Metabolism
Metabolism (/məˈtæbəlɪzəm/, from Greek: μεταβολή metabolē, "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms.
A fast metabolism does not imply that the reactions are happening more ‘quickly’. Nor are there more ‘reactions’ happening.
The way most people speak about their metabolism is the ease with which they can remain lean or the difficulty in losing weight. While not entirely wrong, body weight or its maintenance is not the most useful measure of metabolism.
The most useful measure of our metabolism is our Basal Metabolic Rate. That is the basic amount of calories needed to survive. Not counting movement, exercise etc.
Basal Metabolic Rate varies vastly amongst the population. But a as general rule, women require fewer calories than men at the same weight and height.
People with larger frames require more energy to maintain their basic bodily functions than those with smaller frames. And some people seem to need 1xxx calories to maintain a steady weight. Eating less results in the body scavenging its own energy stores and tissue to make it through the day.
While others may pack on weight eating the same 1xxx calories. The body needed less energy. The surplus is stored as adipose. This variance can occur even between people with same height and weight.
Now here is another key factor why some people have an easier time not putting on weight:
1 their hunger signalling is relatively muted. Their brain don’t seem nudge them to seek out food as often.
2 some people are genuinely less interested in food. No amount of environmental stimulus in the form of ads, flavours, scents or imagery moves the needle. They just don’t care as much about food.
3 they feel satiety and satiation with relatively less volume of food. Some folks just don’t need to eat as much to feel full. I am an example of this. I struggle to eat a lot. I hit that point of feeling full long before my peers.
The above three points also illustrate why obesity is more complicated than just calorie counts. How you are wired to enjoy and behave with food can complicate the game a lot.
One measure of metabolism is calories required to meet your total daily energy expenditure. But the maze of how you behave with food, can complicate our ability to manipulate and understand our metabolism.
Metabolism (/məˈtæbəlɪzəm/, from Greek: μεταβολή metabolē, "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms.
A fast metabolism does not imply that the reactions are happening more ‘quickly’. Nor are there more ‘reactions’ happening.
The way most people speak about their metabolism is the ease with which they can remain lean or the difficulty in losing weight. While not entirely wrong, body weight or its maintenance is not the most useful measure of metabolism.
The most useful measure of our metabolism is our Basal Metabolic Rate. That is the basic amount of calories needed to survive. Not counting movement, exercise etc.
Basal Metabolic Rate varies vastly amongst the population. But a as general rule, women require fewer calories than men at the same weight and height.
People with larger frames require more energy to maintain their basic bodily functions than those with smaller frames. And some people seem to need 1xxx calories to maintain a steady weight. Eating less results in the body scavenging its own energy stores and tissue to make it through the day.
While others may pack on weight eating the same 1xxx calories. The body needed less energy. The surplus is stored as adipose. This variance can occur even between people with same height and weight.
Now here is another key factor why some people have an easier time not putting on weight:
1 their hunger signalling is relatively muted. Their brain don’t seem nudge them to seek out food as often.
2 some people are genuinely less interested in food. No amount of environmental stimulus in the form of ads, flavours, scents or imagery moves the needle. They just don’t care as much about food.
3 they feel satiety and satiation with relatively less volume of food. Some folks just don’t need to eat as much to feel full. I am an example of this. I struggle to eat a lot. I hit that point of feeling full long before my peers.
The above three points also illustrate why obesity is more complicated than just calorie counts. How you are wired to enjoy and behave with food can complicate the game a lot.
One measure of metabolism is calories required to meet your total daily energy expenditure. But the maze of how you behave with food, can complicate our ability to manipulate and understand our metabolism.