Your metabolism and weight loss

 According to Donald Hensrud, M.D of the Mayo Clinic very few people have very low metabolisms.

Metabolism is the process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy. Even when you're at rest, your body needs energy for functions such as breathing, circulating blood and repairing cells. The number of calories your body uses for these basic functions is known as your basal metabolic rate (BMR).
Several factors determine your basal metabolic rate:

• Your body size and composition. If you're larger or have more muscle mass, you will burn more calories, even at rest. (So overweight people are more likely to have a faster metabolic rate — not a slower one.)
• Your sex. If you're a man, you probably have less body fat and more muscle mass than a woman of the same age, so you burn more calories.
• Your age. As you get older, your muscle mass decreases, which slows down the rate at which you burn calories.

Rather than metabolism, factors more likely to contribute to weight gain include:

• Eating too many calories
• Getting too little exercise
• Genetics and family history
• Certain medications
• Unhealthy habits, such as skipping breakfast or not getting enough sleep

Your metabolism and weight loss