It's a dieting catchphrase - metabolism, the magic key to weight loss. You're told that how fast or slow it works will determine whether a slice of cake ends up on your hips or not. But metabolism isn't all smoke and mirrors, it's a scientific process, which, when properly understood, can be your greatest ally in moving towards health.
Your metabolism is the biomechanical process your body uses to break down food into usable energy. In other words, it's how you burn calories. If your metabolism is fast, you can eat a lot of calories without putting on weight. But even if nature didn't bless you with a fast system, there are things you can do that will optimize the rate that your body turns food into energy.
Eat at regular intervals. This seems at first glance to be going against everything you've been told about slimming, but if you don't have the fuel you need, your body starts working more slowly. That means it doesn't burn as many calories. Work towards building muscle. Muscle tissue is where calories are burned in your body. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories are burned. The more calories are burned, the fewer will be stored as fat. If you have a large percentage of muscle mass, your muscles will burn calories even when you're inactive. Lastly, drink water. Water is an essential ingredient in the chemical reaction that burns calories. If you're not drinking enough water it's the same as if you're not eating enough, your system slows down, and you burn fewer calories.
There's some misinformation out there that tells you that to loose weight, you have to starve yourself. Not only is this false, it's dangerous. By starving yourself, you work against your goal, by causing your body to work less efficiently at burning calories. Your body may start feeding off of your muscles, making them smaller and less capable of creating energy. By understanding how your body uses the food you eat, you can change your eating habits to support your body's processes, instead of working against them.
