Raise Your Metabolism and Burn More Calories

When our main source of energy, our blood sugar (glucose), runs low, the process of metabolism turns our body fat into energy. Conversely, when our supply of blood sugar runs high, the process of metabolism stores excess energy by turning it into body fat to be used another time. Or, all too often, just left to sit there.

Our BMR & RMR Calculator uses your sex, age, height and weight to estimate your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate), the number of calories you would burn if you were to do nothing but rest for 24 hours. This represents the minimum amount of energy required to keep your body functioning, including your heart beating, lungs breathing, and body temperature normal.

When we exercise, our bodies require more energy and our metabolism speeds up to supply it. But most of the time we are not very active, and this is the reason people want to raise their metabolism. They want to burn more calories 24/7, even when they are just sitting or sleeping.

More Efficient?

Articles written on the subject of raising metabolism often suggest that an increased metabolism is more efficient because it burns more calories. This is true if your goal is to lose weight. But it is interesting to note that an increased metabolism is actually less efficient, requiring more food to maintain body weight. This goes against nature's design for survival.

Even more important is the observation that an increased metabolism has been shown to cause premature aging. You have to ask yourself whether you are willing to have your body run like an automobile in neutral with its engine racing. The alternative, eating healthy foods in reasonable quantities and exercising on a regular basis, would seem the healthier choice.

Raising Your Metabolism

We suggest that you speak with a doctor before turning to artificial means such as drugs or herbs to raise your metabolism. And if you're attracted to gimmicks like eating hot spices, drinking cold water, or chewing gum, you might want to speak to a therapist that specializes in eating disorders.

The following topics present ways in which your metabolism can be increased naturally through healthy living.

Eat Frequently

It is important to understand what happens when you skip a meal or go on a crash diet. When you skip a meal your metabolism slows to conserve your energy. And when you lose weight too quickly for a few days, your body thinks it is threatened with starvation and goes into survival mode. It fights to conserve your fat stores, and any weight loss comes mostly from water and muscle.

Never skip a meal, especially breakfast, and eat healthy snacks between meals. Eating frequently prevents hunger pangs and the binges that follow, provides consistent energy, and may be the single most effective way to maintain metabolism efficiency.

When you will be away from home or work, plan your snacks and take them along so that you will be able to eat regularly and won't be tempted by junk food. This may be good advice for people who stay at home, too.

But remember that it was probably snacking between meals that caused you to become overweight in the first place. It will be very important that any snacks are healthy, that they are pre-portioned so you won't be tempted to overeat, and that meal sizes are reduced to compensate for the additional calories the snacks provide.

Exercise Regularly

Dieting or restricting your caloric intake can cause your metabolism to slow. Exercise can help to counter this effect.

And exercise is the one sure way to burn more calories safely. The improved health you will gain through regular exercise will increase your life expectancy so significantly that the benefits will far outweigh the aging effect of an increased metabolism.

At home, at the gym, playing sports, participate in both aerobic and strength building activities on a regular basis. Not only does the exercise itself increase your metabolism, but exercise -- especially cardio -- causes your metabolism to remain elevated for a period of time after you finish exercising. And strength building exercise builds muscle which helps to keep your metabolism elevated 24 hours a day.

Improve Your Body Composition or Percentage of Muscle vs. Fat

Generally speaking, aerobic activities like running burn more calories than strength building activities like weight lifting. But it is important to note that muscle burns calories, while fat does not. This means that the more muscular you are, the higher your metabolism will remain at all times.

If you examine the equation used to calculate RMR, you will see that metabolism decreases with age. This is largely due to the decrease in muscle mass typically experienced as people age, and can largely be countered by continuing to perform strength building activities.

While genetics will always have an effect on your appearance, through diet and exercise you can control your body composition.

Source: caloriesperhour.com

"I Can't Help It, It's My Genes"
You can have a genetic predisposition to being overweight or underweight. When there is an excess of calories some people store more fat than others, and when there is a deficit of calories some people burn more fat than others. Genetics can also affect the distribution of fat on your body.

However, any genetic predisposition you might have will be slight. In the end, it is the quality and quantity of the foods you eat, and how you exercise, that determine your appearance, weight, and risk of weight-related disease.

It is interesting to note that rates of obesity have been increasing much faster than they possibly could through genetics alone. This makes it clear that our eating and exercise habits have played the greater role.

While there is not yet a test you can take, you may learn something from looking at your family. But if your elders are overweight, you should be as concerned with the eating habits they have passed on to you as you are with their genes. Obese parents are more likely to have obese children and obese pets, and you can't blame the latter on genes.

If you are overweight and suspect that genetics may be a factor, you have a choice. You can accept it as your destiny and do nothing, or you can consider that you have that much greater reason to learn to eat well and exercise. You may not be able to achieve supermodel status, but you can look really, really good.

Source: caloriesperhour.com

Men and Women are Different

Men are naturally more muscular (lean) than women, and require more calories to maintain their weight. This is because muscle is a metabolically active tissue and our bodies have to burn calories just to sustain it.

Men also generally have larger frames than women, and it is often said that they can "carry their weight." But while society may find being overweight more acceptable for men than women, it is certainly not more healthy. This is largely because of where body fat is distributed on men. Studies show that body fat distributed on the waist and abdomen is the most detrimental to your health.

Men tend to store fat on the waist and abdomen, giving obese men an apple-like shape to their bodies. Fat that surrounds the abdominal organs (visceral fat) is far more dangerous in terms of increasing the risk of obesity related disease than fat distributed on the lower body.

Women tend to store fat on the lower body on their hips, thighs and buttocks, giving obese women a pear-like shape to their bodies. Women also tend to store fat closer to the surface of their skin (subcutaneous fat) than men do, increasing their tendency to form cellulite.

Of course we don't need to tell you that women can store fat on their waist and abdomen, too. Or that men can store fat on their hips, thighs and buttocks.

Source: caloriesperhour.com

Spot Reducing for Your Waist, Hips and Thighs
That bulge always shows up where we don't want it. On men, usually around the waist. On women, the hips, thighs and buttocks. These areas are the first place we see fat accumulate and the last place we see it disappear. This one you can blame on genetics.

The first place we usually lose fat is on our face (so our mothers can tell us we look too thin). Unfortunately, it is not possible to direct our bodies to burn fat from a particular area.

Take sit-ups for example. It is important to keep your stomach (and back) muscles in shape, and firm abs can even help to hold in your stomach. But to reduce the size of your mid-section, you would do just as well to perform any exercise that you enjoy.

Burn the calories and the fat will come off right where you want it to. It just may come off there last.

Source: caloriesperhour.com

Cellulite

There's not much you can do about cellulite.

The dimpling effect of cellulite is caused by fatty tissue pushing through an irregular pattern in the connective tissue beneath your skin. You either have these irregular patterns of connective tissue or you don't. Women are more likely to have them than men, and they usually appear on the thighs and buttocks.

Fibrous strands of tissue connect your skin to deeper tissue layers, creating compartments of ordinary fat cells. When the fat cells increase in size, the compartments bulge and produce the dimpling appearance on your skin.

You can have cellulite whether you are overweight or not. Weight loss and exercise, and creams which cause the skin to swell, can have some effect on appearance but do not affect the underlying cause.

Liposuction can help sculpt your body by removing fat from stubborn areas that do not respond to traditional weight loss methods. It is not an effective treatment for cellulite, however, because it does not change the appearance of your skin.

Cellulite does not pose a health risk. At least we have that little bit of good news to offer.

Source: caloriesperhour.com

Using Hypnosis to Keep On Track

Thanks to movies, TV and stage acts, hypnosis evokes images of pocket watches swinging like pendulums and people cackling like chickens. In fact, hypnosis is something very different, and very useful in achieving and maintaining weight loss.

Hypnosis is a state of mind, enhanced by mental and physical relaxation, in which our subconscious is able to communicate with our conscious. Hypnosis distracts our conscious mind and through our subconscious places us in a state of awareness and suggestibility.

Hypnosis allows us to get in touch with our subconscious on a regular basis, and helps us by focusing our energy inward to make use of our desire and ability to solve our problems. Hypnosis is not used to force change or to give us more willpower to change. It simply makes full use of our desire to change by allowing it to come to the surface and remain in our consciousness.

Making Changes

Diets work when we stay on them; the problem is that we don't. We have spent our lifetimes developing eating habits and feelings about food. We turn to our "comfort foods" when times are tough. We have a lot of old habits and feelings to change. Hypnotic suggestion bypasses our intellectual or conscious mind and goes directly to our subconscious, where it can reprogram our emotional attitudes and learned reactions.

The first line of our home page reads, "How many more diets do you want to go on?" If you have the desire to eat well and exercise, but haven't been able to stick to it, hypnosis may be the answer for you. Hypnosis is not another diet plan -- it is a tool you can use to help you stick to the diet and exercise plan of your choice.

Our Recommendation

It is important that a hypnotist be a qualified mental-health professional. We recommend a set of self-hypnosis CDs from The Hypnosis Network, Enjoying Weight Loss by Dr. Roberta Temes. They contain a series of brief, relaxing sessions to help keep you on track. We were surprised at how easily the CDs affected our thoughts, feelings, and behavior with food, exercise, and sticking to our diet plans right from the start.

The Hypnosis Network is currently offering a second CD program, Mental Toughness by Dr. Neil Fiore, free with the purchase of Enjoying Weight Loss. Mental Toughness helps you remain focused and resilient in the face of life's most challenging circumstances.

All products sold by The Hypnosis Network come with a one year money back guarantee on the purchase price, so you have nothing to lose but some weight! Click on the banner to visit The Hypnosis Network website.

Source: caloriesperhour.com

Diet Pills

You can take a pill to suppress your appetite, block absorption of dietary fat or carbohydrates, or raise your metabolism. Pick up a magazine, turn on TV or search the internet and you can learn about pills that claim to help in countless other ways. Some work. Some don't. And some are very dangerous.

People dream of a magic pill that will let them eat anything they want. The problem is that while such a pill might keep them slim, they could still die prematurely from disease. People do not suffer weight-related diseases only because they are overweight; disease is also caused by eating unhealthy foods.

Thus a pill that would allow you to overeat and remain slim would not be good for you unless you ate healthy foods. And if you ate healthy foods, you wouldn't need a pill in the first place.

Finally, diet pills are not meant to be a long term solution, so you have to consider what will happen when you stop taking them. If you have not solved the problem that caused you to be overweight in the first place, the weight will return.

Diet Supplements

You often hear the phrase "diet pills and supplements," but do not confuse the two. Dietary supplements are food.

Eating frequently prevents hunger pangs and the binges that follow, provides consistent energy, and may be the single most effective way to maintain metabolism efficiency. But with our busy schedules, it's often difficult to eat five or six healthy meals a day. Dietary supplements or meal replacement products, such as the Slim Body Matrix Shakes we recommend, and meal replacement bars, can help fill the gaps between meals with something healthy to eat.

Suppressing Hunger

If you are looking for an appetite suppressant because you feel hungry all the time, you are probably not eating well. You only have to eat reasonable quantities of healthy foods to satisfy your appetite.

Natural fruits, vegetables and whole grains are high in complex carbohydrates and fiber. They are absorbed slowly and satisfy our feelings of hunger.

Just as our bodies can suffer withdrawal from caffeine, they can also suffer withdrawal from substances such as the excess salt, sugar and fat found in unhealthy, highly processed foods. When this happens we might think that we feel hunger, but it is actually our body's desire to satisfy our addictions.

Our bodies require adequate nutrition and tell us when they don't get it by signaling hunger. Thus we can eat high calorie, unhealthy foods and still feel hungry. Overweight people are often overfed and undernourished.

If you eat healthy foods with a high ratio of nutrients to calories, you will not be fat and you will not go hungry. You will be healthier, too.

Hoodia Appetite Suppressant

As we repeat across our website, we believe that "learning to eat well and exercise is the only solution to long term weight loss." And as we wrote above, we believe that eating healthy foods can solve the problem of feeling hungry. Still, a strong appetite can be one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome.

Hoodia is not like ephedra and other products that have been banned because of dangerous side effects. In fact, hoodia isn't even a stimulant; it tricks your mind into thinking you're full.

To learn more about this product, visit our Hoodia Appetite Suppressant page. But first, be sure to read Ask Your Doctor, below.

Ask Your Doctor

So many people are overweight because of poor eating habits that it is relatively rare to be overweight because of a medical condition. Genetics are more likely to be a factor, but even a genetic predisposition to being overweight can largely be managed by eating well and exercising.

But even if you do not suspect that you have a medical condition, you should consult with a doctor before using any type of diet pill. Many can have harmful side effects and interactions with other drugs.

Do not assume that an over-the-counter, non-prescription pill is any safer than one requiring a prescription. It simply means that its ingredients are not regulated by the government, and this should give you even more reason to be cautious.

Do not make the mistake of equating "natural" or "herbal" with being safe. Nature makes poisons quite well, and there are many non-poisonous products of nature that become toxic when taken in high doses or mixed with certain other ingredients.

If your doctor recommends using a pill, be sure you understand why a pill is being recommended in place of healthy foods and exercise. In the end, you must learn to eat well and exercise on a regular basis. If you don't, any weight lost -- through any means -- will return and your health will be worse from the experience.

Source:caloriesperhour.com

Surgery as a Last Resort

Obesity surgery, also called bariatric or gastrointestinal surgery, is the most extreme solution for severe obesity. While it may be better to undergo surgery than to continue to threaten your health, obesity surgery should not be looked at as the next step in the search for an instant fix. It is a big step beyond the latest diet fad, the latest diet pill, or the solution that most always works, eating healthy foods and exercising regularly.

If you became overweight simply because you ate too much, surgery may solve your problem. But if you became overweight because you enjoy eating, it is important to understand that surgery will very likely limit both how much you can eat and what types of food you can eat -- just as dieting does -- only more permanently.

If you research obesity surgery, you will find a common statement in most publications:

The success of your surgery depends on your willingness to adopt a lifetime plan of healthy eating and regular physical activity.

Clearly obesity surgery is not the "magic pill" people keep looking for. It may improve your health and lessen your risk for disease and early death, but it is a major surgery that will change your life in many ways.

Obesity Surgery Options

Candidates for obesity surgery are generally severely obese people who cannot lose weight through other means and either suffer from obesity-related medical conditions or are threatened by them. Examples of such medical conditions include:

Type 2 diabetes
Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Arthritis & osteoarthritis
High cholesterol & triglyceride levels
Sleep apnea

Candidates for obesity surgery are carefully evaluated to ensure that the benefits of surgery outweigh the risks. In Gastrointestinal Surgery for Severe Obesity, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) discusses who is a candidate for surgery. The article also discusses surgery options and examines the advantages, disadvantages, and risks of each.

We briefly describe two of the most common procedures here:

Gastric Bypass Surgery (GBS): GBS involves two distinct procedures. First, and most significant, the size of your stomach is surgically reduced. This may be accomplished by dividing the stomach into two sections with surgical staples, explaining why the procedure is often referred to as "stomach stapling."
Second, your small intestine is re-connected to your new, smaller stomach, bypassing the lower part of your stomach and, in some cases, a portion of your small intestine.

The procedure works by restricting the amount of food you can eat with your new, smaller stomach. In addition, when a portion of your small intestine is bypassed, it reduces the amount of food that is digested and absorbed.


Gastric Banding: In this newer and simpler procedure, a band is placed around the upper part of your stomach separating it into two compartments.
The food you eat initially enters the upper compartment, which is much smaller than your stomach was before surgery. As with GPS, gastric banding restricts the amount of food you can eat. In addition, the food passes slowly between the upper and lower compartments, making you feel full longer.

A unique feature of the gastric band is that it can be adjusted by your doctor without additional surgery. The band is actually an inflatable balloon filled with saline solution. It can be inflated or deflated as needed by injecting a needle into a reservoir that is placed just below your skin during surgery.

A Note about Liposuction

Liposuction is the most popular form of cosmetic surgery. It can help sculpt the body of a normal weight person by removing fat from stubborn areas that do not respond to traditional weight loss methods.

Liposuction is not a cure for generalized obesity, however, because relatively little body fat can be removed safely. It is also not an effective treatment for cellulite because it does not change the appearance of the skin.

Source:caloriesperhour.com

Drinking Water Is Important for Weight Loss

There are many reasons why it is important to drink water, especially if you are dieting:

Initial weight loss is largely due to loss of water, and you need to drink an adequate amount of water in order to avoid dehydration.

The process of burning calories requires an adequate supply of water in order to function efficiently; dehydration slows down the fat-burning process.

Burning calories creates toxins (think of the exhaust coming out of your car), and water plays a vital role in flushing them out of your body.

Dehydration causes a reduction in blood volume; a reduction in blood volume causes a reduction in the supply of oxygen to your muscles; and a reduction in the supply of oxygen to your muscles can make you feel tired.

Water helps maintain muscle tone by assisting muscles in their ability to contract, and it lubricates your joints. Proper hydration can help reduce muscle and joint soreness when exercising.

A healthy (weight loss) diet includes a good amount of fiber. But while fiber is normally helpful to your digestive system, without adequate fluids it can cause constipation instead of helping to eliminate it.

Drinking water with a meal may make you feel full sooner and therefore satisfied eating less. Note, however, that drinking water alone may not have this effect. In order to feel satiated (not hungry), our bodies need bulk, calories and nutrients.

How Much Water Should I Drink?

You have probably heard that you should drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. How much water you actually need depends on your weight, level of activity, the temperature and humidity of your environment, and your diet. Your diet makes a difference because if you eat plenty of water-dense foods like fruits and vegetables your need to drink water will be diminished.

You can do some research and use a calculator and measuring cup if you like, but nature's pretty good at letting you know the right amount to drink. When you drink enough water, your urine will usually be pale yellow, though vitamin supplements and antibiotics can discolor it. On the other hand, you shouldn't need to run to the bathroom too frequently. When in doubt, drink a little more.

Do not worry that drinking water will give your body a bloated look. There are a number of causes of water retention, including consuming too much salt. But drinking water is not one of them.

It is possible to harm yourself by drinking too much water, but it takes quite an effort. Either through obsessive-compulsive behavior or extended athletic activity, drinking large amounts of water can dilute the electrolytes (sodium and potassium) in your blood to the point that it interferes with brain, heart and muscle function. Athletes compound the problem with the loss of sodium (salt) through sweating, but can drink electrolyte replacement drinks like Gatorade Endurance Formula to help keep things in balance.

Tips on Drinking Water

Drinking other liquids also provides your body with a source of water, but note that diuretics cause your body to expel water. Diuretics include caffeinated drinks (coffee, tea and soda) and alcohol. When drinking diuretics, drink more water to compensate.
When drinking alcohol, drinking water along with it as well as before and afterward may eliminate a hangover headache and feeling of tiredness. The water is optional; driving is not.


When you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. Try to avoid this situation by drinking in advance. Be especially careful when participating in activities where you won't be able to stop to get caught up.

You've heard countless advertisements telling you what product to start your day with. We recommend a couple of glasses of water to rehydrate your body. No charge.

Source: caloriesperhour.com

Smoking and Weight Loss

Heavy smokers and people who have smoked for a long time often gain a few pounds after they quit smoking. Unfortunately, smokers often use this fact to justify continuing to smoke. But this weight gain isn't inevitable.

Weight gain can be avoided by eating less and/or exercising more. And if you're making poor food choices now, simply eating healthier foods can do the trick.

Here are some of the reasons why quitting smoking causes people to gain weight:

Smoking increases your metabolism, the rate at which you burn calories. So quitting smoking will cause your metabolism to decrease a little to its normal rate.

People who quit smoking are inclined to eat more because they reach for snacks as a substitute for cigarettes.

People who quit smoking are inclined to eat more because food tastes better!

Quitting smoking is difficult enough without the fear of gaining weight. The primary reason that people gain weight when they quit smoking is that they tend to eat more, and you can control that. If you can keep from turning to food in place of cigarettes, and make a few adjustments to your eating and exercise habits, you won't have to gain any weight at all.

You know that smoking is bad for you. Now read what the American Lung Association says will happen when you quit smoking:

After 20 minutes:

Your blood pressure will decrease.
Your heart rate will decrease.
The temperature of your hands and feet will increase.

After 8 hours:

The level of carbon monoxide in your blood will drop to normal.
The level of oxygen in your blood will increase to normal.

After 24 hours:

Your chance of heart attack will decrease.

After 48 hours:

Your nerve endings will start to regrow.
Your ability to smell and taste will improve.

After 2 weeks to 3 months:

Your circulation will improve.
Your lung function will improve.
Aerobic activity (e.g., walking) will become easier.

After 1 to 9 months:

Symptoms including coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath will decrease.

After 1 year:

Excess risk of coronary heart disease will decrease to half that of a smoker.

After 5 to 15 years:

Risk of stroke will decrease to that of people who have never smoked.

After 10 years:

Risk of lung cancer will decrease to half that of continuing smokers.
Risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas will decrease.
Risk of ulcers will decrease.

After 15 years:

Risk of coronary heart disease will decrease to that of people who have never smoked.
Risk of death will decrease to near the level of people who have never smoked.

You don't have to gain weight if you quit smoking. And you'll be healthier, have more friends and more money, and smell better.

Source: caloriesperhour.com