Rev your engines

Danica Patrick, the NASCAR Cup rookie, revved her engines out of the pits midway through the "The Great American Race", and became the first ever woman to lead the Daytona 500, under full-speed conditions. Even though she ended up finishing 8th for the day, where her rookie status was evident (she was 3rd when the white flag waved), she showed she has what it takes to be an elite NASCAR Cup mainstay, even though she will have to get use driving these bulkier stock cars. She amazed NASCAR fans across the world, who might of thought she was just a pretty face, who was well-connected, with her ability to stay in with the top 10 drivers lap after lap, all day. Now we ladies need to rev our engines every day too, and there are a lot of different ways for us to get our metabolism revved up to begin the process of burning more calories everyday.

Research has shown that our metabolism decreases every decade by 2 to 4 percent and that could be the reason many of us feel like we eat the same amount as we did when we were 35 and gain more weight in our forties than we ever did before. We also lose more muscle mass too, about 5 to 7 pounds every decade. Then factor in the fact that a pound of fat only burns 3 calories an hour while a pound of muscle burns 14 calories an hour. So we use to be able to eat 2,000 calories a day and now we should eat only 1,800. So our metabolism now needs a boost. So how do we do give our body the boost it needs?

Well to rev your engine, you need to understand how the body burns calories. First 60 to 70 percent is utilized just for basic daily functions of your heart, lungs, etc. Next 10 percent is used to digest our foods and then 15-30 percent is used during the movements you do all day. So there are a few different ways to rev your metabolism. You can increase the number of times you eat a day. 6 small meals a day works to increase your metabolism. You can decrease your caloric intake, by decreasing your carbohydrates, which then decreases your glycemic levels. With foods that have lower glycemic levels you then can have a steady amount of insulin in your system. Foods like beans instead of pasta, or cherries over a banana, help burn more calories then when you have a higher level of insulin in your system. Another way to increase your metabolism is to move more and add exercise in to your daily lifestyle. The more muscle you make the more you burn calories. So weight lifting exercises which increase muscle mass revs up your system also.

Myfitnesspal.com is a great app to help you in your endeavor. We have first hand accounts of people in our community that are using this handy little app to assist them in changing their health and have already lost weight and changed their activity levels. Go online and check it out. It is an easy way to track your food intake and activity levels. You can then put in your desired weight loss goals and it will help you stay on track everyday. Don't wait; begin to rev your engine in the race for your life.

Sheree DiBiase, PT is the owner of Lake City Physical Therapy

and she and her staff can be reached at (208) 667-1988 and they would like to help you in the quest of boosting your metabolism so you can have the health you want and need. Remember, never give up on your health. It is a precious gift and it is worth every minute of your time.