Your metabolism

Metabolism....a quick layman's definition: the breakdown of food and its transformation into energy and the speed of how that happens. I am sure you have heard doctors, nutritionists, friends, t.v., etc. say something along the lines of "I just can't lose weight; my metabolism is so slow", or "My husband can lose weight even if he just thinks about exercise because his metabolism is so fast". Your metabolism helps to determine how quickly, or not, you are able to take the food you eat and turn it into working energy.....basically burning those calories! While metabolism can be a genetic factor, it is also predicted by how you treat it. Diets do work--while you are on them. But statistics show that once you go back to old ways of eating, your body rebounds as soon as you stop following the strict set of rules while on that "diet" and lapse into the same habits of not eating much, or eating too much, that made you gain weight in the first place. Your body will rebel. Depriving yourself of food can slow your metabolism to a snail's pace and make losing weight even harder. Once your body realizes it's not getting as much food, it starts to conserve energy. Continue to starve yourself and you'll suffer from intense cravings and loss of lean body tissue, or muscle; that further compromises your body's ability to burn calories. Getting too much food packs on the pounds and that is a direct result of calories in vs. calories out. Getting results fast is the American way, but losing more than one or two pounds per week is self-sabotage. If you can't see yourself eating or exercising a certain way for the rest of your life -- say, consuming raw foods and running five miles every day -- you shouldn't be doing it to lose weight in the first place. The only changes that work are those you can continue indefinitely. Weight management has to be an uncompromising, non-negotiable, everyday thing, like brushing your teeth. Sure, taking off the extra flab is more work than putting it on probably was, but even when the going gets tough, it's better than eating nothing but cabbage soup, avoiding the bread aisle, or choking down food you hate. People no longer have to make themselves miserable in order to lose weight. STOP dieting and start eating for energy and nutrition sake. Think.....good nutrition and exercise! Two key components to keeping your metabolism going and being successful in losing or maintaining weight.

"Limits are only what any of us are inside."