Metabolism is like a small machine inside your body, constantly burning calories. Due to genetic factors, some women burn fat faster. However, age, weight, diet, and exercise habits also play a role. As women age, their metabolic rate gradually declines. From their 20s onwards, they lose five to six pounds of muscle every 10 years. This means that at age 35, you burn 100 fewer calories per day than you did at age 25. While this may sound worrying, there are some simple ways to unlock your body's fat-burning potential.
The following 14 tips will tell you how to ignite your body's fat-burning fire. If you follow them correctly, achieving a beautiful figure and losing weight will become a breeze.
1. Don't drastically reduce your calorie intake.
Adopting a very low-calorie diet is not an effective way to lose weight. Because the human body has an automatic program to maintain a normal weight, if you suddenly cut 1,000 calories from your diet, your basal metabolic rate (the number of calories your body needs to maintain basic physiological functions, such as breathing and heartbeat) will automatically slow down because your body now thinks you are in a state of starvation.
So, how many calories should the human body burn each day? This depends on your activity level. Multiply your current weight (in pounds) by 11; the result is your daily calorie requirement. For example, if you weigh 120 pounds, your normal daily calorie requirement is approximately 1320 kcal. Unless you are under 5 feet (1.52 meters) tall, don't let your daily calorie expenditure fall below 1200 kcal. Studies have shown that women who burn fewer calories than this experience a 45% decrease in their basal metabolic rate.
2. You must eat breakfast.
Breakfast is the meal most closely related to metabolism and weight loss among the three daily meals. Multiple studies have shown that people who eat breakfast are more likely to lose weight than those who skip it. Because the metabolic rate is very low during sleep and only rises again when eating, skipping breakfast means the body cannot burn fat as usual before lunch. This is why consuming 300-400 calories for breakfast is a wise choice, as breakfast is the starter for metabolism.
Researchers at an Australian university compared the effects of high-fat breakfasts with high-fiber carbohydrate breakfasts and found that those who ate high-fat meals experienced hunger more quickly afterward. The body takes longer to digest and absorb high-fiber carbohydrates than fatty foods, preventing large fluctuations in blood sugar levels and thus prolonging the onset of hunger. Therefore, breakfast should include plenty of high-fiber carbohydrates.
