Your Resting Metabolic Rate

Ever wonder how many calories you're suppose to consume? Well, a nifty little article in November's Cosmo ( I got my magazine late) told me how and I will share it with you.

To figure out your personal resting metabolic rate, use this equation:

1. Your weight in pounds X 4.3
2. Add 655
3. Add your height in inches X 4.7
4. Once you get this subtotal, subtract your age X 4.7
Equals your metabolic rate.

Mine is about 1,310

Then to get a ball park figure for how many calories you need daily, multiply your resting metabolic rate by:

1. If you're sedentary - 1.2
2. If you work out moderately two or three times a week - 1.375
3. If you work out moderately three to five days a week - 1.55
4. If you work out intensely, say six to seven days per week - 1.725

I'm sedentary - so my figure is 1572 is what I can consume to maintain weight!

Let's now talk about fast metabolism. So I believe I have been blessed with a pretty fast metabolism. But still, the way I live my life (for those of you who know me), I need to learn how to maintain after I eat the way that I do. Therefore, here are some helpful hints about helping to increase your metabolism:

1. Have a cool drink - dehydration slows all body functions including metabolism. Cold water hydrates and may further your ability to burn calories as your body needs extra energy to heat it.

2. Eat spicy food! Eating spicy food with chili pepper and mustard seed can help speed up your metabolism and burn extra calories!

3. Caffeine speeds up your metabolism for a couple of hours.

4. Interval cardio - alternating high-intensity activity (jumping jacks) with lower intensity cardio (jogging)

5. Pumping iron - resistance training can increase your resting metabolic rate.

6. Eat breakfast - after not eating for 8 or so hours, your metabolism is stalled. So eating breakfast will stoke your metabolism again! Plus, it'll give you fuel in the morning! :)

7. "Vitamin B's are the oil that greases the wheels of your metabolic engine."

8. Eat often, just smaller! Apparently scaling down your caloric count too severely tricks your system into thinking that food is scarce, prompting your metabolism to freeze and your body to hang on to its fat preserves. On the other hand, if you eat more often rather than less, your metabolism gets fired up and stays elevated all day long, burning calories. So don't think drastically cutting back on your daily calorie intake would be the secret to melting away pounds!

Ok, that's all for today, folks! :)

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