Metabolism and Fitness: A Natural Cures Blog Carnival

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Fitness and Metabolism – Have You Got Your Facts Straight?

by Guest Blogger, Susan White, Radiology Technician Schools in Texas

They’re much bandied about words today, and irrespective of whether they understand them completely or not, people know that metabolism and fitness are somehow tied together, that metabolism plays an active role in weight loss, and that fitness and fat are not entirely strangers to each other. But if you’re looking to get fit the right way and boost your metabolism so that your weight loss goals are met faster, here are the facts about fitness and metabolism:

•    Metabolism, simply put, is the rate at which your body burns calories.
•    The higher your metabolism, the easier it is to lose weight.
•    You burn calories even when you’re at rest, but the amount of calories you burn depends on your muscles. Not many people realize that your metabolism increases when your muscle mass increases.
•    You become fitter when you work out to tone your muscles.
•    Muscle and fat are not replaceable in that fat is not replaced by muscle when you work out and muscle does not degenerate into fat when you don’t exercise.
•    When you combine a cardio routine to burn fat with a strength training routine to build muscle mass, you lose weight quicker because you’re burning fat and boosting your metabolism, a double whammy for all those excess pounds you’re carrying.
•    Eliminating fat completely from your diet is a big no-no as it tends to slow down your metabolism. So choose the best fats to include in limited amounts in your diet.
•    The next best thing to toning your muscles to boost metabolism is to lead an active lifestyle – the more active you are, the higher your metabolism.
•    Your metabolism slows down considerably when you starve or skip meals. Without sufficient energy, your body begins to eat into its own muscles to provide sustenance. This is why your mom insisted that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
•    Genetics also plays a role in your tendency to gain weight and in your metabolic level. So some of us are destined to struggle to lose weight while others are able to coast along merrily.
•    Your metabolism slows down as you grow older and that’s why you feel those unseemly sags as the years go by.
•    Your metabolism and fitness get a boost when you mix up your exercise routine instead of doing the same thing day in and day out. Cross training is a good idea – work out with weights one day, do cardio the next, upper body workouts the third and so on. This also prevents injuries and repetitive stress.
•    And last, but most important of all, no matter how much you exercise and how active you are, if you eat more than your body is burning by way of activity and exercise, you will put on weight.

Do you have a health food or home remedy to suggest?

This article is contributed by Susan White, who regularly writes on the subject of Radiology Technician Schools in Texas. She invites your questions, comments at her email address: susan.white33@gmail.com.

Today is the Tuesday Natural Cures blog Carnival on Hartkeisonline.com!

Here is a question for you. Are you going to depend on our health care system to keep you well, or are you going to change your lifestyle so you won’t need health care?

Submit your healthy lifestyle ideas, below. Links to your favorite posts on the subject of wellness and health are welcome!  Bloggers may submit posts to kim dot hartke at gmail.com.