It seems that many people these days are either on some sort of diet or would like to lose weight so they can look and feel better. One word that is frequently used in relation to weight loss is metabolism and is often blamed when someone piles on excess weight.

If you think your metabolism may have slowed down you may well be right. If you yourself have slowed down with your activity level and are over the age of 25 you will most definitely have a reduced metabolic engine size.

You see your metabolism is the rate your body burns fuel. It ticks over 24/7 and is the foundation for the amount of fuel your body uses for day to day functions and governs how much of your intake of calories are used for energy needs or stored in the form of body fat.

Long term success managing your weight no matter what your age starts with the right approach. If you are overweight, the real problem is that you have too much body fat for how much muscle tissue you possess. This problem is a body composition issue (muscle/body fat ratio) not a body fat issue. The solution to correct this must contain a means to replace the muscle tissue that has been lost dropping the metabolic rate down.

For most people the metabolic decline that occurs over the years results from a variety of causes including inactivity, loss of muscle tissue, excess body fat and restrictive dieting. Muscle toning exercise and eating right can rev up your metabolic rate, which means your body will burn more calories - even at rest.

One of the newest approaches to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight focuses on boosting the metabolism through a proper exercise program performed 2-3 times per week. If you put on just one or two kilos of body-shaping muscle it will have a huge impact on your metabolism. Don't worry you will hardly know that it is there. It will be hidden underneath the fat but you will soon notice its calorie burning capacity when you start getting leaner.

For every kilogram of muscle tissue you put on, your metabolism increases by around 100 calories per day and over a few weeks this can help burn up a substantial amount of body fat. It is best not to weigh yourself on the bathroom scales as your bodyweight may not change substantially. But the most important thing is the fact that your body composition has because you have increased your muscle tissue and lost body fat.

This is a way better approach to getting rid of that unwanted fat as opposed to starving it off. You will be easily be able to turn your body into a more efficient fat burning machine and will be in better shape in no time at all.

If you eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day made up of whole natural foods this will increase your metabolic engine even more. In just a few months you will be pleasantly surprised how much differently you look and feel.

Make sure you get help from a fitness professional at your local gym to set up your program and get you started off on the right path. Your program should contain strength training exercise to ensure you get the results you want with regard to weight loss.