Metabolism Marketing

Out of all words when it comes to the fitness & wellness industry... Metabolism seems to produce the most misconception and confusion. With supplements claiming to "boost your metabolism", it can be easy to believe metabolism is something you can easily change that will directly lead to more fat loss. This absolutely is NOT the case. A slow metabolism is RARELY the cause of excess weight gain, unless medical conditions are to blame.

Let's begin with the definition of metabolism:

• METABOLISM- The chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life.

As it relates to the human body, we can think of metabolism as the food & drinks you ingest converting to available energy. This available energy your body makes is what we call "ATP" (Adenosine Triphosphate). Your body must continually produce ATP to live & move. FUN FACT: It is estimated that if you put all the body's ATP into a glass, it would be the size of a shot glass!

You may be wondering "well, what can I do to lose weight if boosting metabolism isn't an option?". This brings us to calories! What is a calorie?

• CALORIE- The energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water through 1 degree Celsius, equal to one thousand small calories & often used to measure the energy value of foods.

While you don't have much control over your metabolism you CAN control how many calories you ingest or burn. This brings us back to the "energy equation" I speak of frequently -

ENERGY IN VS. ENERGY OUT. If you USE more calories than you ingest, you will lose weight. If you eat MORE than you burn, then you will gain weight. This "magic" number of recommended calories can be figured out by an equation that incorporates your "basal metabolic rate" & your "total daily energy expenditure", along with factors such as weight and age. Basal metabolic rate is the amount of calories you burn by just living (if you stayed in bed all day). Total daily energy expenditure accounts for all activity you do in a day.

Other factors that effect how many calories you burn include:

• Your body composition & size - The larger the body, the more calories it takes to keep it alive. Additionally, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest. YES... this is why resistance training is just as important as cardio when it comes to weight loss!

• Your age - As you age, the amount of muscle you have tends to decrease, slowing down the calories you burn. You also become less efficient at using the protein you eat! This is why I generally recommend DOUBLE the protein for older clients.

Now that you have attended my crash course, I have some solutions that will beat any "metabolism boosting" supplement out there! I would love to work with you to meet your weight loss goals. Schedule a consultation for free, and we can get you on your path to success. Once you weed through the DENSE forest of misconception, weight loss becomes MUCH easier with less expectations of a "magic bullet". Let's redefine what is NORMAL.

Below I have listed some of my favorite tools to utilize when I train, eat, and recover. #ad

As always, I hope this helped provide some insight into the vast fitness & wellness world! Until next time! Talk to you soon.