Increasing your metabolism is one of the primary ways to lose weight via walking, according to “The Complete Guide to Walking.” Your metabolism slows down when you lose weight by eating less food. The slower metabolism makes it difficult to lose more weight. Your metabolism increases when you lose weight by exercising. The faster metabolism makes it easier to lose more weight.
Metabolism
Calories are units of energy needed to keep your body functioning. The body’s basic functions are also called metabolic processes. They include keeping your cells functioning, maintaining your body’s temperature “within normal limits” and keeping your heart, kidneys, lungs and other organs functioning, according to the “Essentials for Health and Wellness” book. Women need 1,100 calories daily for these “resting metabolism” functions; men need 1,300. Your body becomes more efficient at using energy when you eat fewer calories. It slows your metabolism so you don’t die.
Aerobic vs. Anaerobic
Your body produces energy via two methods--the aerobic system and the anaerobic system, according to “Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease.” Your aerobic system provides the energy for continuous exercises such as walking, bicycling and swimming. Your anaerobic system provides the energy for noncontinuous exercises such as baseball, golf and weightlifting.
Your aerobic system uses energy far more efficiently than your anaerobic system and becomes more efficient when you exercise more. A more efficient aerobic system increases your metabolism so you burn more calories the next time you exercise.
Expert Advice
Walking is an excellent way to lose weight if you fear that your lack of physical conditioning will impair your ability to exercise and cause injuries, according to “Guide to Walking” author Mark Fenton. A small increase in activity will “burn serious calories and begin revving up your metabolism,” Fenton writes. Several shorter walks are better for overweight and out-of-shape people than one long walk, even if the distances are the same, Fenton added.
Potential
Muscles are “the major source of energy during exercise,” and your metabolism increases when you get more energy from your muscles and less energy from your fat, according to The Merck Manual of Medical Information. “The Guide to Walking” recommends that you build your muscles by taking 45- to 60-minute walks two or three times per week, walking quickly for shorter periods two or three times per week and doing six to eight upper-body exercises twice a week. This routine will “rev up your metabolism permanently,” Fenton says.
Significance
You lose fat and muscle when you diet. You lose fat and build muscle when you exercise. “The Complete Guide to Walking” compared two women who lost 500 calories daily at the start of their weight-loss program. One ate 500 fewer calories daily. The other ate 250 fewer calories daily and burned 250 calories daily by walking. Over time, the exerciser lost significantly more weight because “she has more muscle mass to supply with energy.” The eater had trouble burning calories because her remaining fat was being used for her body’s basic functions.
References
- "The Complete Guide To Walking"; Mark Fenton; 2001
- The Merck Manual of Medical Information; 1999
- "Essentials for Health and Wellness"; Gordon Edlin, Eric Golanty, Kelli McCormack Brown; 2000
- "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program For Reversing Heart Disease"; Dr. Dean Ornish; 1996
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