Originally Posted by Seejay

After my 5 (!) failed attempts with weight watchers I always had this idea of metabolism as "burning calories" like a barbecue. As a little tiny deconditioned woman I had a little tiny hibachi so I had to eat little tiny food so my "furnace" (the hibachi) could burn it all.

Now I think very differently. Now I think of metabolism like a big strong stoker guy (or gal) shoveling coal into a furnace. (anyone remember that engine room scene from Titanic?) The stoker is my metabolism, the coal is strictly fuel - stored fat. The good food I eat makes the stoker really strong and fast, and the coal he is shoveling is my stored fat. So the better I eat, the more coal gets burned. But! I can't eat too much because if I eat more than the stoker needs, the extra food turns into more coal!