.
it also depends on your genetics though too.
@kimtendo@xanga - lol same here.
I think we can "change" a bit our metabolism by choosing some type of food and make sport, sleep well and this kind of think. Eating slowly is also a good way to loose weight : you eat less without being hungry... But we have all a " genetic basis".
@TruthNeverTold@xanga - exactly.
I don't think so. Unless you say natural skinny people or those skinny people that don't work out, so they have less muscle mass => slower metabolism. Then, I concur.
I know weight is not the only factor because I'm skinny for my height with not a lot of muscle. I'm around 165 at 6'5". I know I have a really fast metabolism because even if I eat a huge meal before bed which I know is bad for me, I won't put any weight or if I do, it's gone in a few days. Even when I was working out and rowing I only got down to 157 and I was eating meals typical for me or larger. Also when I was young my hygienist told me that my bad breath wasn't caused by not brushing because I did brush two if not three times a day, but because of my hyper metabolism.
I knew that....but it took me a long time to realize it. Of course there ARE people with faster metabolisms (like kids with ADHD) who stay thin because of that, and there are people with slower metabolisms that gain weight. I took a breathing test thing through a tube 2 years ago, and my metabolic rate was about 1,900 calories.
i think it's common knowledge.
To say I've got a fast or slow metabolism doesn't really give you much of an idea as to what that means or how it works. It just implies that I'm naturally heavy or skinny without knowing how digestion works. I'm not sure if anybody has it completely figured out, but I do know two things that are relevant here.
1. The Fat Virus - There's relatively recent research on a virus that causes people to be heavier. This doesn't make people really large by itself, but it probably puts people one category (and shirt size) higher than they would be without it.
2. Fidgeting - According to my nutrition book in college, fidgeting is habitual movement that is started without thinking, such as keeping your leg moving when you sit down, and it can cause someone to burn up to 800 extra calories per day. Often times this is passed off as nervousness, but it's not. Again, like the above problem this will probably make someone a category smaller if they fidget, maybe two if they fidget a lot. You will notice a lot of skinny people don't sit still, and a lot of overweight people do sit still.
pssshhh not for me! i have an EXTREMELY fast metabolism and i'm thin.
<3
@ThatSady_MittGurl@xanga - Same, I'm pretty skinny myself and I eat SO MUCH! lol. I can eat so much in
one sitting compared to others, and then eat again 2 hours later. I have a pretty fast metabolism..
common knowledge/sense that just needs to be publicized to teenage girls
There are skinny people with super fast mebolism, that never gain weight.
For some, it does slow down with age. Something I've been noticing, but managing.
150lb'er for life.
Now where did I pick up Kryptonite rocks and put it into a smoothie? Oh wait! I'm still skinny as a pre-teen... Disturbing >< *shakes* anyways yes my metabolism has pretty well kept me at bay from getting bigger when I would rather be a pot belly than be anorexant.