"I am slightly overweight. I jog 3 miles a day, and do resistance training 3 times a day. But the weight still won't come off." How many times have you heard people make these kinds of statements? Why can't they lose the extra weight? Is this a common problem for the majority of people who want to take off the extra pounds? What factors determine the ability to lose weight? There is no one simple answer. But you can be sure that metabolism plays a key role when it comes to losing weight, and keeping it off.
Metabolism is the process of burning the calories from the food we eat and converting it into the energy needed to perform bodily functions and for staying alive. The higher your metabolic rate, the more calories are burned for energy. The speed in which your body burn calories and produce weight loss depends on a variety of factors.
Some people are born with a high metabolic rate. Since most men have bigger muscles than women, they tend to have a higher metabolic rate compared to women. Also, metabolism slows down as you get older. This is why it is more difficult for older people to lose weight than younger people. Since we can't control our age, heredity, and sex, you are probably wondering what, if anything, can be done to increase your metabolism in order to make weight loss possible.