Burning Calories from SLP Slimming

You burn calories to provide energy for three main functions:

1) Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) This is the amount of calories you burn just by being alive - even when you are lying down, doing nothing. BMR accounts for approximately 60% of the calories burned for an average person.

2) Burning Calories for Activity This is the energy used during movement - from lifting your arm to operate the remote control to cleaning the windows. This accounts for approximately 30% of the calories burned by an average person.

3) Dietary Thermogenesis The 'thermogenic effect' described as meal-induced heat production - the calories burned in the process of eating, digesting, absorbing and using food.

You can influence all these factors, and speed up your rate of burning calories using some, or all, of the following tactics:

1) Build Muscle. Increase the amount of muscle in your body. For every extra pound of muscle you put on, your body uses around 50 extra calories a day. In a recent study, researchers found that regular weight training boosts basal metabolic rate by about 15%. This is because muscle is 'metabolically active' and burns more calories than other body tissue even when you're not moving. Training with weights just 3 times a week for around 20 minutes is enough to build muscle. Not only will you be burning more calories, you'll look better - whatever your weight.

2) Move More. Although the average person burns around 30% of calories through daily activity, many sedentary people only use around 15%. Simply being aware of this fact - and taking every opportunity to move can make quite a dramatic difference to the amount of calories you burn.

The trick is to keep the 'keep moving' message in mind. Write the word 'move' on post-it notes and put them in places you'll notice them when you're sitting still. Then, take every opportunity to move - here's some ideas for burning calories:

You'll find lots of opportunities for burning more calories if you remember that you're looking for them! Keep thinking 'keep moving'.

3) Eat Spicy Food. There is evidence to show that spices, especially chilli, can raise the metabolic rate by up to 50% for up to 3 hours after you've eaten a spicy meal. Drinks containing caffeine also stimulate the metabolism, as does green tea.

4) Aerobic Exercise. As well as the actual amount of calories burned during exercise - studies have shown that sustained, high-intensity exercise makes you burn more calories for several hours afterwards.

Click here for information about Calories In Food.