Calories represent the unit of energy contained in the food and drink that we consume. Every item of food contains a certain calorie value and the body metabolism converts the food into units of energy according to the food that we consume. The body needs only a certain level of energy to help us carry out our tasks. The balance energy is stored in the form of fat and the fat adds to body weight. The best means therefore to prevent accumulation of fat in the body system and prevent obesity to explore ways to burn the calories at regular intervals, burning fat and gaining muscles for example.
By burning more calories, you can increase your metabolic rate to achieve weight loss quickly. Metabolic rate refers to the rate at which the body burns up calories. If you are consuming say 2500 calories a day and burn the same amount of calories every day, your weight will remain static. But, if you are consuming 2500 calories every day and burn out only say, 2000 calories, then you will gain weight possibly at the rate of about 1lb per week. In spite of eating large helpings of junk food, if your colleague is still maintaining his weight, it just means that he is able to burn the extra calories without allowing accumulation of fat. How then do you burn the extra calories?
To lose weight quickly, you should speed up your metabolism. To speed up your metabolism you should be burning more calories and the secret is knowing what influences your metabolic rate and how you can induce it. There are three major ways in which your calorie burns out.
Basic Metabolic Rate - This is the minimum energy level required to keep you alive, even when you are simply lying down doing nothing. This counts for nearly 60% of the calories burned by an average person.
Calories for activity:
The energy expended during movement - lifting your arm to operate the remote control, cleaning the windows, or any of those simple physical activity. This accounts for about 30% of calories burned, for an average person.
Calories burnt for digestion:
Production of heat in the metabolic system, induced by meal is known as 'thermogenic effect'. This is the calories burned during the process of eating, digesting, absorbing and using the food.
You can gainfully employ the following measures to speed up your rate of burning calories:-
1. Build Muscle:
For every extra pound of muscle you acquire, your body uses an extra 50 calories a day. Muscles are metabolically active and burn more calories than other body tissues even when you are not moving. Some researchers claim that regular weight training can enhance the basal metabolic rate by up to 15% and that is good news when you want to gain muscle mass fast. If you train with weights for about 20 minutes 3 days a week that would help you gain muscle. In the process, you gain muscle and lose fat.
2. Increase your movements:
Grabbing at every opportunity to move can dramatically improve the quantum of calories that you burn. Use the 'post-it' note to write 'keep moving' messages and put them in places which can attract your attention when you are sitting. Having done that, use every opportunity to move and burn those extra calories. You can stand up and stretch yourself, swing your legs, pace up and down, walk up to your colleague instead of using the phone, clench and release your muscles, stand up when you are on the phone and several other small but important measures can help you lose weight fast.
3. Spicy food: Spicy food particularly with chillies is known to have a telling effect in increasing your metabolic rate and correspondingly increase the quantum of calories that you burn.
4. Finally develop a habit of eating little but eating often to help you control the intake of calories and keep your weight under check.
