Take Charge of Your Metabolism

APPETIZER

Lift MORE weights. While cardio is a very important part of a healthy lifestyle, you should never under estimate the value of strength training. You can't have a well-rounded fitness routine if you're not including some type of resistance training to strengthen your muscles and speed up your metabolism.


MAIN COURSE

Metabolism is basically the energy that your body expends simply to keep you alive - the energy to think, breath and move.

As many of you have already experienced, our metabolism starts to slow down once we get in 0ur 30s, and it typically continues to decrease by about 5% every decade thereafter. So if you eat 2,000 calories a day and wear a size 12 at age 34, you will more than likely wear a size 14 at age 44 if you continue to eat 2,000 calories a day because you will be burning less calories.


Burning less calories as we age is attributed to the decrease in muscle. For every pound of muscle we lose, our bodies will burn as many as 30 calories less each day. Prior to menopause, women start losing about 1/2 pound of muscle per year, and this loss can sometimes increase to a full pound after menopause.

Lifting weights can actually reverse muscle loss, so it's not too late for you to get started!


DESSERT

I was introduced to weight training in 2001 by a girlfriend of mine. Before meeting her, I wouldn't have been caught dead by the machines at the gym, let alone the free weights. She turned me on to the benefits of lifting, and I've never looked back.

Once I started lifting weights, my body began to change in ways that I'd never been able to achieve with just cardio. Not only did my arms and legs start to tone up, but my abs benefited from the core strengthening moves that she taught me.

I had always thought that lifting weights would make me big and bulky, but I've sinced learned that this just isn't true at all. Most of those huge mega muscle chicks that you see in magazines or on TV, are taking extreme measures to look like that. For the average woman, like you and me, we wouldn't be able to get that way if we tried - not that we're going to be trying.

If you want to get started with lifting but don't know where to start, continue to dine with me here at Café Physique because I'll be posting more on weights soon.

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.