Many people simply don't understand the concept of metabolism and metabolic change and this is hardly their fault. There is so much information floating around, that there's bound to be some confusion and conflicting messages. But understanding the metabolism is vital if you want to lose weight. So let's see if we can shed some light on this rather daunting word.
What is the metabolism? Well, it certainly isn't any particular body part. Simply put, it's the process by which your body converts food into energy. You've probably heard of the phrase metabolic process used synonymously with the term metabolism, because they both mean the same thing. Metabolism then, is the process of transforming food (e.g. nutrients) into fuel (e.g. energy) and your body uses this energy to conduct a vast array of essential functions.
What role does the metabolism play? Your ability to read this page is driven by your metabolism. If you had no metabolism - that is, if you had no metabolic process that was converting food into energy - then you wouldn't be able to move. In fact, long before you realized that you couldn't move a finger or lift your foot, your internal processes would have stopped; because the basic building blocks of life - circulating blood, transforming oxygen into carbon dioxide, expelling potentially lethal wastes through the kidneys and so on - all of these depend on your metabolism.
How does the metabolism work? While we conveniently refer to the metabolic process as if it were a single function, it's really a term for countless functions that are taking place inside your body. Your metabolism manages to achieve two critical bodily functions that, in a sense, seem to be at odds with each other and these two functions are called Anabolism and Catabolism.
What is Anabolism? It stands for creating tissue and cells. Each moment, our bodies are creating more cells to replace dead or dysfunctional cells. For example, if you cut your finger, your body will immediately begin the process of creating skin cells to clot the blood and start the healing process. This creation process is indeed a metabolic response, and is called anabolism.
What is Catabolism? Then there is the exact opposite activity taking place in other parts of your body. Instead of building cells and tissue, your body is breaking down energy so that it can do what it's supposed to do. For example, when you exercise your heart beat increases and therefore your body temperature rises. As this happens, your breathing increases and your body now requires more oxygen. All of this, as you can imagine, requires additional energy. So, now your body will instead begin converting food (e.g. calories) into energy. And this process is called catabolism.
Now you understand that the metabolism is a constant process that takes care of two seemingly opposite functions: anabolism that uses energy to create cells, and catabolism that breaks down cells to create energy.
What about weight loss? Well, now that you know about Anabolism and Catabolism, let's meet another member of the weight loss game; the Calorie. And what, exactly, is a calorie? Very simple, it's a unit of measure, just as a cm or an inch is a measure of the distance between two points. However, the Calorie measures energy. When your body receives a calorie, it must do something with that energy. In other words, when you eat or drink something, your body has to accept those calories and deal with them. Now your body will either convert the energy (calories) into cells/tissue (anabolism) or it uses that energy (calories) to break down cells (catabolism).
When there is an excess of energy, and your body can't use this energy to deal with any needs at the time, (such as help you exercise or digest some food = catabolism), it will be forced to create cells with that extra energy. It has to. So, after figuring out that the energy can't be used to do anything it has to turn it into cells = anabolism. And those extra cells? Yes indeed, you guessed it: added weight!
In a nutshell, the whole calorie/metabolism/weight gain thing is really just about excess energy. When there's too much energy from food - then your body transforms those calories into stuff. And that stuff, most of the time, is fat. Sometimes, of course, those extra calories are transformed into muscle and this is usually a good thing for those watching their weight. People with strong muscle tone burn calories without actually doing anything; their metabolism burns it for them. So, the more lean muscle you have, the more places excess calories can go before they're turned into fat.
A what about that fat? There's a nasty rumor floating around out there that fat cells are permanent. And the nastiest thing about this rumor is that it's true. Yes, most experts concede that fat cells - once created - are there for life. Yet this doesn't spell doom and gloom to those of us who could stand to drop a few pounds. Because even though experts believe that fat cells are permanent, they also agree that fat cells can be shrunk. So, even if the absolute number of fat cells in your body remains the same, their size - and hence their appearance and percentage of your overall weight - can be reduced. All you need is a new, better, leaner and healthier lifestyle with a perfect diet and fun exercise. So, Take Action, Get Help and Good Luck! http://jaxbooks.4idiots.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=AMY01
By Amy Burton
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