We have all heard it or even said it one time or another: "I'm not able to lose weight because of my metabolism." It is easy to blame our extra fat on an abstract idea like metabolism, but let's learn about the real importance of metabolism - and better yet, how you can get the most "burn" for your buck by recharging your metabolism.
In the most fundamental sense, metabolism means all of the physical and chemical changes that occur inside the body's cells. Most often, however, metabolism refers to the process in which the body obtains and uses energy from food, so it really does play an important function in weight loss and gain.
Not everyone is given the same metabolism, and our rates actually change throughout our lives, so someone who blames their metabolism is not necessarily making excuses. Age affects metabolism, which will slow about 5% every 10 years after we turn 40, and by gender, as males typically burn more calories at rest than females, and by the quantity of muscle mass you possess (more muscle generally means a higher rate of metabolism). Genetics also influences metabolism, not to mention pregnancy, as well as whether a woman decides to breast-feed.
Regardless of all of the wild cards, the fact is that when your calorie intake surpasses your metabolism, excess energy will get housed in the body as fat. Though some of the issues affecting metabolic rate cannot be changed, thankfully, there are methods to rev up the metabolism you're born with.
The first guideline is to consume the right foods in the correct quantities. When you miss a meal, your body goes into starvation mode, which slows metabolism to keep calories, because it does not know when it will get food again. And when the metabolism slows, so does your weight loss.
When you finally do eat after skipping a meal, instead of using the calories in the food you have just eaten, your body converts them to body fat to hold for the next "fast." To keep your metabolism efficient, eat 4 - 6 small meals spread evenly throughout the day and try to eat close to the same times each day. Most importantly, never skip a meal.
You can also step up your metabolic rate with exercise, including both aerobic routines and weight training. Aerobic activities, such as dancing, biking and running, use more calories in the short term, while weight training will build more muscle, which boosts metabolism and burns more calories in the long term - even when you're at rest, muscle needs more calories to function than fat.
In fact, each pound of muscle burns 35 calories per day, while each pound of fat burns only 2 calories per day. Despite this, you may be surprised that the more weight you posses, the faster your metabolism is likely to run. Simply put, the extra weight forces your body work more to maintain its processes.
This is partially why it is almost always easiest to lose weight when you start dieting, and is more difficult as you go along because, if you are significantly overweight, your metabolism is already at an elevated rate, so that even a slight cutback in calories will yield an immediate weight loss.
But what happens after that immediate loss, when a plateau occurs and motivation seems to go by the "weigh" side? Old compulsions and cravings can swiftly return, and when they do, don't overlook a valuable resource - weight loss hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy can actually retrain your unconscious so that, in essence, you can do away with food cravings. When we look at why we snack, identifying why weight loss hypnosis works so successfully becomes clear.
For a lot of us, snacking has become a habit - perhaps you do it unconsciously when you're driving or watching TV or when you are under stress. Hypnosis can actually reprogram your thoughts to stop those associations, leaving you to drive or watch TV without experiencing the need to eat.
One of the most successful weight loss hypnosis techniques for breaking the snacking cycle is Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP, which relies on collaborating with the unconscious mind and making it use the same thought processes that are creating your appetite, to eliminate your appetite. NLP takes many years of study and practical experience for a hypnotherapist to learn and master, but positive results can come very rapidly and seem almost magical to a person who has always struggled with cravings.
NLP can be just as vital as motivation and exercise because, as you read above, it can help make sure that you eat the correct kinds of foods at the right times, and this is a main aspect of turbo-charging your metabolism. If you wish to keep your metabolism at full speed and make sure that all of hard work and exercise aren't being wasted by surrendering to your food temptations, weight loss hypnosis and NLP can be a secret weapon to eliminate your cravings altogether.
This is partially why it is almost always easiest to lose weight when you start dieting, and is more difficult as you go along because, if you are significantly overweight, your metabolism is already at an elevated rate, so that even a slight cutback in calories will yield an immediate weight loss.
But what happens after that immediate loss, when a plateau occurs and motivation seems to go by the "weigh" side? Old compulsions and cravings can swiftly return, and when they do, don't overlook a valuable resource - weight loss hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy can actually retrain your unconscious so that, in essence, you can do away with food cravings. When we look at why we snack, identifying why weight loss hypnosis works so successfully becomes clear.
For a lot of us, snacking has become a habit - perhaps you do it unconsciously when you're driving or watching TV or when you are under stress. Hypnosis can actually reprogram your thoughts to stop those associations, leaving you to drive or watch TV without experiencing the need to eat.
One of the most successful weight loss hypnosis techniques for breaking the snacking cycle is Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP, which relies on collaborating with the unconscious mind and making it use the same thought processes that are creating your appetite, to eliminate your appetite. NLP takes many years of study and practical experience for a hypnotherapist to learn and master, but positive results can come very rapidly and seem almost magical to a person who has always struggled with cravings.
NLP can be just as vital as motivation and exercise because, as you read above, it can help make sure that you eat the correct kinds of foods at the right times, and this is a main aspect of turbo-charging your metabolism. If you wish to keep your metabolism at full speed and make sure that all of hard work and exercise aren't being wasted by surrendering to your food temptations, weight loss hypnosis and NLP can be a secret weapon to eliminate your cravings altogether.
Author Resource:-
Alan B. Densky, CH has worked with clients for appetite suppression and weight loss since 1978. Visit his NLP & hypnosis website to watch his Free hypnotherapy videos, or learn about his exclusive self-hypnosis weight loss CDs or his powerful video self-hypnosis losing weight DVDs.
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