If you missed Part 1 you can find it here…

Let’s look specifically at an individual trying to lose weight, or better yet, looking to lose body fat. How do the three aspects mentioned above– nutrition, cardio and weights– tie together in order to help the individual lose body fat?

Well, the only way to truly lose any kind of weight and/or body tissue is by being in a caloric deficit. This is a fancy way of saying that you are burning more calories throughout the day than you’re eating, or conversely, you’re eating less calories throughout the day than you are burning.

If you do this for an extended period of time– put yourself into a caloric deficit– you will notice that you start to lose weight. Clothes will start to fit more loosely. However, how you go about losing that weight will dictate the end product of what you look like, what you feel like, and whether you are successful in keeping the weight off.

There’s a very fancy buzz word that you hear all of the time nowadays– metabolism. Everybody talks about how important it is to have a high metabolism, but nobody seems to really know exactly what the metabolism is.

What Is Metabolism

Structure of the coenzyme adenosine triphosphate, a central intermediate in energy metabolism

Your metabolism is basically the total rate at which your body burns calories throughout the day, simply due to your body composition, your eating and exercise habits, and your genetics. Your resting metabolism accounts for anywhere from 60-75% of your total daily caloric needs (excluding exercise).

Think about that number for a minute. All the stuff that you do throughout the day– waking up, taking a shower, walking to the car, walking around throughout the day, picking up the kids at school, preparing and eating your food, etc., etc., etc.– really only accounts for about 25-40% of your caloric needs. The vast majority of your caloric needs are represented by your resting metabolism, which, again, is going to be a reflection of your eating and training habits, along with your body composition. Looking at it this way, it should be obvious why it is so important to have a high metabolism.

If you have a sluggish metabolism, that hour of cardio per day– where you might burn 500 calories if you are lucky– is not going to make up for that extra slice of pizza here and there. When it comes to successfully managing body composition, metabolism is everything!!!

How To Slow Down Your Metabolism

So let’s go back for a moment to the individual looking to lose weight. They are going to have to be in a caloric deficit. However, the human body is very efficient and will find a way to adjust to almost any circumstances. The human body has built-in mechanisms that strive to keep everything on an even keel. Think about it– if you are in a caloric deficit for an extended period of time, what you are literally doing is not giving your body the calories it needs to sustain its current state. In other words, if you are in a caloric deficit over an extended period of time, you are literally starving yourself, just at a very slow pace. As such, your body will find a way to preserve itself and survive. How? Well, the main way it’s going to achieve this– it will slow down its metabolism!

Stay Tuned For Part 3 in the Series tomorrow…