According to the experts/ scientists/ gurus/ trainers/ etc., the following has been proven without a doubt in science, tests, studies, fieldwork and using an Ouija board:
- Exercise can boost your metabolism.
- Exercise doesn't boost your metabolism.
- Your food selections can boost your metabolism.
- Your metabolism is not dependent on the nutritional quality of your diet.
- Dieting too much can damage your metabolism.
- Dieting or even starving yourself won't damage your metabolism.
- The best way to boost your metabolism is through weightlifting.
- The best way to boost your metabolism is through cardio.
- Yoga will boost your metabolism.
- Yoga will slow your metabolism.
- Muscle can increase your metabolism big time!
- Muscle hardly increases your metabolism.
- Working out for over an hour can damage your metabolism.
- You must work out for at least an hour to keep your metabolism high.
- Your metabolism is fixed.
- Your metabolism changes daily.
- You can fix a broken metabolism.
- You can't fix your metabolism once damage has been done.
Make sense to you? I've been literally losing sleep on the latest chatter about metabolism on the net and in the media. It seems like no matter where you turn these days everyone says the same thing; I know what's going on and every one else is a fool and has no clue.
So I have been trying to get to the bottom of the whole thing and bring some sense into the confusion about metabolism.
After reading, listening and calling a few people I trust to figure out what the heck is going on, I came to the following conclusion:
All of the bickering, debate, science, studies and research about how we can (or even if we can) change our metabolism really doesn't matter.
So what if you have a slow metabolism? Isn't weight gain and/or loss more about a calorie balance between intake vs. expenditure? Does it really matter if strength training does or does not boost our metabolic furnace? Isn't it more important that we exercise to be strong, capable and healthy? And above all, I eat healthy to supply my body with fuel and to feel good. I could care less about some chemical process that might or might not be changing because I ate a chicken salad for lunch.
At the end of the day we already have a million reasons to eat well, stay active and work hard. If strength training boosts the metabolism then that's great, and if it doesn't so what? The same can be said for eating a balanced diet, and any other healthy lifestyle choice.
I think it's time we stopped looking at the metabolism as an all important, make it or break it factor in fitness. Having a slow metabolism never caused anyone to gain weight, that's more due to taking in too many calories and not spending enough regardless of metabolism. You can have the metabolism of a humming bird and still gain weight.
So let's put the debate on the shelf and go outside and have fun for the sake of doing what makes us feel good and improves our health. I have a feeling the whole metabolism thing will work itself out no matter what we do.
For more out-of-the-box ways to aproching this topic, check out Matt's Free web TV show at TheFitRebel.com TheFitRebel.com.
You'll never look at exercise and weight loss the same again!
Be fit and live free,
Matt Schifferle
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