Exercise and Nutrition
Find out your BMR which is the amount of daily calories your body needs to maintain itself. Said another way, it is the amount of calories your body would burn if you did nothing all day. Not everyone burns calories at the same rate. Some factors that influence the speed of your metabolism are:
1) Your age. Your metabolism may slow down about 5% per decade after age 40 if you are sedentary.
2) Gender. Men generally burn more calories at rest than women.
3) Your proportion of lean muscle mass to fat mass. The more lean muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolic rate will be.
4) Heredity also plays a part in your body's rate of metabolism.
5) Thyroid problems may also cause your metabolism to slow down.
Muscle mass can be maintained/increased (and body fat decreased) throughout your life through interval cardio and weight training. You only need 20 minutes of cardio per session. Thirty-five to 50 daily calories are burned by one pound of muscle. Weight training also helps to keep your bones strong (preventing osteoporosis).
Fat loss is more important than weight loss. Aim to burn fat, lose inches and speed up your metabolism. The weight loss will happen and it will stay off if you do it this way.
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Mark Dilworth, Certified Personal Trainer
My Fitness Hut http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com
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