We've all heard the word "metabolism," but how many of us actually know what it means? Although very frequently used when talking about fat loss, most of us really don't understand what metabolism really has to do with the overall process of losing weight.
Even so, you'll hear people talking about the struggles they have with weight loss in terms of whether or not their metabolism is working properly.
Doctors as well will talk about metabolism when they try to explain why starvation diets or those that simply rely on liquids and very low calories aren't medically or scientifically responsible means of weight loss. They don't take into account the effect metabolism has within your body.
For all the talking we do about metabolism, you'd think we understand more about it. At the very least, you'd think people would know how to speed up metabolism when necessary, wouldn't you?
Actually, most don't.
It's unfortunate, but most people don't understand what metabolism is and what a metabolic change really means. By and large this is though no fault of our own. There's a lot of information out there, on the Internet, or from so-called "personal trainers" and other experts, and much of it is conflicting and confusing.
It's also true that a lot of people think that their own weight gain or loss simply comes as a result of metabolic change and that there is really nothing that can be done about it. Fortunately this is completely false. You can absolutely increase your metabolism and increase the amount of calories you burn on a daily basis.
Like anything, there is a right and wrong way of doing things. One of the ways you can increase your metabolism is to eat certain foods and to do so more frequently. Eating the right foods can absolutely help you lose weight, and has been proven time and time again.
Another way, although arguable less permanent, is to sit in a steam room or sauna for a few hours. Losing what is mostly water weight through sitting in a steam room or sauna is temporary because the weight lost is almost entirely water, so it will come back as soon as you start eating and drinking again.
One of the reasons it's hard to figure out what's really accurate when it comes to weight loss and metabolism is that many supplement and food companies deliberately mislead in an attempt to get you to buy their products.
In other words, they want you to believe that if you continually eat low-fat foods (especially their product), you'll speed up your metabolism.
It's true that low-fat foods can be a healthy part of a diet that is designed specifically to speed up metabolism, but eating foods that are specifically "low-fat" won't do anything in and of itself to speed up your metabolism.
What's really true is that you can actually gain weight if you eat too many low-fat products. That's because although the fat has been taken out of many of these products, calories have been added back in, in the form of simple carbohydrates or proteins; these extra calories have to be burned off if you don't want them to turn into body fat.
It's no wonder that if you've been trying to "demystify" the metabolic process, you may be feeling stressed, confused, and even depressed because of your struggles to do so.
Every year, tens of millions of people try to take control back, attempting to reshape their bodies and become healthier. Every year, those same millions of people feel like they failed again, because as hard as they try, it doesn't seem that they can speed up their metabolisms. They end up feeling that the just have to accept it, that their metabolism has just slowed down or is faulty and that being able to burn off excess fat is beyond their control.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Once you understand what metabolism is, and what changes can be made in order to benefit from an increase in your metabolic rate, you will finally be able to realize your weight loss goals and give up any feelings of failure. In fact, it's not you that has failed at all; you have simply been given the wrong information to work with.
What that means, in other words, is that the medical profession and nutrition experts, too, have failed to provide people with the information they need so that they can speed up their metabolisms.
The vast nutritional field is already hard to understand, and when you couple that with the fact that a lot of it is influenced by money - that is, the dollars that can be made by "tweaking" facts or even deliberately misleading desperate people, it's no wonder confusion has set in. Not everyone in the business operates this way, of course, but there's enough deliberate misinformation out there to make anyone frustrated. Don't play the wait-and-see game, looking for the next "fad." Instead, learn how to increase your metabolism by getting information that is clear, consistent, and that can actually help you lose weight.
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Discover how getting rid of fat can be done both permanently and easily. Are you wondering how to increase metabolism ? There is a lot of information out there which leads to a lot of confusion. Learn more about this and get the facts straight so that you can start burning off the fat.