Important Stuff: Metabolism Explained in Simple Form

Welcome new Followers: SeeGirlRun, Pat, and Ewa

Week in Review: 5/8-5/16

Total: Ran 4 days
17.4 miles total
2:31:36 total time; average pace per mile 8:42

8 days since my last post. I have not had the motivation to run or to blog. They're connected, in that when I do run, I don't have any outstanding runs to comment about. They're just runs. Period. They're runs that involve me forcing myself to get into my running clothes and go run. They're runs that I know will initially start with my troublesome left knee freaking out and perhaps giving me a twinge or two of pain, and definitely the "not quite right" feeling, followed by it behaving shortly thereafter for the rest of my run. Weird thing is that my knee bothers me the most whenever I'm lying in bed or standing or sitting still. It's "happiest" whenever I'm running. I said I was joining the gym at the physical therapy place I was going to. Well, I did but I didn't. They have all my paperwork, and my membership begins the first time I go there. The first time hasn't happened yet. It needs to happen. It needs to happen because 1 of 2 things will result. Either the exercises will strengthen my left leg and knee to the point where I can run "normal" again; or the exercises will not work and I'll go back to my doctor and insist on having a MRI on my left knee. I know I have crepitus , but I also feel like there's more to my knee problems than that. Joining the gym I found out yesterday will have an additional benefit. I attended a Weight Watchers staff meeting (I work for them part time) yesterday and learned about metabolism. I'm going to share with you the valuable information that was given to me. "Simply put, metabolism is the number of calories the body burns on a daily basis. The three components of metabolism are: 1) Resting Metabolism,
2) Physical Activity, and 3) Calories Used to Process Food.
1) Resting Metabolism consists of the calories used to keep the body going. Resting Metabolism is the biggest part of total metabolism; it burns between two-thirds to three-quarters of the calories your body uses in a day. The "engine" of Resting Metabolism is lean body mass, which includes muscles, bone mass, blood, organs-everything except the fat. Lean body mass is the biggest determinant of how many calories your Resting Metabolism requires. 2) Physical Activity: Calories burned in physical activity are the most variable part of metabolism, and also the component over which you have the most control. Physical activity is great, affecting more than one segment of metabolism. Resistance training can increase lean mass which increases Resting Metabolism. So, me joining the gym and doing resistance training for my leg(s) and knee has added benefits in that it should increase my lean muscle mass, which in turn increases Resting Metabolism, and Resting Metabolism burns between two-thirds and three-quarters of the calories your/my body uses in a day." A win-win situation for me, and those of you already using resistance training. Ladies, it's ok to hate us men. "Men have more lean mass and less body fat than women. So men have more lean body tissue. Therefore, at rest, men need more calories to keep that lean body tissue going, and we burn more calories in the course of the day. 3) Calories Used to Process Food accounts for 10% of the calories we burn everyday. Speaking of calories, studies have shown that people who eat a light breakfast weigh less than those people who skip breakfast or eat a heavy breakfast." P.S. I n my latest effort to eat/drink more healthy, I haven't had any diet soda (or any soda at all) since May 1st. Thank-you Jill for motivating me to make this healthy choice.