Weight Loss: Boost Basal Metabolism and Scientifically Combat Fat-Prone Body Types

Inferring Possibilities from Genetics

While scientists cannot currently determine if you carry obesity genes through blood tests, they can explore factors such as your parents' obesity status to understand your likelihood of being overweight. Check the table below to assess your genetic predisposition:

If both your parents are obese, you have an 80% chance of being overweight.

If one of your parents is overweight, your chance of being obese is 40%.

If neither of your parents is overweight, you have only a 10% chance of being overweight.

If you are an African American, you are twice as likely to be obese as a Caucasian.

If you are Native American, Pacific Islander, or Latino, you are more likely to be obese than Europeans.

If you are Asian, you are less prone to obesity than other races, but you should be wary of developing excess abdominal fat.

A rise in body temperature requires metabolic energy expenditure to ensure the body functions properly. Although this metabolic activity is often overlooked, it accounts for 70% of your total daily energy expenditure; the remaining calories are used during physical activity and digestion.

Not everyone's metabolism is the same. One expert believes that your metabolism speeds up or slows down when you try to maintain a certain weight. If you overeat, your metabolism will burn more calories than normal, even while you sleep. Conversely, if you diet, your body burns fewer calories. Therefore, some women remain slim regardless of how much they eat, while others struggle to lose weight no matter how much they control their diet. Your metabolic rate is not constant. Your genes play a 25% role, while your hormone levels, muscle mass, food preferences, and portion sizes account for 75%. Other influencing factors come from your living environment, such as the food you eat and the calories you control.

Eat more seasoned foods. Consuming heavily seasoned foods will speed up your metabolism within 3 hours after consumption. One study showed that eating foods with spicy mustard and hot sauce can make people burn 25% more fat, but you don't need to consume too many seasonings in one meal. Eating heavily seasoned foods two or three times a week is most beneficial. Dr. Gia Henry, a professor of biology and molecular science in the UK, says, "Frequently consuming too many seasonings can have a negative impact on this effect."

Eat breakfast. You may have planned to eat lunch, but your body doesn't know your intentions. If you don't eat breakfast, it means to your body that the food source is interrupted, and this could last for a long time. Therefore, it will slow down the rate of calorie burning to help you get through the impending famine. To reassure your body that the food source will not be interrupted and that the body will continue to function normally, be sure to eat breakfast after waking up.

Prioritize Carbohydrates Over Fat

Regardless of the type of food we digest, our bodies expend energy, but digesting complex carbohydrates requires more energy than digesting protein or fat. We should ensure that calories from fat do not exceed 25%–30% of our total calorie intake. Calories from meat, fish, poultry, and cheese should not exceed 15%. The remaining calories should come from fruits, vegetables, whole-wheat pasta, bread, and rice.

Build Muscle

Metabolism speed is influenced by genetics and, more importantly, by muscle mass. The more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism. Maria Singh, a leading authority in nutrition and physiology, says, "In fact, women who build muscle through weightlifting need to eat 15% more food to maintain their weight."

Squeezing Down Your Fat Cells

When excess calories accumulate in your bloodstream, they either become glycogen in muscles or fat in fat cells. To have a slim figure, you should store excess calories in muscles because they are more easily converted into heat and energy there. However, the problem is that some women's bodies are more likely to store calories as fat rather than convert them into glycogen in muscles.

Here's why: Fat cells can expand to twice their normal size, and they can also multiply. The more fat cells you have, the easier it is to store fat. Some women are born with more fat cells than others and are also more likely to produce new fat cells. Once you have these fat cells, they are difficult to remove, no matter how thin you become. It won't shrink and die.

Enzymes also begin to work. A substance called lipoprotein lipase converts fat into fat cells or muscle cells. The more lipoprotein lipase on the surface of fat cells, the easier it is for fat cells to store fat than for muscle cells. In average women, fat cells have three such enzyme molecules, while muscle cells only have one. Therefore, average women store twice as much fat in fat cells as in muscle cells. Other women may be even worse off, with four or five enzyme molecules on their fat cells and only one on their muscle cells, making them even more prone to fat storage.

This isn't as discouraging as it sounds. You can reverse this passive situation using the following methods.

Don't force your body.

When you try to force your body to lose weight through aggressive and intense dieting and excessive exercise, your fat cells will resist. Therefore, you should slow down and take it easy. Waterhouse says, "Although it will take more time, it's worth it. Many women make the mistake of being too hasty." In their eagerness to achieve results, the system they wanted to weaken was instead strengthened by them.

Moderate physical exercise: Research shows that moderate-intensity exercise is the best choice. If you are out of breath and unable to talk after exercising, then your exercise is not for weight loss but to exhaust yourself. The faster you finish, the more you want to end it. Conversely, the more interested you are in it, the more time you will want to spend on it.