5 Mistakes You're Making to Slow Your Metabolism

Over the past 3 years, a topic that I get bombarded a lot about is metabolism. 

There's a lot of mistakes that you're probably making to slow your metabolism down and worst — you have no idea about it.

In this guide, I give you specific actions to focus on if you find that you're doing one of these mistakes and not seeing the type of change you're seeking in your body.

1. Lowered Lean Mass

Here I mean everything else than fat - blood/fluids, bone, muscle etc. Most of us aren't using our muscles for the purpose evolution created them. Although we weigh more than ever, our lean mass is constantly in decline. Our life is becoming ever more passive.

In the below study, it was discovered that fat-mass in the body has almost no effect on daily calories burnt. 

On the top image, we see the correlation between lean mass and resting metabolic rate, but not the same kind of correlation between resting metabolic rate and fat mass on the lower image.

The higher the lean mass, the higher your natural metabolic rate. 2.2 lbs automatically burns 31 kcal more every day.

It might sound as a small amount, but if you'd be able to raise your muscle mass just by 11 lbs, then that would raise your calories spent per day to 1085 kcal, 4340 per week and 56757 kcal per year. That would sum up to 16.3 lbs of fat burnt automatically in a year!

How to add lean mass? - Keep reading

2. Too Little Protein

Protein is an amazing superfood from a metabolic standpoint. Just by swapping some carbs to protein, you can boost your metabolism considerably.

Official recommendation is 0.8 grams of protein per kg of bodyweight. True - our body can manage with this amount without starving muscle, but it is not nearly as metabolically effective as using 1.5-2 grams/kg/day.

Protein causes an amazing automatic thermic raise in energy consumption by 25% of the energy amount you'd get from protein.

For example: when eating 100 kcal worth of protein, it automatically burns 25 kcal extra. You don't get this effect from carbs or fat.

The other, maybe more important factor, is that protein helps build the metabolically active lean mass. Yes - protein causes the muscles to grow - they consist of protein. Eating protein gives your body a strong signal to start growing muscle mass and spend more energy automatically.

Eating enough protein long enough builds muscle mass without adding fat mass, just the opposite.

The third important effect of eating protein is that it fills your belly and keeps hunger at bay much better than other type of foods.

That is - if you are not on ketogenic diet. In ketosis you should avoid too much protein, because it lowers ketosis. In ketosis, it is ketone bodies themselves that lessen hunger.

DO THIS

Add more good protein sources to your diet.

Challenge yourself to eat a serving of good protein on every meal, it is much easier to get your day's worth by doing so.

3. Stop Dieting

It is a dangerous term and concept.

Dieting has given us a wrong picture about improving our metabolism. Typical dieting can get your weight to drop, but usually its over 50% of this weight is metabolically active lean mass.

Diet programs are almost always based on restricting calories a lot for a period.

Our bodies aren't stupid - they do everything necessary to stay alive as long as it can even while in a calorie-restricted environment. 

It isn't as simple as that if you want to get lasting results. 

It is very typical, that after losing weight, one regains all the previously lost weight and more. But this time it isn't lean mass and muscle tissue that grows back, it is mainly just fat!

So then how is it possible to get weight or more specifically harmful adipose tissue down without slowing down your metabolism? The answer is simple but does have several parts.

First, we must forget this distorted image that weight must be forced to drop by any means.

Second, we need to prioritize the upkeep or boosting of our metabolism - that is, using means that help our body remove fat tissue and maintain/grow muscle tissue.

It isn't as simple as just dieting by dropping calories, but so much more worth it in the long run.

If you have lost and gained weight many times in your life, then I ask you to stop hurting your body and metabolism, but start taking care of it.

Your body's metabolism does all the work and you will be feeling so much better than after any "diet program".

DO THIS

• Without reducing any calories from your food, correct your diet for macro nutrients and monitor your response. You probably don’t even need to count calories.

• Before you start reducing calories, take care of other aspects of your metabolism, such as sleep, stress, circadian rhythm and exercise. 

• Forget the weight, do not step on the scale at all but measure your waist circumference and assess how you look naked in the mirror (or if you are not able to objectively assess it, take pictures of yourself week by week and compare those)

4. How did you sleep last night?

The metabolic significance of sleep is much less known to the general public than, for example, this of exercise or nutrition. In reality, sleep is one of the most important regulators of metabolism, hormonal function, behavior, and nervous system function.

Even small changes in sleep rhythm, sleep length, and quality interfere with metabolism in many ways. That’s one reason why people with sleep disorders or sleep apnea, for example, find it so much harder to lose weight. All the more alarming is that up to 70% of westerners sleep chronically too little!

I could write a book about the connection between sleep and metabolism as it is very deep and complex issue, but at this point let's take a look at the research that really describes the effect of sleep.

10 overweight individuals were maintained on a calorie-deficient diet for 2 different reference periods, each lasting 2 weeks. In the second period they were allowed to sleep 8.5 hours a night, in the second only 5.5 hours.

The weight dropped and composition of weight loss were monitored. Both periods had the same weight loss, but with an amazing difference between fat mass and lean mass. With an 8.5-hour night’s sleep, the weight dropped at the expense of 50% fat mass and 50% lean mass.

At the same time, during a 5.5-hour night’s sleep, only 25% of the fat was lost and 75% was lost at the expense of lean metabolically active tissue.

DO NOT underestimate sleep, it can be one of the most important tools against excess weight and metabolic/lifestyle diseases!

5. Eating at Evening

Breakfast should be eaten like a Queen, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar. There are many reasons for that recommendation. Usually they are related to practical reasons, but there is also a considerable metabolic reason.

It has been found that when eaten in the morning, food accelerates the metabolism considerably more than when eating the same food in the evening. The difference can be as high as hundreds of kilocalories per day.

Physiologically, an important reason to eat in the morning is that it prevents overeating in the evenings. If you eat very little or occasionally in the morning, you are doing a disservice to your own metabolism and hormonal activity. In addition, there is a much higher probability that you will spend evenings snacking or even devouring food.

Overeating in the evenings causes you to have no appetite the next morning and the cycle continues. If you want to easily boost your metabolism and manage your appetite better, start eating earlier.

Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Ditch Dieting to Maintain a Healthy & Happy Weight here. (100+ women)

2. Reach your goals faster with 1:1 nutrition and health coaching here. (Only 8 spots open)

3. One actionable self care tip delivered to you every Saturday morning here.