MayoClinic.com defines metabolism as the process by which your body converts the calories you consume into energy. During metabolization, calories are combined with oxygen and produce energy as a byproduct. Your basal metabolic rate, or BMR, is the amount of calories you require to carry out these metabolic processes.
Factors that Influence BMR
Everybody has a different basal metabolic rate, and several factors influence it. The size of your body plays a role in your BMR. People who are larger and have more muscle mass have a higher BMR than those who are smaller and have less muscle mass. Your age and sex also play a role in your BMR. Men usually have a higher BMR than women because they naturally have less body fat, according to MayoClinic.com. Your BMR also tends to slow down as you age because, in general, people lose muscle mass as they get older.
Strength Training
Lean muscle mass burns more calories than fat. If you increase the amount of lean muscle on your body, it can help increase your calorie burn while at rest. To increase your muscle mass, it is important to incorporate strength training, such as weight lifting, into your workout routine. You can alternate days of strength training with days of cardiovascular exercise, which can also promote calorie burn.
Regular Eating
To make sure that your BMR does not slow down, it is important to eat regularly. When you go too long without eating, your body slows down your BMR to burn less calories and preserve them for later use. This is why many people who go on extremely low-calorie diets often quickly gain back weight when they resume normal eating habits. To keep your BMR high, you should eat a small meal or a snack every few hours. This provides your body with energy and prevents a decrease in metabolism, which can hinder weight loss.
Other Factors
Your BMR accounts for approximately 60 to 75 percent of your daily calorie burn. The remaining 25 to 40 percent depends on two other factors: thermogenesis and your physical activity level. Thermogenesis is the amount of calories burned by digesting, transporting, absorbing and storing the food that you eat. According to MayoClinic.com, thermogenesis accounts for about 10 percent of your calorie burn and this number stays relatively steady. The rest of your calorie burn comes from physical activity and exercise.
Considerations
Although many people blame weight gain or weight loss difficulty on a slow metabolism, this is often not the case. Most weight gain occurs as a result of regularly consuming more calories than you burn. MayoClinic.com notes that there is such a thing as a slow metabolism, but it is rare and usually occurs as a result of a chronic disease.
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