It’s always been assumed that as we start to approach our 30’s and 40’s our metabolism slows down and we gain weight a lot quicker. Well, science has now proven that to be untrue. Our metabolism hardy changes in the speed it works. It’s our speed that changes, as in the fact we become less active as we get older.
Our metabolism works by the rate it burns off calories as we go about our activities. It also works when we are resting as well. However, our metabolic rate and the speed it works at is determined by our height, sex and the genes we got from our parents.
There are also many myths that certain things can speed the metabolism up. But they are just that, myths. The effects that green tea, spicy food and caffeine laden drinks may slightly speed up your metabolism but nowhere near enough to make a change to your weight. The only thing that will speed up your metabolism and burn calories is activity.
This is depressing, right? Not necessarily, because forewarned is forearmed, so now we know why we are more susceptible to weight gain as we creep towards our 30’s we can put a plan into action and combat it.
Get Active
There are many simple things you can do during your daily routine to get more active. For example, take the stairs instead of the lift, walk to work instead of driving or taking the bus, power walk instead of strolling. After a vigorous workout when the heart gets pumping and your body temperature increases your metabolic rate will continue working faster even when you have finished exercising. It does not work at this faster rate while you are sat down resting, so, exercise first, then rest, knowing your metabolism is still burning off calories while you are chilling out in front of the TV.
Watch What You Eat
This might sound a bit obvious, but you should only eat what the body requires, not more. Some tips are to only eat when you are hungry, eat smaller portions but eat often and eat a balanced healthy diet. By reducing portion sizes and only eating when you are hungry plus engaging in activity of some kind will all help ward off weight gain as we get older.
