SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE

Do you remember the story of The Tortoise and the Hare from your childhood? The hare went tearing off at a rapid pace and was so far clear of the tortoise that it decided to take a nap. In the end the slow, steady reptile overtook its rival and reached the finishing line first.

Believe it or not, that is the perfect analogy of successful weight loss. If you lose weight quickly you will shed some body fat, but you will also lose muscle mass.

As it takes more energy to sustain muscle mass (35 calories per pound per day) than it does fat (2 calories per pound per day) your metabolism will slow down. When your metabolism slows so does your weight loss.

The double whammy is that because your metabolism has slowed down you are unlikely to keep off any weight you have lost. And when you do put it back on, your body composition will have altered because you have lost muscle mass but will regain body fat.

On the other hand, it takes a deficit of 3500 calories to drop a pound of fat. So dropping your calorie intake by 500 calories a day will enable you to lose a pound a week of pure body fat without playing havoc with your body composition and in turn your metabolism.

WHAT IS METABOLISM?

Metabolism is the name for the chemical process that breaks food down into energy and builds up new cells to enable you to use that energy.

Basal metabolic rate (BMR), the amount of calories your body needs just for existing, varies from person to person and is affected by age, sex and body composition.

It is not static - it will go up and down as you lose and gain fat or muscle - and it will be affected by your activity levels.

EAT MORE AND LOSE WEIGHT

The basic principle of energy balance says that if you use up more calories than you consume you will lose weight.

Unfortunately, it is not quite as simple as that.

If you eat less calories than your BMR, your body goes into starvation mode. When that happens it naturally clings on to body fat, which is stored energy.

And while it keeps the body fat, which is metabolic dead weight, it has to sacrifice your muscle mass which slows your metabolism down. All of which explains why people trying to maintain a calorie-controlled diet of 1,000 to 1,200 calories a day often find it impossible to lose weight.

The key to successful weight loss is to maintain or increase your lean muscle mass with regular exercise and to limit your energy intake so that you have a deficit of 500 calories per day from the figure you just calculated.

But don’t even consider dramatically cutting calories and doing exercise to maintain your muscle mass. Your body will not have enough energy to build or sustain muscle so all you will achieve is putting lots of stress on your body.

CAN YOU BOOST YOUR METABOLISM?

• Exercise - Obviously, cardiovascular work, such as walking, running, cycling or swimming will burn off calories and help you to lose weight. However, to really help boost your metabolism you should undertake some weight training or resistance work too. As well as adding muscle mass, weight training will actually continue to burn calories at a higher rate after your have finished exercising. Don’t panic that you need to go to the gym to follow a resistance programme, you can follow our shape up programme in your own front room.
• Eat regularly - Exercise boosts metabolism but, believe it or not, so does eating. Always make sure you have a decent breakfast in the morning to kick start your metabolism and don’t allow your body to go into starvation mode because that is when it will start to store fat. Distribute your calories evenly through the day and factor in a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack. Specific foods to include are protein, which generally needs 25% more energy to digest that carbohydrates, hot spicy foods and green tea.
• Drink Water - It is impossible to overstate the importance of water on the body. Not only does it flush out toxins and lubricate the joints, but it also has a massive part to play in the metabolic process. Water is the fuel that drives metabolism's chemical reactions. So, if you're not drinking enough, you won't burn as many calories as you can.