Metabolism is the process by which your body converts food into energy. Many people hold the belief that fat people have low metabolism rates and skinny people have high metabolism rates. However, the process is not that simple.

Your metabolism depends on three separate factors, and how it works affects how much you weigh. Metabolism is determined by the amount of calories you consume, factors such as age and sex, and how physically active you are.

If you consume excessive calories, you will eventually gain weight. Each human body is designed to run on a certain calorie amount. This can vary from person to person, but is between 1500 and 2500 calories for most adults. If you are trying to lose weight, it will be less.

Men generally need more calories per day than women, unless the woman is pregnant or breastfeeding. The rate at which your body burns these calories is your metabolism; if you burn them more slowly, youll gain weight. If you burn through extra calories quickly, youll maintain your weight.

Factors such as age, body composition, and sex also determine metabolism. If your body contains more muscle, your metabolism will be faster. If it contains more fat, your body will be slower.

For this reason, women’s metabolism often slows down after pregnancy. Excess fat is accumulated and stored on the hips and breasts. After pregnancy, it can be harder to lose this weight. Age also affects your metabolism; as you age, your metabolism slows down. This can lead to “middle age spread” if you don’t take action to burn those extra calories and kick your metabolism into high gear.

Your rate of physical activity greatly affects your metabolism. This is good news; it means you have some control over the situation! If your metabolism is slowing down due to age, gender, or other factors, you can boost it by exercising. The key to weight loss is burning more calories than you take in.

When you choose to exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet, weight loss is possible. Your metabolism will increase as you add muscle to your body remember; muscle burns more calories than fat!

To jump-start your metabolism, you may need to lower the amount of calories you’re consuming daily and up the amount of exercise you are doing. Choose aerobic and weight lifting exercises for maximum impact. Aerobic exercise burns fat, and weight training will add muscle. Both can greatly increase your metabolism, leading to healthy fat loss.

This article isn’t medical advice nor should it be interpreted or substituted as medical advice. This article is for informational purposes only. Prior to making changes to your physical exercise routine and your diet, you should always consult your personal physician. It is much better to be safe than sorry.

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Youve dieted, youve exercised, and you feel like no matter what you do you can t lose weight. Many people say that no matter what theyve tried they cant seem to drop any of their unwanted pounds. Though the problem is the same, the reasons for having so much difficulty losing weight usually vary from person to person. Just like the same way of eating might not work as well for some people as it does for others, the problems associated with weight loss are bound to be different for many different people, too.

If youve been following a diet plan and still can t lose weight, you need to look very carefully at the diet and see if its really one that can work. Youll need to look at things like how many calories you eat a day on the plan, and whether your diet seems to be heavier in things like fat or dairy products, or whether it leans the other way and focuses mostly on fruits and vegetables.

If the amount of calories youre eating every day seems reasonableenough to keep you healthy but low enough to let you burn fatyet you can t lose weight while eating this way, its likely that the type of diet just doesnt suit your metabolism. If the diet is calorie-focused and allows things like white bread, flour, potatoes, pasta and sugar, trying cutting down on those items. Maybe the diet is too high in carbohydrates for you and thats sabotaging your efforts. Experiment to see if you start losing weight.

If the diet is already low carb and you can t lose weight on it, then maybe its gone too far in the other direction. Are you eating lots of red meat, fried foods, oil and other fats like butter? Some low-carb diets claim you can eat these foods in almost unlimited amounts, but thats simply not true. All that fat adds up to hundreds of calories, and no matter how few carbs you eat, a calorie is still a calorie. It can be very easy to eat too many calories per day if youre eating fatty meats, nuts or if you have lots of oil in your diet.

If your diet really seems healthy, with lean meats, lots of vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables, some diary and little sugar or flour and you still can t lose weight, then you could be eating too few calories and causing your metabolism to slow. Or youre eating much more food than you think you are. Look at all the little snacks you have throughout the day, no matter how healthy they are.

Try keeping a journal and writing down everything you eat each day, including anything you drink that has calories in it like soda or coffee with cream. If you can t lose weight because youre eating more than you think, a week or so of logging the details of your diet should start to show you where those extra calories are sneaking in.

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Everyone really knows how to loose weight: eat right and exercise. If it were really that simple, though, no one would be overweight, because each time a person decided to lose weight, it would happen with no problems. Diet books and programs all seem to shout that their way is the best and only way to lose weight and keep it off. Were told that low-fat is healthy and a great way to lose weight, only to then be told that low-carb is the only way to go. Its no wonder people are confused, and heavier than ever!

Figuring out how to loose weight by dieting is tricky. Do you start eating only X amount of calories per day without worrying about what kind of foods youre eating, or you do stick to a very detailed eating plan that allows only certain kinds of things? Do you want to go low-fat, low-carb, vegetarian, or just eat a variety of foods in moderation? Youll find an expert that says every one of these ways is the correct and healthy way to do it and that you should avoid the others. Getting a straight answer is difficult.

The problem with all these people trying to tell you how to loose weight is that people read their books and follow their plans and either stay fat or lose weight and then gain more back. Its hard to pick the right plan when it seems that every plan fails at least some people. The important thing is to choose a healthy way of eating. Moderately low-carb diets can be healthy, as can low-fat diets.

When youre figuring out how to loose weight, try a diet that seems reasonable to you. Expect any type of diet to require a little bit of adjustment time in the beginning. But after a few days, you should get used to it. You should choose an eating plan that youll feel good on. If youre physically ill, very edgy, or feel too full or even starving all the time, that diet isnt right for you. You dont have to suffer to lose weight, no matter what some of the experts will tell you.

Of course, if you feel great on a diet but arent losing weight, its probably not the right eating plan for you either. When youre learning how to loose weight, and it is a learning process for each person, you might have to experiment with your diet quite a bit at first to find a happy medium that lets you feel satisfied with the food you eat but lets you lose weight, too.

While the main reason youll lose weight is because youre eating fewer calories, some types of food have different effects on different people. This is why some diets might work great for some people, but not for you, regardless of the calories. The trick is learning how to loose weight in a way that works best for you, whether or not it works for anyone else.

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Secrets to Healthy Weight Gain
Beverley Brooke

There is so much emphasis on weight loss in todays culture that it is easy for people to forget that many out there are actually people out there trying to gain weight, not lose it.

There are many different reasons why someone might be trying to gain weight. Many people for example may become underweight due to medical problems, such as hormonal problems or digestive diseases.

Still others have a very fast metabolism, and are naturally thin, to the point where they may feel uncomfortable about their weight.

You may be one of the few athletes out there that is looking to pack on more pounds to appear muscular. Regardless of your reasons, gaining weight requires that you pay careful attention to your diet to gain weight in a healthy manner.

The key to gaining weight healthily is taking in more Calories per day than you expend. The number of calories you burn during a day will depend on a number of factors.

If you are an athlete, you likely burn more calories than someone who leads a relatively sedentary existence. A physically demanding job might also result in greater caloric expenditure every day.

Once you take into consideration your activity level, adopt the following tips, which will guide you through the weight gain challenge in a healthy way:

1) Eat foods that are high in good fats including those that come from fish, avocados and nuts. Avoid high calorie sweets that will only add fat not muscle to your frame. You should also ensure that you are consuming adequate amounts of whole grains and proteins.

2) Take a multi vitamin and mineral supplement every day.

3) Exercise, particularly strength train. Strength training will help you build muscle mass, which in turn will help fill out your figure.

4) Try eating five to six smaller meals per day. Keep your body Full of high density and high energy foods that will keep you energized throughout the day.

The most important thing to remember is that it is possible to gain weight in a manner that is healthy. Remember above all else to stay away from foods that are highly processed, contain too much sugar or are full of saturated fats.

About the Author

Beverley Brooke, Editor of Health & Finesse – Free health, diet and fitness articles and weekly newsletters http://www.healthandfinesse.com

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