How to Lose Weight Without Lowering Your Metabolism

Your weight and your metabolism are interrelated in an important way. Your weight is affected by several factors including diet, exercise, and your metabolism. Metabolism refers to a process that occurs in the body that converts food and drink into usable energy. Your individual metabolism is affected by your age, sex and body type. The good news is that losing weight while maintaining a healthy metabolism is fairly easy, since the two work together.

Instructions

• 1

  Understand your metabolism. Metabolic rates vary from person to person, but, according to the Mayo Clinic, metabolism isn't really responsible for weight gain; since it is a natural process that your body is able to adapt depending on its specific needs, your metabolism will vary depending on your lifestyle. So your metabolism will speed up or slow down, to a certain degree, depending on your diet and exercise. So, in general, the better you eat and the more you exercise, the faster your metabolism is going to be.

• 2

  Understand weight loss. Losing weight is, mathematically, pretty simple. In order to shed pounds you need to burn more calories than you consume. Your body will burn a certain number of calories just to keep you alive, any calories consumed above this number will need to be burned off through exercise. Determining your basal metabolic rate (BMR) -- the energy required to keep your body functioning -- is easy with the help of an online calculator. Once you know this, and how many calories you consume in a day, you'll know how much exercise you will need to start losing weight.

• 3

  Make a fitness plan. Losing weight requires effort and exercise -- this is the tough part. As you become more active, provided you're eating well, your metabolism is likely to speed up, helping you to keep weight off. A fitness plan designed for your weight-loss needs that includes cardiovascular exercise and strength training -- such as working with weights -- will help you lose weight safely and keep it off.

  Design a program for you that's reasonable, safe and enjoyable; then stick with it to ensure that you lose weight and keep it off.

• 4

  Eat well. Nutrition is the other essential component of weight loss, alongside fitness. Nutritional needs will vary from individual to individual, but most healthy diets are based on a variety of foods including lean proteins, fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and water for hydration. Keeping your metabolism running at a healthy rate requires proper fueling, which a good nutritional plan will help ensure. Visit the new U.S. Food Pyramid to design a healthy eating plan for you.

• 5

  Set goals and stick with your plan. Once you have a fitness and nutrition plan and have set some weight loss goals, you'll need to stick with your program. Healthy weight loss doesn't occur overnight, but if you make smart food and exercise decisions, eventually the pounds will go away -- and stay away. Set small, achievable goals that you can reach incrementally. This will allow you to build momentum as you go.