Metabolism, BMI and the Importantce of Weight Loss

The Brick Wall

A strange thing happens as we get older, our metabolism appears to hit a brick wall in our early 30’s. Some people do not understand what is metabolism exactly, its importance in maintaing health and weight and most confusingly-- how to boost metabolism in a healthy life-style changing way. My metabolism seemed to come to a complete stop at 30 and then slowed down again after 35.

Metabolism and BMI Described

Simply put, metabolism is the rate at which the body burns calories to obtain energy to function. Technically speaking, it is a biochemical process where enzymes convert organic compounds to form and build another substance causing energy to be released this entire process is called the metabolic pathway. There are two main components: Catabolism and Anabolism. The breaking down of organic substances is Catabolism which causes energy to be released and the formation of new substances where energy is consumed is Anabolism.

The Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR is the rate at which your body converts calories into energy while it is at rest.

A common excuse among people is that they cannot help, change or make a difference with their weight because of genetics. While there is a genetic aspect that predetermines metabolism and body size that cannot be changed or manipulated, our body muscle to fat ratio has the greatest impact on metabolism. When a person has a high fat ratio they burn less calories which creates a cycle where many encounter never ending weight-gain due to the fact that their bodies are not converting all the calories to energy and they are unable to change their lifestyle and diet. Additionally,metabolism definately slows down as we get older and in general men have a higher metabolism than women because of the higher muscle to fat ratio found genetically with the male gender.

Basal Metabolic Index Explained

Basal Metabolic Index otherwise known as BMI is a calculation based on a person’s weight and height that is used by doctors and health insurance agencies to determine if a person is at the appropriate weight for their height.

Interestingly, due to different diets and body types globally, differential BMI charts are used in different regions of the world. So a person who is considered overweight in India or Japan may have normal BMI in the USA.

Also, several studies have shown a direct correlation between BMI and the amount and quality of sleep individuals get. A joint study out of the University of Wisconsin in conjuction with Standford University studied 1024 volunteers and found that participants with reduced sleep had reduced leptin and elevated ghrelin . These differences in leptin and ghrelin are likely to cause an increase in appetite which possibly explains the increased BMI observed with short sleep duration. In the US, where chronic sleep deprevation is becoming more common and food is easily and consumed, changes in appetite regulatory hormones with sleep deprevation may contribute to obesity.

BMI is calculated as:

BMI= Mass(lb) X 703/Height (in)²

or

BMI=Mass(lb) X 4.88/Height (ft)²

Metabolism and Weight

The metabolic pathway process that determines an individuals weight is the Catabolism process minus the Anabolism that is on-going within the metabolic pathway. Any excess energy is stored as fat or glycogen, a carbohydrate, which is stored in the muscles, liver and adipose tissue.

While there are medical issues that can cause a person to be obese, typically obesity is caused by taking in more calories than are being burned off by our BMR and any exercise or other strenuous activity. Should this continue a person could become obese by BMI standards. Obesity increases risks of vascular problems such as heart attack and stroke, diabetes, circulation issues, gout, as well as muscle pulls and back injuries.

While a person’s metabolism can change slightly to go up or down typically the most significant change a person can make is to change their diet long-term.

How Do You Boost Metabolism

The most important thing you can do to increase your metabolic rate is to lose weight. However, that seems somewhat of a poor and frustraing answer since obesity and metabolism are direct enemies of each other. So, to assist in losing weight targeted cardiovascular work as well as building muscle is extremely important as one pound of muscle burns more calories than one pound of fat. As you slowly build muscle your BMR will start to become more efficeint.

Additionally, along with changing your life-style with a better diet and more exercising there are other things that can be improved upon such as getting better quality sleep and drinking water throughout the day than can also assist with increasing metabolism.

The only the way our health will improve, the only way we lose weight and get thinner is to take action, get the necessary support and get and follow the proper program and everyday make a commitment to improve.