METABOLISM-101

WHAT IS METABOLISM AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Well, one's metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories while in a static or non-active mode. MOST of our calorie consumption, even for those of us who are active, comes about through the basic operation of bodily functions like breathing, circulating blood, keeping organs functioning, regulating body temperature, keeping our posture erect, etc.

When we exercise, we burn more calories. But these additional calories consumed (or burned) are a small percentage of what goes on in our bodies all day long.

So, it stands to reason that to help maintain healthy and optimal body weight, and help lose weight if/when we need to, we want to have a metabolism that is as high and as active as possible!

Imagine your metabolism is a "furnace" and the food that we eat (and the energy from stored food - i.e. fat) is fuel for that furnace. We want a furnace that burns as hot and as brightly as possible! We want that furnace STOKED UP and the "fire ROARING".

Here are the TOP FIVE WAYS to BOOST YOUR METABOLISM:

1. Eat Breakfast! After a night of "fasting", you need to prime the pump, stoke up the furnace, and re-awake your body into a fat-burning and calorie-burning mode.

2. Eat smaller, more frequent meals! Three big meals a day dumps huge amounts of fuel onto the furnace all at once. And what happens when you throw a bunch of wood on a fire? It smokes! We want this fire to have flames jumping HIGH, so we feed on the fuel, steadily, gradually, consistently throughout the day.

3. Consume some protein with every meal! This doesn't have to be a steak - whole grains, beans and legumes, especially soy, dairy and eggs also have protein. Fatty foods are like throwing a pile of green leaves on the fire. Simple carbs are throwing on really dry, brown, crunchy dead leaves on the fire. Protein is like feeding your fire split oak logs!

4. GET ACTIVE! Exercise and Move! Pumping the furnace with exercise helps it burn more fuel - and doing exercise that helps increase lean muscle mass (like strength training) changes your furnace into a small, slow burning economy model into a huge, roaring industrial model.

5. Drink plenty of water! This one isn't as intuitive, but is just as important as all the others when it comes to metabolism. Proper hydration levels help keep all of our organs, especially the kidneys, liver and pancreas doing what they are suppose to do. Without enough water, these organs struggle to keep up with processing of fats, sugars, etc. and bad things happen - the fire dims and fat gets stored.

This was the topic of our first "BHL-UNIVERSITY" class session at RCI. If you're an RCI employee and missed it, then you probably haven't registered for the latest incentive program and you NEED TO! Check your email, ask a friend at Vacation Plaza, or come see one of the ProMotion staff in the fitness center to learn how!