Turbo-Charging Your Metabolism
A guide to simple
weight loss
Doctor Jay A. Lupus M.D.
Women often say that it is harder for them to lose weight than it is for men to lose weight, and they use this as a protective blanket to excuse them from the fact that they are not losing weight despite their efforts. Fortunately for them, this
myth has been proven to be untrue.
The key force acting upon whether or not you are over-weight is the rate of your
body’s metabolism, or how fast it converts food into
energy or how fast it uses the fuel that you provide. Unlike in cars, humans want to get as little mileage as possible for the food that they eat. The faster that your metabolism is, the more you can eat without suffering the consequences of putting on excess weight. By constantly eating and replenishing your “fuel supply” in the form of food and then burning that food, the
body maintains a balance. It is when you have a low metabolism and you continue to eat at this rate that you gain weight. Thus, the key secret to losing weight is to get your metabolism higher than the amount of food that you are putting in.
Picture a see-saw, with metabolism on one side and food on the other. If the see-saw tips in favor of the food you will gain weight. If it tips in favor of the metabolism you will lose weight. In order to not gain weight and rather lose excess
pounds you have two options. Decrease the amount of food eaten which can be unpleasant and annoying, or increase the
body’s metabolism. Many people think that the first method is the only way, and in doing so starve themselves into submission, but, raising the metabolism is much easier to accomplish and also much more pleasant to the individual.
The idea of increasing metabolism to lose weight is not revolutionary and can be seen in many of today’s weight-loss pills and products which often contain ephedrine, a drug which boosts your metabolism, but can have many adverse side effects to your health. If followed, my plan only takes a few completely safe life-style changes that are quite easy to do if you are dedicated to losing weight. Success can depend on age, as your metabolism slows and becomes harder to increase significantly as you get older, but it can be achieved by anyone with dedication. Here are the cardinal rules of
weight loss.
1. Muscle has some extraordinary properties compared to
fat. It has almost a 3-1 metabolism rate over
fat, and it also has a much longer metabolic burn cycle. This means that it continues to burn
calories even when not being actively stimulated. This means that even when you are asleep, your muscles continue to work, cycling
energy and burning off
calories.
Fat does not do this. Thus, in order to increase your bodies overall metabolism you need to build muscle. This is where women often suffer. When most women go to the
gym they immediately hop on an elliptical machine, a
treadmill, or a bike. This is their downfall. They seek to burn
calories by doing these
exercises, but they fear doing actual weight lifting and getting big muscles and in doing so becoming masculine in the process. First let me allay these fears of becoming a bulky, muscle-bound, woman. First of all, it is testosterone which causes men to get big muscles. Female
body builders take testosterone products to increase this in order to gain bulk. Secondly many repetitions at a light weight give long lean muscles, not bulky mass, which many women fail to understand. Thirdly as a member of the male community I will assure you that there is nothing sexier than a girl with a toned
body. This can be shown in today’s popular culture when celebrities who are often seen as having the perfect
body image hire
fitness trainers. These trainers do not tell these stars to run their
treadmill every day, but rather, put them through workouts where they actually do
exercises,
weights and machines to increase their muscle tone. Many women fail to see this, however, and continue doing the elliptical and
treadmill machines in order to burn
calories, which they see as the ultimate
goal in
weight loss. When they return home from this workout, with no increase in muscle, they regain the same
calories they lost by eating their next meal. This becomes a vicious cycle where they can do nothing except lose, because it is much easier to eat a hamburger and ingest 600
calories than it is to
treadmill off that amount. In contrast, the people who go to the
gym and do a short but intense workout not only burn
calories but convert some of their
fat into muscle. Thus when they return home and eat the same burger, they may gain back the
calories which they lost in their workout, but the muscles that they gained will burn these off even when not working out. Someone with 1/3 more muscle than someone of the same weight who is not muscle can burn off
fat 3 times faster than their counterpart with the same effort, and also burns off more when inactive, doing things such as sleeping.
2. One property which is often overlooked in weight-loss is the positive qualities of water. It not only cleanses the
body of free-radicals that may affect your health in one way or another, but it keeps you hydrated during your workouts, is calorie-free, and most importantly it fills you up. The brain sends the same signal when suffering from dehydration as it sends when suffering from
hunger. By drinking water, you can often assuage
hunger and keep it at bay until it is time for your next meal. Although not as appealing as a bag of chips or a cookie, it will help to hold off these cravings for a time. My suggestion is always have several bottles of water in the fridge so that you can grab one of them instead of them instead of something to eat or even worse, a glass of soda. Soda is one of the worst things for you when trying to lose weight. First of all, it does not assuage the signal going from the brain to the stomach that is sent out by lack of water or food, thus it allows you to eat, when you are actually suffering merely from dehydration. Also important in this instance is the fact that in one 2-liter bottle of Mountain Dew there is approximately 2 cups of sugar or sugar substitutes. Even in these so called “diet drinks” the sugar substitutes act in the same fashion as regular sugar. Sugar does two things to the
body. One, it converts directly into
fat, and secondly, it helps in the breakdown of muscle tissue. Thus, it works against your
goal at raising metabolism through weight training. By substituting water for a soda, you will find it much easier to boost your metabolism and lose weight as a result. So drink plenty of water and cut back on the intake of soda and you will be well on your way to losing weight.
3. In order to keep your
body functioning at its peak as well as giving yourself sufficient
energy to workout, take multivitamins. They help keep your immune system working properly so that you don’t get sick, they help your muscles stay healthy and they help maximize your
body functions so that you feel great and can stay active. This is important, since you want to keep your metabolism as high as possible. Other supplements such as green tea, which can be found in its traditional drink form or in a capsule form, can help to temporarily boost metabolism. Due to the potential side effects of some other non-natural
weight loss products, I don’t suggest their use without consulting your physician and/or dietician.
4. This last suggestion is not for everyone. Only follow this advice if you are dedicated to losing as much weight as possible and are completely healthy. Don’t attempt this if you think you may be getting sick. Keep yourself cold. Turn down your thermostat, open some windows and maintain a slightly cooler house than you may be used to. This will cause your
body’s metabolism to go up in order to maintain your
body temperature. It can also be done at night while you are asleep. With this method, since your
body’s metabolism normally drops when you are asleep, the cooler temperature forces your
body to keep its metabolism up in order to maintain your normal
body temperature.
Adhering to these guidelines takes some discipline but it is not unenjoyable or overly difficult with a little bit of self-control and practice. The nice thing about these techniques is that once your metabolism is at a high level, you don’t have to worry as much about what you eat. Foods that under some diets may have been off-limits are not anymore. Things such as carbs and
calories need not be counted or stressed over as long as you are successfully maintaining this lifestyle. The one food group that could prove detrimental to your progress is high sugar foods, due to their counter-productive attributes, but even this food group, is not off-limits as long as it is eaten in moderation.
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