The bedrock of any effective toning program is the ability to raise BMR (basal metabolic rate). The largest percentage of calories burned comes from your BMR.

The main problem here, though, is that you may be lost amongst all the marketing claims. Doesn’t it seem like every new product comes with a novel way to increase calories burned?

Thus, here are 6 things that affect how many calories you burn around the clock:

1. Chronological age. As the years go by so does muscle. One of the main causes of disease with age is the loss of muscle mass. And muscle mass has a very strong influence over how many calories you can burn.

2. Lean to fat mass ratio. More muscle translates into more calories burned even while you sleep. Add to this some proper nutrition, and the mitochondria in your cells will burn even more calories.

3. Coming down with a fever. Strangely, getting sick also raises the amount of calories you burn, although temporarily. Having said that, please do not try to get a fever just to burn some extra calories.

4. Lots of stress. Stress will create a cascade of events which release certain hormones into your blood stream. And these hormones will raise your caloric burn rate. So should you go get stressed out? No, because in the long run too much stress will ruin your immune system and burn through lean tissue.

5. Changes in ambient temperature. When you move into a hot or cold environment, your body burns extra calories while adjusting. Tip: swimming is a great way to burn lots of calories.

6. Fasting. Fasting decreases caloric burn much faster than most women realize. In a very short amount of time, your metabolism could dip dramatically. The key here is to be in a slightly negative caloric state and to eat every couple of hours. Doing so will minimize the damage.

Discovering how to optimize your caloric burn rate is the best thing you can do to ensure fat loss success. After all, your BMR has the biggest influence on how many calories your burn on a daily basis. So ignore the hype and stick to the proven facts.

Writer Katherine Crawford, a fitness expert and former flabby arms sufferer, teaches how to reduce arm fat. Unearth how to get sexy and toned arms by visiting her website with arm exercises for women now!