exercise and metabolism

Question
Hi! I'm female, 18 years old, approx. 120-5 pounds (I don't own a scale). I've recently decided to try and climb my way back up to top physique which i had for a short time about a year back. I've been running about 2-3 miles a day at about 7 mph and doing lots of strength exercises (I recently had to quit my career in swimming because my lack of income). I want to lose the weight I've gained, and gain back the muscle I lost since I stopped swimming. However, I've been exercising at night time, at about 9 or 10  after dinner, and I read that it is better for your metabolism to exercise in the mornings. Wouldn't it be the same if you just exercised at night? Sorry, I lack knowledge in metabolism because this is the first time I've tried dieting. Also, does your weight effect (or anything else) affect your metabolism? Is there a way to calculate your metabolism? What kind (how big/small) of meals should I be consuming? Sorry for all the questions, this is all new to me. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Jamie,

Firstly, it is very dangerous to diet at your age, so let's rule that one out.

If you've been in top form only a year ago, then I suggest looking at what has been different in eating and exercising over the last year to cause the weight gain.

To make sure you create a fat burning metabolism and retain a lean muscle definition you must include lean protein from fish,poultry,meats in your daily meals. I always suggest 6 small meals a day if exercising.

E.g.

breakfast
snack
lunch
snack
dinner
snack

and make sure you are drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day.

Exercising (especially strength training with weights) creates a a fat burning system and raises metabolism, as long as your eating habits are great.
Because of this, if you exercise in the morning, your fat burning goes on through the day and therefore you'll burn up more calories. If exercising at night, there is not much activity or food to burn, so you'll see less gains.

Remember, the body burns fat in the repair time between exercising, not at the time of exercising. Aerobics and cardio will give a burn for about 3-4 hours after. Intense weights will give a burn for up to 24 hrs after, so also remember to give yourself enough rest inbetween weights training ( about 2 days).

If you want to work out your fat percentage and current metabolism, as well as projected values for your goals you can use the calculator on my site at http://www.thinkslimntrim.org


Hope this helps  

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