10 Obese People have a Slower Metabolic Rate – Answer

#10 – Obese people have slower basal metabolic rates than non-obese people

Answer: FALSE

This is a common fallacy to assume that obese or overweight people have a slower metabolic rate and that they are somehow just not burning enough calories. From here the thinking is they can lose weight by increasing their metabolism and in turn increase the amount of calories they are burning.

The reality is that overweight and obese people (when compared to height and age matched non overweight people) have a higher metabolism and would burn more calories on a daily basis.

A bigger body that has more mass and is processing more food is simply doing more work. Metabolism is just the description of all the metabolic processes going on in your body.

If you’re body is bigger than mine and you regularly eat more food than I do, then you’re body is busy processing that food and laying down more fat mass (which is more work). This actually translates to a higher metabolic rate or a greater degree of calories burned per day compared to someone who isn’t as big and not eating as much. None of this adds up to weight loss.

It just means that a bigger body has a bigger metabolism, and a smaller body has a smaller metabolism.

If you want to actually see some weight loss results/success I suggest you forget about the word metabolism. Strike it from your vocabulary and focus on eating less food.

Any weight loss product that is making a claim about changing or speeding up your metabolism is bogus and I wouldn’t waste even a second reading about it let alone a penny buying it.

John

Posted by johnbarban in metabolism, Weight Loss
Tags: metabolic rate, metabolism, Weight Loss |7 Comments

7 Responses to “10 Obese People have a Slower Metabolic Rate – Answer”

  1. Obese People have a Slower Metabolic Rate | Fit and Cool Says:
    November 27th, 2009 at 1:14 am

    [...] Obese People have a Slower Metabolic Rate [...]

  2. Steele Says:
    November 27th, 2009 at 2:59 am

    Hey John,
    I would like your opinion on this statement from Martin Berkham from Leangains.com. He is an IFer but claims that studies show this:
    “This is an ongoing process, but liver glycogen does not need to be depleted in order for amino acids to contribute to the maintenance of blood glucose. The longer the fast, the greater the contribution – for example, after 16 hrs, aminos will start contributing more than 50% to the amount of glucose in your blood stream. After 24-28 hrs, 100%.”
    What is your opinion on this? Can you explain it?

    Thanks,
    Steele

  3. Marco Berardi Says:
    November 27th, 2009 at 9:59 am

    Hi John,
    Don’t we over think these things too much? I’m sure some of these theories can help you improve 1-5% but is it worth the time and effort for an average person. What would that really amount to? Maybe I gain an extra pound of muscle but there is no proof of that. I have bulked up and then dropped weight and ended at the same point. Was it worth the ten months? Of course not. I am never going to think about protein, amino acids, and the rest of this stuff ever again. Find a plan that allows you to eat less (and enjoy your lifestyle) and lift heavy. Pretty simple and liberating. Thinking about the rest of this stuff won’t change my genes or somatotype. Magazine ads were bad enough but now we have to fight against niche marketing via google search. Most of these new diets or ways of life are based on keyword search and search result volume. The average person has no clue.

    Keep up the great work John.

  4. johnbarban Says:
    November 27th, 2009 at 10:28 am

    Steele,

    I don’t really have an opinion on this. I’ll assume Martin read some research to get these points, but unless I read the same research myself I cannot comment on his ability to interpret the results (although at a glance it all seems reasonable and seems to fit with regular physiology) I’m sure he did a decent job reading and understanding the research he is referring to here.

    Beyond that I’m not sure what exactly you are asking here. Do you think something that he said is out of the ordinary?

    JB

  5. Steele Says:
    November 28th, 2009 at 1:42 am

    Yeah, sorry i probably wasn’t clear. In a few of his articles he states that these figures show that any fast lasting longer than 16 hours will result in a rather potent catabolic phase (that’s the impression i get) and that Eat stop eat at 24 hours is probably too long therefore (though he doesnt directly say this) and could prevent well i suppose, effective body composition changes (say for someone who is already lean). What do you think about it in that sense?

  6. luke Says:
    November 28th, 2009 at 9:56 am

    Quote: “If you’re body is bigger than mine and you regularly eat more food than I do, then you’re body is busy processing that food and laying down more fat mass (which is more work).”

    shouldnt it be your instead of you’re?

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