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You Can Speed Up Your Metabolism – True or False? – Part 3

Why do I store body fat?

  • You need 1000 calories a day to just exist (your basal metabolic rate or BMR) but you end up eating 1500 calories because you do your daily workout and move around a lot. 
  • The science shows that your BMR + Thermic effect from food + exercise = 1300 calories.
  • In this example you are eating 200 calories more than you need and you would end up gaining 1 pound every 18 days.  

What contains 200 Calories?

  • Celery. 1425 grams = 200 calories. …
  • Apples. 385 grams = 200 calories. …
  • Broccoli. 588 grams = 200 calories. …
  • Canned tuna packed in oil. 102 grams = 200 calories. …
  • Cheddar cheese. 51 grams = 200 calories. …
  • Coca Cola. 496 ml = 200 calories. …
  • Eggs. 150 grams = 200 calories. …
  • Fried bacon. 34 grams = 200 calories

What happens when we exercise for 10 mins?

  • Jumping rope, 135 calories in 10 minutes. …
  • Swimming, 116 calories in 10 minutes. …
  • Squats, 150 calories in 10 minutes. …
  • Stair climbing, 92 calories in 10 minutes. …
  • Rock climbing, 100 calories in 10 minutes. …
  • Running intervals, 106 calories in 10 minutes. …
  • Hiking, 71 calories in 10 minutes. …
  • Martial arts, 100 calories in 10 minutes.

As you can see in the examples above not all foods pack the same punch and not all exercise requires the same amount of energy to perform. If you have a 51 gm of cheddar cheese you would need to skip for 15 minutes to burn it off. Based on this info no matter how you slice it you cannot exercise away a bad diet. But don’t despair if you are reading this blog, you are likely doing CrossFit or a similar weight training program which is the one thing that will help you speed up your metabolism. If you need a training program, book a free call here so we can help you get started

What is the good news?

Now if you increase your BMR to 1200 calories per day by increasing your muscle mass and continue to eat and train the same you would effectively need about 1530 calories per day thus you would create a calorie deficit which would result in fat loss. 

In a nutshell if you want to speed up your metabolism and decrease your body fat there are 3 steps:

  1. Eat a diet rich in lean meat, fresh veggies, and plant based fat. (Use the app My Fitness Pal to find out how much you need of each)
  2. Build Muscle Mass 
  3. Avoid sugar

All the best,

Coach Tracey

Inspiration provided by Chris Cooper at Catalystgym.com.