Day by Day Inch by Inch / Metabolism and Weight

Metabolism and weight loss: How you burn calories

Find out how metabolism affects weight, the truth behind slow metabolism, and how to burn more calories.

By Mayo Clinic staff

You've probably heard people blame their weight on a slow metabolism, but what does that mean? And is metabolism really the culprit? Is it possible to rev up your metabolism to burn more calories?

While it's true that metabolism is linked to weight, it may not be in the way you expect. In fact, contrary to common belief, a slow metabolism is rarely the cause of excess weight gain. Although your metabolism influences your body's basic energy needs, it's your food and beverage intake and your physical activity that ultimately determine how much you weigh.

Metabolism: Converting food into energy

Metabolism is the process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy. During this complex biochemical process, calories in food and beverages are combined with oxygen to release the energy your body needs to function. Even when you're at rest, your body needs energy for all its "hidden" functions, such as breathing, circulating blood, adjusting hormone levels, and growing and repairing cells.

The number of calories your body uses to carry out these basic functions is known as your basal metabolic rate (BMR) — what you might call metabolism. Several factors determine your individual basal metabolic rate:

·                                 Your body size and composition. The bodies of people who are larger or have more muscle burn up more calories, even at rest.

·                                 Your sex. Men usually have less body fat and more muscle than do women of the same age and weight, burning more calories.

·                                 Your age. As you get older, the amount of muscle tends to decrease and fat accounts for more of your weight, slowing down calorie burning.

Energy needs for your body's basic functions stay fairly consistent and aren't easily changed. Your basal metabolic rate accounts for about 60 to 75 percent of the calories you burn every day.

In addition to your basal metabolic rate, two other factors determine how many calories your body burns each day:

·                                 Food processing (thermogenesis). Digesting, absorbing, transporting and storing the food you consume also takes calories. This accounts for about 10 percent of the calories used each day. For the most part, your body's energy requirement to process food stays relatively steady and isn't easily changed.

·                                 Physical activity. Physical activity and exercise — such as playing tennis, walking to the store, chasing after the dog and any other movement — account for the rest of the calories your body burns up each day.

So have you had one of those days electronically nothing works right. I have trouble with this site today along with a couple of others. So any way today has been good. Went to card club, our church has a group of people who get together and make birthday cards for all the members who have birthdays. Like today we made for everyone with a birthday in July. So after that we went out to eat and I had a Vegetable Fajita. I did not eat the tortilla [bread]; but had the vegetables w/ a small amount of guacamole and sour cream. Very filling and satisfying. I have noticed that since I cut all the junk out of my eating, every thing has a good flavor. It is remarkable how good peppers, onions, tomato can taste.

Stress Reducers:
Completing a Task
Smiling
Making a Decision and Sticking to It

Today has been a nice day here in Colorado [Western Slope] We had some cloud cover, A little rain, and now sun shine. They say here if you do not like the weather wait five (5) minutes and it will change. lol I will try to grab some Photos and post them off and on.

A little about me:
I have had a weight issue for as long as I can remember. I have seen a picture from many, many years ago when I was not but do not remember it. I have used my weight as a shield. I can't do that or I don't feel up to it or any other excuse I could come up with. I also used it to keep people at a distance. I am not a touchy feely type person. Never have been. Kind of makes it hard on your wife when you don't want to be touched. The weight acts like a big barrier that keeps things out and hold things in. I can not say I am this way because of my life. I never was abused, I had nice things growing up, I had a roof over my head, Food, you name it. I just chose food as my obsession. It is easy to do. Food does not talk back, most of the time; it makes you feel happy for a short time, it does not leave you or, if cooked right; disappoint you. But that in it self is the problem. Food is not a person. You should not have a relationship with food like it is your friend. It is a means to supply your body with energy. Well I got off track there but apparently I or maybe someone else needed to hear that. So me, I remember in school always being the last around the track gasping for air, walking up stairs with difficulty but no one ever said you know this might help if? I am not blaming anyone but myself for this mess but there is more to learning and teaching than ABC's. Lets get off the soap box. So at 17 I moved to Missouri. Went to work in a body shop. From there back to Colorado, Then Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Tennessee, Colorado. Maybe I should have just stayed in Colorado hey! Life has been a crazy ride but I have learned and seen a lot that if I would have stayed in one place I would have never experienced. That would have been good in some case but hey, you take the bad with the good and move on. As long as you learn from your mistakes there were for not. So here I am now, doing well and getting ready to move into another leg of the journey and I hope you hang around and make that journey with me. It could be enlightening, educational, but most definitely fall in the aisle hilarious.

May the Lord continue to bless and Keep you all safe!

Tom

Thank you Betty. The spell check does work that way.