Your Metabolism and Fat LossWritten by Anthony Ellis
If you know someone that has been trying to lose weight and get into shape, you have probably heard words such as, "I just eat one meal a day to lose weight" or "I'm afraid if I eat, I'll gain weight" but sadly, this misnomer is why so many people are in "battle of bulge". People all over world still believe that eating breakfast, or even three meals a day will cause them to gain weight. In truth, as long as they are eating right types of foods and exercising, then three normal meals or six small meals a day will actually work better with their metabolism than eating wrong quantities or not eating often enough.With more than half of Americans over age of 20 now being considered "overweight", now more than ever, we need to understand how metabolism works in relation to losing weight. Why risk having a heart attack, a stroke, developing cancer, or diabetes when all you have to do is make a few minor changes and live a healthy life? First, a person's metabolic rate is determined by number and size of respiring cells that compromise body's tissue, and intensity of metabolism in these cells. These two factors combined are what makeup physiological foundation of amount of energy (calories) in which a body uses. Keep in mind that energy cannot be created or destroyed, just changed. As we know, potential energy comes from foods we eat. When talking about weight loss, there are three components of balanced energy, which include calorie intake, calories stored, and calories expended. The way it works is that if amount of calories taken in equals amount of calories being expended (burned), then there is balance and body's weight is stable. On other hand, if balance becomes positive, caused by more food being eaten than is burned, energy is destroyed or in better terms, stored as body fat. It is important to remember that you can be eating a diet considered low-fat and still gain weight. The reason is that most dietary fat is stored while body is burning carbohydrates and proteins for energy. The problem is when a person gains weight, increased level of fat becomes stored energy until calorie balance is negative. For that to happen, amount of calories burned needs to exceed number of calories being consumed, no matter what macronutrient content. Metabolism is rate at which body uses energy to support basic functions essential to sustain life. This metabolism is comprised of three parts, which include physical activity (20%), Thermic Effect of Food, also called TEF (10%), and Resting Metabolism Rate or REM (70%). Physical activity is amount of energy your body burns up during normal, daily activities to include housework, recreation, work, exercise, and so on. Obviously, someone that is physically active will burn more energy than a sedentary person will. TEF accounts for energy used in digesting and absorbing nutrients, which would vary depending on meal's composition. When a person overeats, TEF is increased because more food must be digested. Here is where metabolism becomes very interesting and what causes so much confusion. One pound is equal to 3,500 calories, so let us say a person consumes 3,500 more calories than normal. That individual would not gain one pound because TED is accounted for but if 3,500 calories were cut trying to lose weight, then TEF decreases since there would be fewer nutrients to process. The result is that with energy expenditure would decrease, meaning that individual would lose less than one pound in weight. In other words, by cutting out too much food, TEF cannot work as it was designed to do. Now keep in mind that you cannot go around eating a bunch of junk food. After all, calories you do consume need to be healthy foods but what this does mean is that when you do not eat, you are actually working against your body in fighting weight gain, not other way around.
| | Negative Calorie Foods FAQsWritten by www.NegativeCalorieFoods.com
Copyright 2005, www.NegativeCalorieFoods.com[You have permission to publish this article in your web sites, ezines or electronic publication, as long as it is used in its entirety including resource box, all HTML hyperlinks, references (clickable) and copyright information.] - What is negative calorie effect?
Whatever food we eat, our body has to work hard to digest and absorb. There are certain foods that require more calories to digest than their own calories. The overall effect of these foods in our body is that of using calories from body in process of digestion. - What are negative calorie foods?
Negative calorie foods require more calories to digest than their own calories. This results in a negative calorie balance. - Give some examples of such foods.
There are several foods available in nature with negative calorie properties. Some such foods are asparagus, broccoli, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, carrot, garlic, papaya, spinach, turnip, zucchini, apples, oranges, lettuce, grapefruit, pineapples, strawberries, and raspberries.
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