Kingman diet tip: How to burn more calories

Were you once able to eat whatever you wanted and now it seems like you can’t even look at food without gaining weight? What might be the cause of that?

Hi, this is Eunice with Diet Center.

It can have a lot to do with metabolism. Metabolism is all the processes that occur in the body that turn the foods we eat into energy.

The amount of energy our bodies need and use plays a significant part in one’s weight. As we age, our metabolism slows down. The reason is because the body loses muscle with age.

As we lose muscle mass, our calorie needs fall. As we get older, we may be consuming more calories than our bodies can use, resulting in stored fat. Consuming as little as 50 extra calories a day over what our body can metabolize will result in a weight gain of almost 6 pounds in one year.

After age 25 men and women lose lean muscle tissue every year. In our 30s, metabolism slows by about 5% every decade.

After age 40 women lose a half pound of muscle each year. After menopause, women lose up to one pound a year if they do not exercise. Exercising will help protect muscle tissue that will help burn fat and calories. If you’re in your 50s and 60s, it’s not too late to start exercising. You can still protect muscle, burn fat and achieve better weight loss.

Age does not have to be a factor in your decision to exercise to help you lose weight. Someone may say, “I’m old and tired. I’ve never exercised and it’s too late to start now.” Society tends to view getting older as a time to relax and take it easy. A significant factor in becoming overweight, unhealthy, weak or ill is due to inactivity rather than age. It is important to be active in life no matter how old we are.

Here is another area that can aid in fat burning.

Certain fats may increase fat-burning potential. A study at the University of Wisconsin Madison measured fat burning in college-age women who rested, cycled lightly and cycled heavily. The amount of fat burned was measured for 12 hours after they consumed meals high in monounsaturated fats (good fat) and saturated fats (bad fat).

Researchers found that about 50% of the monounsaturated fat was burned after heavy exercise, 39% after light exercise and 34% after rest. Only 11% of the saturated fat was burned regardless of whether the women rested or exercised.

Therefore, consuming monounsaturated fats may improve our fat burning results when exercising. Consider fats such as canola oil, olive oil, peanut oil, nuts and seeds for your meals prior to exercising.

Thank you for reading Diet Center’s Tip of the Week. If you are struggling to reach your goal weight, call 928-753-5066 or stop by Diet Center at 1848 Hope Ave. in Kingman.