Dieting is never a solution for weight loss. A well planned food habit is required both to gain as well as lose weight. 20 minutes of fast running can burn around 200 calories, but our basal metabolic rate (the energy consumed while the body is idle) is far higher and that is the key in keeping your body in shape over a long period of time. Increasing the basal metabolic rate (check the BMR calculator) is the permanent solution for weight loss. So the most important factor in weight management is learning the ways to enhance the basal metabolic rate.
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Everyone would have noticed that some people are eating more and yet are relatively lean, and others who consume less are still on the heavier side. The reason for this is the difference in the energy utilized in the form of body’s metabolic rate (Different body types).
Low metabolic rate may be because of various reasons like age, lean body mass, physical activity, amount of food consumed and genetics. Another important reason which many people are not aware off is malfunctioning of thyroid gland. When it is less active, body suffers a condition known as hypothyroidism. No matter what you do, if your thyroid gland is not functioning properly, you will remain overweight. One should go to a doctor to diagnose and get medication, but using iodised salt and practising Sarvangasana and Halasana can cure this over a period of time(We can see about this in a separate post).

Generally, men have better BMR than women. Another factor that determines the metabolic rate is your body composition. To a certain extent, genetics also plays a role in deciding how much calories you must consume. It is therefore necessary that you seek expert guidance on how best to manage your weight.

Ways to improve the BMR.

There are several ways to enhance metabolism.

1)     Building muscles is the simplest way to increase the BMR. More the number of muscle cells, higher will be the BMR. So, it is very important to dedicate time for physical exercises, though weight lifting will not burn a lot of calories while lifting, indirectly it will increase the muscle mass and thereby will improve your BMR and keeps you lean. But it is important to do your exercise in the right way, it is important to give a break of 8 to 12 minutes in between, this in addition to improve your stamina will also increase your BMR in the form of recovery.

Have a personal trainer or use good guides to practice the right exercises to reap maximum benefits and to avoid injuries. You can try Truth about abs, it can described as the bible for fitness buffs.

2)    You burn calories, even when you clicked you mouse the read this article; any action requires energy, so instead of using your vehicle for everything walk. Use stairs instead of using the elevator.

3)    Having healthy eating habits is as important as consuming the correct food (Best Food Habits). It is important to chew the food really well before swallowing it. This in addition to aid digestion will prevent spikes in blood sugar level and directly prevents converting of sugar in to fat and being saved in the body as fat. Eating smaller meals more often, than having a heavy meal can do wonders to your metabolism. Even to break down the food and to digest and assimilate the food requires energy and your BMR will increase if you have smaller meals often.
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4)    Taking of fluids. Most neglected part among fitness buffs. Fluids (especially water) are very important. In addition to maintain the proper body temperature, it aids in all the metabolic activity and reduces the fat generation in the body. One should avoid drinking water immediately after a meal, as it will dilute the digestive juices, so one should drink water only after one hour after the meal.

5)    Don’t look for quick weight loss, if you are very strict with your diet and starve yourself, then what you will lose is your muscle mass and not the fat. By losing your muscle mass you decrease your BMR, so if you start eating well again you put up more weight than before. Another problem with starving is you lose water weight, which can be attained even by decreasing the salt content in your food. Losing a lot of fluid is not really good for the body.

There are no thumb rules in increasing the BMR, but a combination of all the above 6 methods will work for anyone.

Understand your body well; don’t go for quick fixes or diet pills and supplements. Anything that is not natural will never be healthy. You can also check this book about Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle