My Metabolism

I have heard many people say, the older you become the more your metabolism slows down, haven’t you heard that or maybe said it yourself?

There are many scientific explanations to describe what metabolism actually does, however the simplest and easiest to understand particularly from a health and fitness perspective is this; metabolism is the rate at which the body turns calories into energy. (Well I did say it was the simplified version.)

So what actually causes your metabolism to slow down? I was pleasantly surprised to read somewhere, that metabolism does not significantly slow down directly because of the aging process itself, it actually slows down due to a decrease in muscle tissue.

As I understand it, we are burning calories all the time even when asleep and not just when we exercise. Therefore the more lean muscles we have the more calories we burn, regardless of our age. The problem however does seem that the older we become the less physical strain we put on ourselves and muscle tissue significantly decreases.

So what’s the solution? Well there are several things that I’m personally going to try out for myself. First I am going to decrease the amount of calories that I digest. I’m not going to exclude meals or go on a crash diet or anything crazy like that. But it does seem pointless starting up an exercise programme if I am eating more than I burn-up and of course any excess calories are usually stored as fat.

For the last four weeks I have been running on my treadmill, at least three times a week for thirty minutes each time, but my weight hasn't decreased at all. I now realise that I now need to look carefully at what I’m eating. I need to balance my eating habits with my activity levels and the key is to give my body the energy it needs, but only the correct amount.

So I personally feel in order to boost my own metabolism it's important for me to do the following; always eat a good breakfast, consume smaller meals throughout the day, take different types of regular exercise, cut down on sugar, and drink plenty of water.