Metabolism, weight lost and fasting workouts.

Hamburgers are nice [Five Guys, London]

Expensive workout/fitness programs and fancy diets have led people to believe that they are the best in increasing your metabolic rate, and thus, lose weight. This subsequently convince people to blame any weight gain simply on their 'slow' metabolic rate. So are these all true?

First, let's talk about definitions.

Metabolism is a a simple but important biochemical processes that require energy to keep your organs functioning and your body alive. The minimum amount of energy (aka calories) it requires to carry out these processes is called Resting Metabolic Rate or Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).

Calories, are simply energy required to maintain the temperature of our body of about ~37°C relative to our surrounding environment. Our body requires that exact temperature to function normally, if the environment the body is exposed to is hotter than itself it will try its best to (equilibrate, and) release heat (via sweat) and vice versa for colder temperatures. And contrary to the popular belief, your metabolism will increase in both colder and warmer weathers to maintain that equilibrium. (I'd go on about the myth of gaining weight during the winter and the exaggerated benefits of "hot yoga" but I will leave that to another post)

So what determines you BMR?

1. Age: The older you get, the more muscles you lose and the more fat you gain.
2. Gender: Men generally has higher muscle to fat ratio than women (no matter how hard we try!). Men also has higher bone density which accounts for their greater need of daily calorie intake. Muscles require more energy to sustain itself as compared to fats.
3. Weight: The heavier you are, the higher your BMR needed to sustain your living body system! Which is the contrary of what people tend to believe that heavier people have slower metabolism. NOT TRUE.
4. Body types: Leaner bodies have higher BMR than the less leaner ones. Muscular bodies have higher BMR to maintain the muscle masses (and the increased bone density that is needed to carry the weight!), as compared to the less leaner ones. Hence, the need to emphasize on strength training, but I will get to that later.
5. Certain medical conditions: Cushing's sydrome and hypothyroidism.
6. Genes: The blame game never gets old when it comes to hereditary traits. It's a minor factor, but still a factor. This area is unfortunately not well studied so we will move on!

It is always easy to blame metabolism on weight gain, but metabolism is our body's natural process and it relies on many mechanisms that regulate it to meet your individual's needs.

The mathematics for metabolism is simple, do not consume more than what your body needs, but at the same time do not under-consume as well. And how do we get an idea of this?

For starters, using the Harris-Benedict equation BMR calculator, I have a BMR of ~1350kcal/day ± 30 (as my weight fluctuates to minus and plus 1 kg). That means if I just sleep all day, I am already burning that much kcalories. Take note that this does not mean I must only eat 1350kcal a day! Take account that our BMR is about 40-70% of my body's daily energy requirements for it to function optimally. The large range of ± 30% depends again on our age and lifestyle. To get a rough gauge, I will multiply accordingly to my current activity levels per week to get my total daily calorie needs. So for my case, 1.70 (very active; 5-7 exercises/sports per week), my total daily calorie (TDC) needs are 2300kcal/day!

For weeks which I totally neglect being active, usually due to travels or deadlines, that computer-screen-staring lifestyle will bring my TDC needs to 1600kcal/day! But of course sitting all day in front of computers does mean I have a higher tendency to snack and stir the inner carnivore in me leading to more likelihood of spoiling myself with it's-so-bad-it's-so-good food (think hamburgers, lamb chops, steaks, kebab! omnomnomnom) =P

a Triple Big King XXL burger I had [Norway]

If you have been sedentary for the week, simply multiply it by 1.2! It's just simple math. Now I know it (while I research and write) and now you know it too!

Lastly, you might think that 'Okay I ate so much yesterday, so today I will hit the gym and skip food altogether to even out the calories I've taken.'! WRONG. Never ever force your body to go on a deficit fuel, especially before exercising. If you want to make up for your cheat days, simple downscale your food intake the next day just the slightest but do it over the next couple of days. But never skip a good breakfast to kickstart your day. You do know that your brain only uses glucose (sugar/simple carbs) to function, right?

You may not want carbs, but your brain NEEDS it, like this delish 'wan ton' noodles! 

Anyway. I digress... Fasting exercises is not for most people, and why is that?

1. Bringing your body down to glycogen-depletion will make it to burn glycogen (carbs) slower, at the same time your body is forced to not just burn fats for fuel - which is your initial intention, but it will also torch your muscle-building blocks, aka protein.

2. Fasting will decrease your BMR , so your calories are being burnt slower as a response of your body's defensive (or I'd call, retaliation) mechanism against not being given fuel. This is not ideal to the people whose intention to fast is to lose weight, right?

3. Fasting will also make your workout tougher to power through. This is not fun. Why suffer through exercises when we really should be fueled and happy to do them. When you're happy exercising you're not just burning more calories but are happy to do more. Think of endorphins vs cortisol hormones!



So how does one lose weight? Reduce carbs and fat simultaneously but only 10-15% off your daily calorie maintenance. Do not cut more than 500 calories off per day as you will force your body into starvation mode means it will lower your metabolism rate ("survival mode").

Last point to note; Be careful of losing weight with fancy diets as what you will also lose is muscle! When you lose weight, you lose not just fats, but also muscles which is meant to keep your BMR high (and also the strength you need on a daily functional basis!).


References;
Hover over linked phrases on this article and click them away

Eat Pasta, Run Fasta!