It’s tempting to think of your metabolism as an internal speedometer … or maybe like a hamster running on a wheel. The faster it goes, the faster you burn calories and fat.
But in reality, it’s a complex biochemical process that your body uses to convert what you eat and drink into energy.
Metabolism happens at its most basic level in your cells. That’s where the calories in everything you eat and drink are combined with oxygen. This process releases the energy your body needs to function.
Lifestyle Factors
Genetics. You don’t have much control over this, but some people are naturally fast “burners” and others burn calories more slowly.
Size. The bigger you are, the more energy your body requires to stay alive.
Age. As you get older, your metabolism naturally slows down. This can be due to hormonal shifts, being less active, muscle loss, genetics, or even health issues.
Body Composition (muscle vs. fat). Having more muscle can help you burn more calories.
Sex. Men burn calories at a faster rate than women.
Health Issues. Some conditions such as thyroid and diabetes disease can make you burn calories at a faster or slower rate.
Lifestyle. This includes stress, sleep, the foods you eat, and more.
Activity Level. The more active you are in general (not just workouts), the more calories you will burn.
Some of these you have more control over than others … but here’s the best news of all: YOU are in control over most of these factors!
And when you take control over them, not only will you fire up your metabolism, but you’ll FEEL better and have MORE ENERGY in your life.
Your body burns fuel (calories) in 3 basic ways:
1. Staying alive. This is the energy that’s required to keep your body’s systems running while you’re at rest. This is called your BASAL METABOLIC RATE. This is the number of calories you burn to keep your organs functioning.
2. Thermic effect of food. Digesting the food you eat requires energy. This accounts for about 10% of your overall metabolism.
3. Activity. This actually can be broken down even further, into two specific categories, and depends on how active you are:
- Energy burned during your workouts. This is pretty self-explanatory: it’s the fuel you burn while running, lifting weights, etc.
- NEAT calories. This is the fuel you burn during normal daily life – walking to the car, brushing your teeth, standing instead of sitting at work, etc. NEAT stands for non-exercise-activity thermogenesis.
For most people, activity adds up to about 10% to 30% of their total daily metabolic burn.
None of these individual issues are make-or-break when it comes to resetting your metabolism. But together, they can add up to boost your overall daily burn.
SLEEP
A study done at the University of Chicago found that getting only 5 hours of sleep reduced the rate of fat loss by more than half!
Researchers had people eat a calorie-restricted diet. Everyone lost weight, but when people were allowed 8 hours of sleep a night, they burned significantly more fat than when they received only 5 hours of sleep.
Also: the researchers found that getting less sleep led to a spike in the level of ghrelin (a hormone), which affects both hunger and activity level.
DIET
PROBIOTICS. New research shows that some probiotics (found in fermented foods and beverages, and also supplements) might help with fat loss, and others might work to prevent weight gain. This area is still being studied but shows promise!
PROTEIN
Not only do studies show that protein helps you maintain more muscle if you’re losing weight, your body has to go through more steps to digest it – which means it burns more fuel.
Also, as a side note, eating protein can help keep you feeling fuller, longer.
Make sure you get adequate protein every day!
Dietary recommendations currently suggest getting between 10% to 35% of your daily calories from protein.
HYDRATION
WATER. Here’s another reason to make sure you get at least 8 glasses of water a day …
After drinking 500 ml (about 2 cups) of water, your metabolism is boosted by up to 30% for almost an hour after.
CAFFEINE
Research shows that 100 mg of caffeine (about the amount in a cup of coffee) can temporarily boost your resting metabolic rate as much as 3% to 11%!
Note: make sure you don’t add sugar or calorie-rich flavours to your beverages, since these can quickly undo any metabolic-boosting effects.
Bonus burn: Green tea contains metabolism-boosting antioxidants called catechins.
EXCERCISE
First: the more your body moves, the more calories you burn, and exercise definitely helps with that.
But exercise also boosts your metabolism a few different ways beyond the immediate calories burned.
More muscle. Resistance training helps you build more muscle, and muscle tissue burns more fuel, even at rest.
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts are short workouts that are done with intensity, and they can elevate your calorie burn for hours after your workout. The more intense, the higher the burn!
Resistance training workouts (lifting weights) also give you a modest post-workout burn, elevating your metabolism for a couple hours post-exercise.
STRESS
When you’re stressed, your body releases hormones to help you deal with the stress. And that’s a good thing – it’s actually part of your body’s survival “fight or flight” mechanism!
The problem occurs when you’re under CHRONIC stress.
The hormonal changes that are designed to help you power through quick stress can, over time, lower your metabolism.
In fact, a study done in 2015 at Ohio State found that women who reported a lot of stress the day before burned 104 fewer calories after they ate a high-calorie meal the next day.
Note to oneself 😎 You can be in charge of your weight loss, there are ways to Reboot your Metabolic System.
This blog information is from part of My Free 5 Day Metabolic Jumpstart Challenge – Interested? fill out the contact form below to be notified when the next Free 5 Day Metabolic Jumpstart Challenge begins’