Burning more calories

To reach and maintain a healthy weight, you need to be able to burn calories effectively. Your metabolism or metabolic rate (i.e. the rate at which you burn calories) depends on several things:

Your age. Metabolism tends to slow down with age. Most young people can eat a lot of high calorie foods without gaining weight while most older people cannot. There may be ways to partly counteract age-related changes in metabolism.

Your genes. There is little you can do about your genes. However, with the rapid progress of science we are witnessing today, the situation may change in a not too distant future.

Your diet. The composition of your diet (i.e. how much and what kind of protein, carbohydrates and fat you eat) has a modest effect on your metabolism. Keeping the balance may help.

Lean body mass. Lean body mass, such as muscles, burns calories much faster than fatty tissue. Thus, the more muscle you have the higher is your metabolic rate.

Your level of physical activity. Muscles are the main consumers of fuel in the body. The more they work, the more calories you burn.

Condition of your thyroid. Thyroid gland is an important regulator of the metabolic rate. If it produces too little of its key hormone thyroxin, the metabolic rate slows down. In some people (although not the majority), hypoactive thyroid may by the main cause of weight gain. The signs of slow thyroid include low pulse rate, fatigue, dry skin and others. There are medical tests you may ask your doctor to perform to make sure that your thyroid is as active as it should be.

Other hormones (insulin, cortisol). Thyroid hormones are not the only ones that impact weight control. At least two other hormones, insulin and cortisol, also have an impact on how energy is used and stored in the body. Excessive levels of insulin tend increase overall weight gain. Excess of cortisol promotes abdominal weight gain and loss of lean tissue, such as muscle.

Exercise

For most people, exercise is the healthiest way to expend more calories. It may also provide many other health benefits. The amount of energy you burn during exercise depends on how long and intense it is and how many muscles are involved.

What is the best exercise for weight loss? There is no single best exercise for weight loss. The important things to keep in mind are:

Exercise should be regular, at least 3 times a week. Lots of exercise once a month is not going to get you very far.

Exercise should be enjoyable. Trying to do regularly something you hate is the easiest way to fail. Pick the exercise you like. If you hate jogging or biking, play tennis or do aerobics.

Simple things like walking to the store instead of driving, or taking stairs instead of an elevator can really add up on your calorie balance sheet.

Not all types of exercise are created equal. Some are better for burning calories than others. For example, exercise that involves large muscles (e.g. thighs, such as bicycling) tends to burn more calories.

Drugs

Some drugs can raise metabolic rate and thereby help burn calories. Unfortunately, no existing drug does so both safely and effectively. Some people may benefit from weight loss drugs but they should be well aware of both benefits and risks. Various weight loss drugs are discussed elsewhere on this site.

Supplements

Numerous products sold as nutritional supplements claim to increase your metabolic rate and help you burn calories. Most of these supplements contain a long list of vitamins, minerals and herbs. The truth of the matter is that vitamins and minerals have little or no effect on metabolic rate unless there is a severe deficiency (which is uncommon in developed countries).

There are a few supplements that have potentially useful effect on metabolic rate. They are discussed elsewhere on this site. Keep in mind, however, that even if a supplement might be occasionally useful, it can only work if combined with comprehensive long-term lifestyle adjustment.

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