Metabolism Matters

What is metabolism?

Simply put, your metabolism is the amount of calories your body burns. You burn calories during work and exercise, but did you know that your body burns the majority of its calories just to stay alive?

The calories your body burns to maintain normal body functions, such as breathing, your heart beating, and your brain working are known as your resting metabolic rate (RMR). Your RMR accounts for up to 75% of the calories you burn each day.

Understanding Metabolism: Calories In Versus Calories Out

Weight management success is a simple matter of balancing the calories you eat with the calories you burn.

No matter what you eat, it is impossible to lose weight unless you eat fewer calories than you burn. It sounds easy, but it’s hard to do unless you truly know how many calories your body is burning. Metabolism is the missing piece of the weight management puzzle!

How do I know what my metabolism is?

Advances in technology have now made it both easy and affordable to have your metabolism measured with the MedGem® device by HealtheTech™. Metabolic measurement provides the most accurate means of nutrition and fitness assessment for personalized success.

Knowing your unique metabolism allows you to establish a calorie budget that will work for you. Your metabolism may change over time, especially as you lose weight or change your fitness level. Having your metabolism measured throughout your program will help you reach your goals without hitting frustrating plateaus.

Metabolism is unique to everyone.

Why pay attention to your weight?

Increased Risks of Being Overweight

Being overweight or obese is associated with increased risk of several diseases such as:

• High blood pressure
  
• Heart disease
  
• Diabetes
  
• Cancer
  
• Gall bladder disease
  
• Osteoarthritis
  
• Sleep apnea

The good news is that losing just a small amount of weight (10-20 pounds) can significantly reduce these risks and improve your health – by up to 50 percent in some cases.

Participants in the Diabetes Prevention Program who lost an average of 7 percent of their body weight and did an average of 30 minutes per day of moderate exercise reduced their diabetes risk by 58 percent.*

When it comes to weight loss, slow and steady wins the race. Fad and crash diets are often successful in the short term, but don’t result in long term weight maintenance. A weight management plan based on your metabolism allows you to set personal and manageable goals to lose weight safely and permanently. Success is just a measurement away.

Accurate Metabolism Measurement:

Much like having your blood pressure measured or your cholesterol checked, there are certain guidelines you need to follow to get an accurate measurement of your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), the number of calories you burn each day at rest with little or no activity.

Before your test:

• Do not eat for at least 4 hours
  
• Do not exercise for at least 4 hours (aerobic or strength training)
  
• Do not consume caffeine or nutritional supplements or medications containing ephedra, Ma Huang or pseudoephedrine for 4 hours
  
• Do not smoke or use nicotine for 1 hour

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