The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies (36 page)

Avoiding digestive discomfort by slowly adding legumes to yo
ur diet

Legumes contain more fiber than any other type of food. Because of this, the body can't fully digest them, which can sometimes lead to gas and bloating.

The best way to avoid any legume-induced digestive discomfort is to gradually add legumes to your meals. Start with small portions of legumes once a week and gradually increase the amount you use over a period of weeks. Try these suggestions to experiment with legumes:

Add 1/4 cup of garbanzo beans to your favorite tossed salad.

Use 1/4 cup of lentils or split peas in a rice pilaf recipe.

Include kidney beans in your favorite spaghetti sauce.

Add mashed pinto beans to tacos or enchiladas.

Make sure to also drink more water when you eat legumes to help improve digestion.

Chapter 8
:
Raising the Bar on Your Meta
bolism

In This Chapter

Getting a grip on metabolism

Discovering easy ways to optimize your metabolic rate

Steering clear of behaviors that can decrease your metabolism

M
etabolism
is the rate your body burns the calories from the foods you eat. The higher your metabolic rate, the more food you can consume without gaining weight, making a good understanding of metabolism and how to help it out one of the fundamentals of any weight-loss plan.

Numerous factors influence a person's metabolic rate, which means everyone's metabolic rate is different. Have you ever been on the same diet plan as your friend or relative and seen her drop the pounds quickly while you lose weight at a snail's pace? This is because your metabolic rates are different. If you feel like you're on the slow end of the metabolism pole, don't worry. No matter what the circumstances, you
can
increase your metabolic rate, and you can do so in a variety of ways.

This chapter covers the various factors that affect your metabolism. It also presents ways to optimize your metabolic rate and behaviors that can lower your metabolism so you can avoid giving in to them.

Understanding Basal Metabolic Rate

Your
basal metabolic rate,
abbreviated as BMR and commonly referred to simply as
metabolic rate,
is the amount of calories your body burns at rest for basic functioning. Every time you breathe, eat, sleep, or just sit down, your body is using a constant stream of energy.

If you've ever followed a calculation that tells you the estimated calories you should eat for ght loss, then you're probably quite familiar with feeling either like you're not getting enough calories to function properly or like you just can't lose the weight no matter how hard you work at maintaining the ideal calorie level. Such calorie calculations often fall short because they don't leave room for differences in people's metabolic rates. Sure, some of them are better than others because they take factors such as age and gender into account, but they're never completely accurate.

The following sections cover some of the factors affecting your metabolic rate in detail and help you determine the best way to calculate your metabolic rate.

Looking at metabolism influences that are largely out of your cont
rol

Many of the factors that affect metabolism are pretty much out of your control. Following is an in-depth look at these factors so you have a better idea of what's working for you and what's working against you:

Age:
Your metabolic rate is highest during infancy because a baby's energy needs are so great. The teenage years also feature a high metabolic rate. (Have you ever seen teenage boys eat? Sometimes you can watch in awe as they pack away thousands of calories and never gain a pound.) As you get older, your metabolic rate begins to decline because your body no longer needs massive amounts of energy to support your physical and mental growth.

By the time you reach adulthood, around 25 years of age, your metabolic rate starts to decline about 2 to 5 percent every decade. For example, a 24-year-old woman may need about 2,000 calories, but by the time she turns 35, she'll only need 1,960 calories. At age 45, she'll only need 1,920 calories. Some people feel this change after they hit their 30s, but most folks don't until they hit their 40s and 50s and notice that gaining weight has become much easier and losing that weight has become a little more challenging.

Genetics:
Your genetic makeup and body shape can also affect your metabolism. For example, a person with a tall, thin frame may experience more heat loss than someone with a short, petite build, resulting in a higher metabolic rate to maintain normal body temperature.

Gender:
It's sad but true — men have it a little better when it comes to metabolic rate. They're naturally taller than women, and they have more surface area and more muscle mass — all of which results in higher metabolic rates. This is why it often seems like men can lose weight a little easier than many women. (Of course, you may find that isn't always the case, but it usually works out that way.)

Women tend to store more fat than muscle as a natural reserve for pregnancy and breast-feeding. With this fact in mind, it's a good idea for women to observe whether they tend to eat the same amount of food as their male companions. Because men naturally burn more, they can (and should!) have larger portion sizes than women.

Your environment:
If you live in a geographical area that's very cold or very hot, you naturally require more calories to normalize your body temperature, just like your house furnace or air conditioning has to use energy to bring the temperature in your home to a comfortable level. So if you're enduring say, a long Michigan winter or a hot Arizona summer, get excited!

Your health:
Several health conditions can also affect your metabolic rate. Hypothyroidism is probably the largest culprit in lowering a person's metabolic rate. (Many individuals with other health issues, such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome [PCOS], often get hypothyroidism.) This slowdown in natural metabolic rate can make weight loss more challenging.