New Day Your Way

Know Your Metabolic Rate

This four-digit number could unlock the secret to your weight loss. Isn't it about time you learned how to use it?

If somewhere there existed a list of women's most deeply held fantasies, you can bet "eat anything I want and not get fat" would be near the top. Who wouldn't like to live in a world where chocolate cake and rice cakes had the same impact on one's bottom line? That, one might imagine, would truly be paradise.

How Fast Does Your Body Burn Calories?

Truth is, some of us were just born with sluggish metabolisms. Sometimes it seems that no matter what we do, we can't lose weight. But the first step toward changing that is knowing your metabolic rate: the speed at which your body burns through the calories it consumes. (See Understanding Calories)

"You cannot control your weight loss unless you know this number," says Fabio Comana, a research scientist and exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise, in San Diego. "Losing weight is a simple matter of calories in and calories out, but you need to know where to begin."

Here is a quick, easy (and very, very rough) way to calculate your rate:

Activity Level	Women	Men
If you don't get any exercise	Weight x 12	Weight x 14
If you are moderately active	Weight x 14	Weight x 16
If you are very active	Weight x 16	Weight x 18

For a more accurate metabolic reading, contact your local gym. Many of them have a breathing device that can analyze how much oxygen your muscle cells are burning and the amount of carbon dioxide you're producing. Once they know the relationship between these two, they can pinpoint your resting metabolism-the amount of calories you burn just by existing. They can then figure out and add the number of calories that you burn in your daily activities.

No matter how you get to that magic total, things become simple once you know it. Consume fewer calories than your metabolism burns, and you'll lose weight. In general, slashing 500 to 1,000 calories off your usual intake leads to a safe weight loss of 1-2lb a week, but just dieting can be frustrating and impractical, especially if you dip below a certain caloric level (1,200 for women; 1400 for men), which slows your metabolism. Comana's advice: cut 250 to 500 calories from your diet, and burn the remaining 250 to 500 off through physical activity.

You Can Boost Your Metabolism

Try combining aerobics and weight training: this duo builds lean muscle mass and upgrades your entire physical system, making you process calories more efficiently. Eating small meals every three to four hours also keeps your motor running, especially if those meals include protein or low-fat dairy foods. Clinical studies even suggest that drinking two consecutive glasses of water or eating 10 grams of ground red pepper can speed things up for 20-30 minutes.

Fat-burning pills with caffeine, hoodia and guarana may rev up your metabolism, but could also take a toll on your heart, Comana explains. Better to go the natural route: "We've now discovered that fat cells in the body help regulate metabolism, so scientists are creating drugs and vaccines to work with those," he points out. "Are they the solution? No. We need to control what we eat and be more physically active."

He grows pensive. "It's clear that the scale is tipped in favor of weight gain. But if we want to have any quality of life, or see our grandchildren grow up, we have to tip the balance in the other direction."