Truth About the Fast Metabolism

Can you really blame a slow metabolism for the stubborn extra pounds? 

Yes and no. According to Ph.D. Len Kravitz. He says that the resting metabolic rate (RMR) comprises around 60% of your daily caloric spend, 30% is the thermic metabolic rate that comes from exercise, and 5-10% goes to the thermic effect of food. Resting metabolic rate is also called Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), so you will sometimes see this term used, as well.

Since the RMR makes up for such a big portion of the daily caloric spend, it deserves a closer inspection of anyone who wants to maintain a healthy weight. RMR depends on genetics, organ size, hormones, and many other factors. 

In the same paper, Krawitz says that genetics play an important part in how fast your metabolic rate is, as well as the other factors that influence fast metabolism. While fast metabolism can slow down as you age, it still doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do about it. 

However, is metabolism all about weight loss or weight gain? What is it precisely? How do I know what my metabolic rate is? 

Let’s start answering these questions one by one.

What Is Metabolism and How Does It Work?

Metabolism is the chemical change in living cells by which energy is provided for vital processes and activities and new material is assimilated. Basically, it means that during this action the food we eat is transformed into the energy our body needs for breathing, moving, thinking – keeping us alive!

Your metabolism affects the amount of energy your body burns at any given time. 

In order to understand how metabolism actually works, you definitely have to be familiar with two terms: catabolism and anabolism. Your metabolism is actually the combination of these two processes and the way they complement each other.

Catabolism – During the catabolism process, the breakdown of food components such as proteins and carbohydrates takes place. It means they transform into their simpler forms which are then used for providing energy to the body.

Anabolism – This is the process during which the energy generated during the catabolism process is used for different body functions, such as growing and repairing cells in your body.

How does this translate into your daily activities and energy levels?

Metabolism doesn’t mean much for your fitness level if you look at it in isolation. The metabolic rate should be observed together with Physical Activity Level (PAL) and Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).

Your RMR is how much energy you need at rest.TDEE is how many calories you need for all your daily activities. The difference between these two depends on the PAL –  Physical Activity Level. According to FAO/WHO/UNU this is the table that shows the PAL values.

So, you calculate your TDEE by multiplying your RBR/BMR with an appropriate value from the table. This leads us to the next question:

What Is My Metabolic Rate?

Metabolic rate is most easily calculated by following the Mifflin-St Jeor equation. This equation is used to calculate basal metabolic rate or resting metabolic rate. 

One foot has 30.48 cm and one inch has 2.54 cm. This means you need to turn those feet into centimeters, then do the same for inches and add those numbers together. For example, let’s say you’re 5 feet and 7 inches tall.

5 feet = 5 x 30.48 = 152.4 cm

7 inches = 7 x 2.54 = 17.78 cm

This means you are 170.18 cm tall.

To find your weight in kilograms, multiply your weight in pounds with 0.453. A person who weighs 140 pounds will get a result of 63.4 kg.

Now that you have these two measurements, we can use the equation. It’s different for men and women:

BMR (women) = 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (years) – 161

BMR (men)  = 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (years) + 5

For example, a 40-year-old woman, 170 cm tall, who is 64kg heavy has a BMR of 1342.5. This is how it’s calculated:

640 + 1062.5 – 200 – 161 = 1341.5 = BMR

This is the amount of energy that this person needs to meet their needs in a resting state. If this lady has a very active lifestyle, you look at the PAL table and find that the PAL value for this is 2.00. Multiply this value with BMR and you get your TDEE.

TDEE = 1341.5 x 2.00 = 2683

What Happens to Metabolism With Age?

You have probably heard many times that as people become older, their body tends to slow down a bit. After a certain age, it takes a bit more effort to keep your body running efficiently. Metabolism fuels everything you do. It directly influences your life quality and your wellness levels.

You may wonder now, what is the correlation between metabolism and age? 

The answer is quite simple, as you get older, usually, after you enter the fifth decade of your life, your metabolism rate tends to slow down. This doesn’t mean that all is lost and that age has gotten to you. There are many things that you can do to maintain your healthy lifestyle and keep your metabolism up and running, ensuring high energy levels. 

How to Make Your Metabolism Fast Again?

Here is the list of ideas that could be very helpful in making your metabolism fast and your metabolism rate high.

Pick the Best Exercises for Faster Metabolism

Moving your body is crucial for keeping it in an optimal state and extremely important when you want to boost your metabolism. Even long walks count, however, the best activities for your goal here are: 

• Cardiovascular type of exercise, such as swimming, running, aerobics, etc.
• Weight training, since it tones your muscles, boosts lean tissue mass, and in that way burns more calories per pound than fat.

Move Daily, Even When You’re Not Exercising

Moving your body is extremely important for your overall health, not only for keeping your metabolism high. Your body is not made for being inactive, it serves you to be active. So, try to move constantly and stay active. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, go for a short walk, get up from your desk every half an hour during working time. Literally, everything counts.

Snack on the Best Metabolism Increasing Foods

There is no magical list of metabolism-increasing foods, however, there are certain foods that can be extremely helpful during this process. 

The perfect snack is not big in portion and is combined with whole grain carbs, protein, and fruits and vegetables. Variations are numerous, you can be very creative and combine a different perfect snack every day for boosting your metabolism.

Try Metabolism Confusion Diet Plan 

This diet plan has been more and more popular in the last couple of years. Another term for this dietary regimen is carb-cycling. In short, the idea behind the metabolism confusion diet is to switch between days of high and low caloric intake. 

In that way, you are supposed to be keeping your metabolism on its toes and it never adapts entirely, so it doesn’t slow down. According to research, this type of diet is more efficient than a calorie restriction diet when it comes to training your metabolism to burn more fat and reduce weight.

Use Red Light Therapy to Speed Up Metabolism

With red light therapy, the light is absorbed by the cells, where it boosts mitochondria and triggers the increased production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Basically, ATP represents a small molecule, made during the process of cellular respiration, that gives cells the best way to store energy.

So, in order to boost metabolism, red therapy can be very powerful since it helps the body speed up the process of creating ATP molecules.

Get Enough Sleep

If you want your body to be in good shape on every possible level, it is inevitable to sleep well. The physiology of our body operates in such a way that it works even when we sleep – especially then. 

Although metabolism slows about 15% while we sleep, it is still essential that you get enough resting hours within a day. Skipping on sleep won’t give you faster metabolism. 

Moreover, you can cause sleep deprivation and its effects on our metabolism. In addition, sleep deprivation leads to glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, and affects both your physical and mental health. 

In other words, when you do not sleep well, your body lacks energy, and as a result, you end up eating more than you actually need. 

Don’t Miss Out on Your Green Tea

Green tea contains caffeine and flavonoid catechin, both of these components can be very helpful in boosting your metabolism. However, the best results will be achieved by combining drinking green tea instead of coffee and doing some type of exercise.

Healthy metabolism levels are crucial to your wellbeing, no matter if weight loss is your main concern or not. 

Red light therapy can help you in your efforts to establish optimal metabolism since it boosts energy levels. Apart from helping in making ATP more effectively, it is also very helpful in other ways, as well.

It helps to fall asleep more easily, as well as makes exercise more effective. Also, having better gut health is possible since it helps the body use all the nutrients from healthy food more efficiently.

FlexBeam is used at specific frequencies which have these effects. Find out more about why it is a great idea to have a portable red light therapy device that you can use every day!