Some Thoughts on Metabolism for Friday

A friend of mine shared this great information she got at her Weight Watchers meeting. They were talking about Metabolism and these are some of the notes that she took. I thought I would share. I especially like the M&Ms factoid. That makes you think twice each time you consider taking even the tiniest bite of a treat... It takes more to work it off than you might think!

•  Physical activity can counteract changes in metabolism after 45 years of age, when we start to slow down and we begin to lose muscle mass.
• Men have more muscle tissue so they burn calories faster. They just have a better engine than we do.
• When you are building muscle, you are not "gaining weight" because lean muscle burns calories 24/7.
• Boost metabolism by increasing heart rate - don't walk at the same pace, get your heart going, then slow down, get it going again, etc. and you'll get stronger.
• Metabolism is inherited but it can be changed with exercise, so don't just accept that you have a slow metabolism and "can't" lose weight, change it up.
• Food has no effect on your metabolism except if you eat too much, then it will affect your body fat, which slows your metabolism.
• Caffeine just increased your heart rate, it doesn't change your metabolism.
• One M&M is equal to walking the length of a football field
• "Don't eat anything after 7 pm, 8 pm, whatever pm" is a myth.  Your metabolism doesn't know what time it is.  It's not what time you eat, it's what you do after you eat.  If your metabolism has slowed down for the evening and you don't go for a walk or hit the gym, it's just going to stay slowed down and whatever you ate will do whatever it does to stick with you.