I’ve been doing a LOT of research on the subject of weight loss and fitness and in my travels I have come across so many people (usually women and young girls) who are literally starving themselves in the hope that they will lose weight.
Unfortunately there is one important thing they don’t realise. That is, the higher your metabolism, the better your chances of successful weight loss. The opposite is also true. If you have a low metabolism, then you will have a lot more trouble losing weight. Your metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories. Ideally we all want a nice, high metabolism so that we can continue to burn calories.
These women and girls who starve themselves will lose weight all right (to start with), but they are teaching their bodies to store fat because starving your body causes your metabolism to slow. Your body knows it’s not going to be fed for a while, so it will burn calories as slowly as it can. What this also means is that the next time you eat, your body won’t burn it, but will instead store it as fat so it can draw from it next time it is starved.
So the next time you think about skipping a meal, think again. You might be causing your body to retain fat, not burn it!
Our bodies need fuel to function, and if you don’t give your body fuel, then your metabolism has no choice but to slow down.
The next time you eat, your body says, “Yay! Food I can store for later!” and it goes straight to your hips, your thighs or anywhere else you don’t want it!
So what should a person do to increase their metabolism?
Firstly, and most importantly, you need to be eating every 3 hours or so, starting with breakfast. Breakfast cannot be skipped. It is by far THE most important meal of the day and it is this meal that gets your metabolism going first thing in the morning.
If you can’t face “real” food first thing, have a good quality meal replacement shake but you MUST have something!