Metabolism 101: Metabolism Basics

What is metabolism, and why is it so important?  In the simplest of terms, metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories. The higher the metabolism, the more you can burn, and the more you can eat without gaining weight. This is why some people eat a whole pizza and are perpetually skinny, and why the rest of us can gain ten pounds by looking at a doughnut.

I have seen the concept of metabolism compared to operating a paper shredder. If you can shred one box of papers in a day, and you are given one box per day, then you are in good shape; you are taking in the same amount that you are eliminating. There is no excess paper left at the end of the day, and you don't need to turn off the machine for inactivity. (This is weight maintenance.)

However, if you are given THREE boxes per day and can only shred one box, you have TWO extra boxes at the end of the day. After a week of three boxes in, one box out, you now have FOURTEEN boxes of paper in the office that you are dealing with. Continue this process for years and you're in some serious trouble.

(If you're not already there with me, the boxes represent food/fat, the shredder represents your metabolism, and the office is your body.)

If you continue to take in (eat) three boxes of paper, you need to increase the power of your shredder if you don't want the leftover boxes.  But if you have excess boxes, in order to reduce the paper (lose weight), you need a shredder capable of shredding FOUR boxes per day in order to make a dent in the pile (ie your fat cells).  That's one heavy-duty shredder.

On the other hand, the quickest way to get rid of the excess boxes is to reduce the boxes coming in (reduce your calories) while at the same time getting a high capacity shredder (increasing your metabolism).

This is my strategy, and I begin it with you here.