Your body’s metabolism is a chemical process that converts food into heat and energy for the proper functioning of other processes in the body such as digestion. The body’s metabolic rate differs from one individual to another, depending on factors such as age, sex, energy requirements and heredity. According to Robert Yanagisawa, MD, director of the Medically Supervised Weight Management Program at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, your rate of metabolism has a direct impact on the amount of weight you gain or lose. Increasing your metabolism can help you combat weight gain.
Aerobic Exercise
Walking, like any other aerobic activity, increases circulation and ultimately the amount of oxygen available throughout the body. Metabolism requires oxygen for it to effectively produce energy required by the body. Therefore regular walking after dinner helps to increase your body’s metabolic rate allowing you to burn more calories. However, walking after dinner once in a while will not have much impact on your metabolism.
Lean Muscle Mass
Walking helps you build muscle mass in your legs. According to Katie Heimburger, an exercise physiologist in Atlanta, an increase in muscle mass helps you burn more calories by boosting your body’s resting metabolic rate; that's because muscles burn more calories than fat when at rest. According to personal fitness trainer Kelli Calabrese, a pound of muscle burns 35 calories a day as compared to 2 calories a day per pound of fat. Therefore, the more muscle you develop through walking, the better.
Heat Production
The metabolism process is an enzyme-controlled activity; collision of enzymes with active sites in the body enables the production of energy for other body process to take place. An increase in temperature increases the kinetic energy of these enzymes and the catalysts responsible for metabolic reactions. Enzymes, however, are at their optimum at a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius, past which they are denatured. Walking raises the body temperature, thus increasing the body’s metabolic rate even after resting.
Timing
Walking immediately after a good dinner may cause gastrointestinal discomfort. Wait at least 30 minutes to an hour or two, depending on the size and the content of the meal you just had. Walk at a slow pace; brisk walking may cause acid influx in your stomach.
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