Stop blaming your metabolism for being overweight

The real truth about the link between your metabolic rate - that is, the amount of energy used up by your body just to keep your heart beating, your blood pumping and so on - and weight gain...

People who struggle to lose weight often blame their 'slow metabolism' and insist that their body doesn't burn up calories as efficiently as their skinnnier friends.

But what is the real truth about the link between your metabolic rate - that is, the amount of energy used up by your body just to keep your heart beating, your blood pumping and so on - and weight gain?

According to British scientist Susan Robert, Professor of Nutrition and Professor of Psychiatry at the USDA Nutrition Centre at Tufts University, Boston, many dieters are simply using a sluggish metabolism as an excuse for weight gain, when research evidence doesn't actually support this belief.

The diet doctor and nutritionist explains in the Daily Mail that while it seems logical in theory that a slow metabolism must be linked to weight gain and obesity, research evidence doesn't really support this belief. Yes, some people do have a lower metabolism than others and if your metabolism is low, your body needs fewer calories to maintain weight. But not that many fewer.

We're only talking about the calorie equivalent of a small latte or a small piece of cheese on a cracker per day. It certainly doesn't explain why your friend seems to get away with eating a side order of chips when you can't.

In other words, a sluggish metabolism doesn't instantly mean a life sentence of obesity. It still all depends on your calorie intake.

The only real explanation for weight gain is that you are eating the wrong food. You need to learn which foods will cut hunger, which foods will give you the vitamins and minerals you need, but on fewer calories.

That is the key to weight loss and it's a path which will help even those with a low metabolism to lose weight and keep it off.

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