WEIGH DOWN: SPECIAL SITUATION—METABOLISM

 

Some people have been told that if they have been on a lot of diets— diet pills or liquid fasts—their metabolism may be altered and their bodies will be resistant to losing weight. On the contrary, we have seen that the minute people start eating less food, they lose weight.

Think about it—how could food companies put calorie counts on the side of a package if everyone had a skewed metabolism? Metabolism refers to the amount of energy (calories) your body traps from food. Everyone traps 80 calories from a slice of bread—even though some of you feel like you will trap 160 calories just by smelling it, while your thin friends can eat five slices of bread and trap only ten calories! Our metabolisms are fine (although, in some very rare cases, people may have disorders such as hypothyroidism). People need different amounts of food to keep their bodies alive, but this is actually related to how much muscle mass they have. Muscle is the most metabolically active tissue. In other words, it takes more calories to keep a muscle cell active than a brain cell. Your body will accurately call for the needed amounts of oxygen and calories. My body has very little muscle mass and what little I have is not exercised much, so I need less food than most adults I know. I am content with a small amount of food.