Project Summary: >> All too often people blame a slow metabolism for their weight troubles and our Dr. Emily Senay is here to explain why that excuse does not really hold water all the time. >> Yes. >> Yeah, I mean this is really kind of confusing, because, because we're probably not paying as much attention to what we're eating and we just blame it on metabolism. >> Well, that's right. Let's define what we're talking about. Resting metabolic rate for our purposes is how many calories we burn just sitting around. I mean, our body has to function, we have to breathe, our heart has to beat, we have to digest food, all this requires calories and about 70 percent of the calories we expend a day are just sitting, just our body doing its basic functioning. So when we talk about metabolic rate, we talk about what does it take for our body to do that? And, sure Renee, different people have different resting metabolic rate. There are sex differences, there are hormonal differences, there are, people are different sizes. They have more lean muscle, less, more fat, so there are different resting metabolic rates, but if you take two people, same sex, about the same height, about the same weight, same amount of lean muscle, their resting metabolic rates are going to be pretty similar. >> Now what are some of things that, that impacts your resting metabolic rate? >> Right. Well let's go through that and then we'll talk about what's realistic as far as using that as a weight control tool, improving your resting metabolic rate. Weight training. Yes, you can improve your lean muscle, this is a good thing to do. Lean muscle requires calories just to exist. It, fat does not, in a sense. So if you have more lean muscle at your resting metabolic rate, is going to be higher because you need those calories. >> We hear that a lot. >> Yep. Eating regular meals and snacks. By snacks I don't mean potato chips [laughing]. Now just digesting food requires calories, you have to chew, you have to swallow, you have to absorb, you have to digest. That all requires calories so if you do that several times up to four times a day, about 400 calories a meal, you're going to be burning calories. Now. Rest. Rest is very important. If you're not resting, your body's not going to do a lot of things efficiently, including burning calories. >> Eight hours a night? Doesn't matter? >> You know, it depends on different people, but 7 to 8 hours a night on average is what most people need. Avoiding certain diets, what we mean by that is starvation diets. It's a cruel irony. The more that you restrict calories, the more your body says to itself what's going on here? And it starts to conserve energy; it starts to find ways to not burn so many calories at rest, so it's sort of a self-defeating cycle. So starving yourself, you're going to drop that resting metabolic rate, that's not going to help you in the long run. >> Can I just go on national TV and say the 135 pounds I have now at age 40 is not the same as the 135 I was carrying on 10 years ago. Age has got to. >> It does. >> Have a huge role! >> You do decrease your metabolism as you get older, and that's largely due to the fact that you're dropping the amount of lean muscle in your body. So, if you want to keep that youthful metabolism, keep youthful muscles. Weight training. Weightbearing exercise. Aerobic exercise, as well for sure, because that's going to help you burn calories, but muscle is youth many people say. >> Can you just one time come in here and say there's a magic pill? >> I would love to! >> Emily Senay, thanks so much. >> I would love to. That's the transcript of the video above. After reviewing both the video and text, pick 4 factors effecting metabolism and thoroughly describe how they influence a person's metabolic rate. Expectation: 1. 1 page double spaced submission 2. Description of 4 factors effecting one's metabolic rate.