whilke a good thing, that doesn't up the metabolism.

I don't really understand what metabolism actually is, so you're probably correct.

That doesn't sound too bad. It might actually improve my appearance and disposition.

Changing the number of calories your body burns at rest, and increasing metabolism, are two different things, IMO.

If you want to "lose 5 or maybe have a little ice cream", you simply need to increase the number of calories you burn each day while maintaining your current calorie intake (if that makes sense).


I believe it's normal for a fit person to burn fewer calories at rest than is average, due to the natural decreased heart-rate and other streamlining effects of being fit...

Fit people burn less calories resting because their bodies are more efficient?

I always thought increasing your muscle mass increases you metabolism as well. Muscle, I thought, required more calories to maintain than fat.

Certainly, at rest a fit person's heart-rate can regularly be as much as half that of an unfit person. IIRC, the heart is the biggest at-rest calorie burner in the body.


Absolutely, many places claim muscle burns more calories than fat. It stands to reason that at rest, muscle burns few calories, and the difference is marginal.

Then again, I may be completely wrong...

Here's a pretty good list of ways to boost metabolism. Note that it says you should INCREASE caloric intake (obviously depending on your current level).

Another common thing to boost the burn is to drink lots of water.

Here's a study that concludes that "...weight training induces a significant increase in average daily metabolic rate."

http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/82/1/298

I think a better study would be to have the control group spend an equivalent amount of time on aerobic activities. Interesting study though.