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How often have you heard someone blame their overweight problem on a slow metabolism? You hear it often As soon as I hit 30 my metabolism slowed down and I gained weight. Maybe you have said something similar yourself. Many people mistakenly think that their metabolism (the body's engine) slows because of the accumulation of the years but this is only partly correct. The metabolism slows down because of loss of muscle tissue and you do not lose muscle either because of the aging process. You lose it because you stop using it. A lack of muscular exertion that causes the loss of one half pound of muscle tissue each year together with the wrong type of food and too much of it is making more of us fat. By the time you hit middle age you may have lost as much as 15-25 pounds of healthy, fat burning life, enhancing muscle tissue. The wrong type of foods such as eating mainly refined and processed foods can keep blood sugar levels high without the activity of muscles being used to burn it up. High levels of blood sugar over a sustained period of time cause damage to blood vessels and organs which trigger serious disease. There is nothing that has a greater impact on the health of your metabolism than toned muscle tissue and it cannot be kept toned with light everyday activities like general housework or gardening or even with 'cardio' type long endurance activities. The muscles have to be placed under a load through their ranges of movement so they become stronger and denser. Only a proper program of strength training exercise is going to be able to directly strengthen the muscular system. Those who strength train on a regular basis as their primary exercise activity have greater muscle strength and bone density, are stronger, leaner, look better and more youthful than those who do only low intensity activities. The fact is it is the absence of strength training and the loss of the 'growth and repair' hormones that can only stimulated by working the muscles in a challenging way that causes the body accumulate excess body fat more easily and to grow old more quickly. Strength training works because increasing muscle tone fires up the metabolic rate and keeps the body running at its fat-burning best. So it is no use blaming excess weight problems on sluggish metabolisms when what really is to blame is the lack of toned muscle tissue. The time you spend on your strength training program getting your muscular system in good healthy toned shape will repay you ten-fold. Your fat burning mechanism will be working away for you 24 hours a day whether you are exercising or relaxing on the couch watching television. It really does not get any better than that. So get yourself started and watch your new, slim, firm, shapely body emerge no matter what your age is. My name is Carolyn Hansen, and my goal is to show you how to burn fat - without starving yourself - by combining strength training with the right foods that increase metabolism, decrease food cravings, and keep you looking trim. Come find out how it is done.
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