Burn, Baby, Burn!

Metabolism. We all have one. We all want faster ones. We use the word in sentences all the time, whenever we talk about diets, exercise, and general health. But do we really know anything about them? Well, folks, let me fill you in...

Here at NEXT LEVEL, we are dedicated to helping you get into your very best shape; to do that, you have to understand how your body works, and, in this case, how your eating patterns work in conjunction with your metabolic rate. If you use this information to influence your habits outside of NEXT LEVEL fitness, you are guaranteed to see better results.

Here are the ABC's of metabolism....


A--Appetite. Your appetite increases around dinner time (for an average person, anywhere from 5-8pm depending on when you wake up) because that is when your metabolic rate is highest. Take advantage of that peak hour; this is when you should eat a slightly heartier meal (as compared to breakfast or lunch) because you will be hungrier and burning more calories during this hour. Also, if you eat an insufficient dinner, you will be hungry by bed time and tempted to binge right before sleeping; a period of time where you burn very few calories at all. Just because you can eat more at this hour, however, don't overdo it just for the heck of it! Calories are calories regardless of the time, and if you overeat you will store the excess.

Be most careful at this time about the portions you are consuming rather than what you are eating. Portion size control is the best way to minimize your risk at overeating.

B--Breakfast. As I'm sure you all have heard, breakfast is the hour when you "break the fast". During your sleeping hours, your metabolism goes into "starvation mode", and stores calories as fat, because it does not know the next time it will receive food; your body prepares for a crisis where you might need to live off of those "reserves".  This mechanism is based off of humans' who evolved in environments when food was not plentiful; it's not the case anymore!

You don't want your body to be in starvation mode all day and store all your calories, so eat breakfast! It will fire up your metabolism for the day, so that you will, in the end, be able to eat slightly more overall since your fuel is burned more efficiently. Also, by eating breakfast, you avoid overeating at lunch, dinner and snacks. Eating breakfast makes your whole nutritional day as easy as pie! (Well, maybe a modest slice of pie...)

C--Crunches. And squats. And weight lifting... Okay maybe it's a bit of a stretch for the "ABC's", but you get the point; exercise is key! By working out at NEXT LEVEL, you ensure that your metabolic rate will be elevated for several hours after your workout. That means that you are burning extra calories in the gym, and out of the gym, regardless of your extracurricular activities! Also, by exercising, you are building muscle, and for every pound of muscle you add, you burn an additional 50 calories as compared to a pound of fat ( A pound of body fat is equivalent to 3500 calories!). If that isn't an incentive to come in to the gym, I don't know what is!

Well folks, there's a quick guide to metabolic rates, and why you should pay attention to yours to see the results you want! If you have more questions, feel free to ask Aurora or Dr. Abu during your next visit to the gym.

Wishing you good health and happiness,
Dr.Abu
Aurora