What Is Metabolism And How To Boost It (5 Tips For Beginners)

What is metabolism? Wait before you think it’s hard to understand and it’s just science and you don’t know how it works. However, do you feel tired and lethargic on an everyday basis? Or do you just gain weight instantly after a party or high-calorie meal? These all could be symptoms of weak metabolism. It is important to understand your body first before you even start your weight loss journey. To do so, the very first step is to know your metabolism. We are here to make you understand and simplify facts and myths about metabolism.

Let’s first address the elephant in the room!

What is Metabolism?

In simple terms “Metabolism means the process by which the body converts the food we eat into energy that we require to perform our daily activities”.

Metabolism means in Hindi “उपापचय”

What Are The Types Of Metabolism?

Mainly there are two important types:

• Slow Metabolism
• Fast Metabolism

What Is Slow Metabolism?

It is the process when food takes a long time to change into energy at rest and during exercise. A person with a slow metabolism burns fewer calories, as the food gets stored in the form of fat, which is why they find it more difficult to lose weight.

What Is Fast Metabolism?

It implies that you must consume more calories to maintain your weight. You will burn more calories at rest and during activity if you have a fast metabolism. That’s why some people consume more calories than others but never gain weight.

What is Metabolic Adaptation?

Yes, Let’s understand it in simple words:
You are consuming 1500 calories every day. Then to lose weight, you reduce your calorie intake to 1000 kcal. You were losing weight for a while. Then, suddenly you stop losing weight and maintain a new weight, although you are still eating as little as 1000kcal. This is called Metabolic Adaptation.

To avoid further weight loss and starvation, your body adapts to the lower calorie supply. This signifies that 1000kcal is your new maintenance calorie level, which will help you maintain your weight. This is your new Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). So, to keep losing weight, you will need to either reduce your calorie intake or increase your physical activity. This may become impossible at some time because your calorie intake is already low, and it is difficult to maintain a low-calorie diet without feeling hungry or exhausted. Metabolic adaptation ensures you gain weight to ensure you can function well, physically and mentally.

How Metabolism Is Responsible For Weight Loss?

One of the most frequently asked questions is how metabolism affects our weight loss journey. Well, the answer to this is, that some people find it challenging to lose weight just by limiting calories because they have a weak metabolism, which causes fewer calories to be burned and more calories to be stored as fat in the body. Therefore a high metabolism can lead to fast weight loss because the calories are burnt faster.

Symptoms/Signs Of Weak Metabolism

There are several signs of weak metabolism but here are the most common and major symptoms:

• Instant Weight Gain
• Constant Cravings
• Dark Patches
• Drowsiness
• Mood Swings

Factors Affecting Metabolism

If you are on your weight loss journey and your weight is stuck, it could be due to weak metabolism, hence here are a few factors responsible for affecting your metabolism.

1. Too Much Workout

• Your metabolism must be raised to lose weight permanently, however people tend to overdo it.
• The majority of people believe that exercise boosts metabolism, however, excessive activity might have the exact opposite impact.
• Too much workout causes physical stress to your body which affects hormones including estrogen, testosterone, and cortisol as well as how well your thyroid functions.

2. Crash Diets

• According to studies, losing weight quickly through crash diets can lower your metabolism more than losing weight properly.
• Your body adjusts to try to hold on to everything it can when you go on a crash diet and there is considerably less food available which means your metabolism will slow down to match a decrease in the quantity of energy you consume (in the form of calories).
• When you start a crash diet, you could lose weight fast for the first few weeks, but once your body adjusts to “less food,” over time you will stop losing any weight.

3. Medical Conditions

• Problems with metabolism, such as hypertension, low HDL or good cholesterol levels, high glucose levels, and weight gain, are referred to as metabolic syndrome.
• Metabolic disorders may have an impact on the availability of enzymes needed to break down food or the effectiveness with which cells can create energy.
• The body’s ability to break down huge molecules for energy, and the ability with which cells can create energy, might all be impacted by metabolic disorders.

4. Sleep Disorders

• Your sleep habits have an impact on your metabolism, which can cause weight gain and raise your risk of developing diabetes. 
• When you don’t get enough sleep or have sleep apnea, your chance of developing dementia, Parkinson’s disease, anxiety, and other illnesses rises. 
• Poor sleep not only affects your energy levels but also has a significant negative impact on your brain.

How To Increase Metabolism

Here is an experienced dietitian Mac Singh’s point of view on how you can fix your broken metabolism by following these 5 easy life hacks mentioned in this video.

1. Meal Planning 

• Diet plays a very vital role in metabolism-enhancing. For metabolism to function properly, it requires food which it converts into energy.
• Break the pattern of your diet take 2 mid meals: 1st meal between breakfast and lunch; 2nd meal between lunch and dinner, followed by 4 mini-meals like having stimulus i.e., green tea, green coffee.
• Make sure to stay hydrated and increase the water intake in your daily routine.

2. Work It Out

• It is important to work out on daily basis but it’s more important to not overdo it. Excessive cardio or any form of exercise can lead to metabolic syndrome.
• To stop weight fluctuation, you need to reduce your fat percentage and increase your body muscle mass, which can only be done with the help of a good workout 

3. Proper Sleep

• Recent studies on sleep have revealed that insufficient sleep may reduce the body’s capacity to turn fat into energy. 
• Sleep has an impact on each person’s metabolism. Getting enough good-quality sleep can aid in maintaining your body’s ideal metabolic rate for your age.
• Proper 6-8 hours of sleep facilitate weight loss (and prevent weight gain) and lower your chance of developing disorders linked to weight increase.

4. Physical Activity 

• An important factor in determining an individual’s energy consumption is physical activity. Our bodies must burn more calories when we are physically engaged to avoid storing those calories as fat.
• Be active throughout the day. Immediately after main meals, walk 1000 steps at least.
• Any form of physical activity such as running, walking, swimming, and even dancing can increase your metabolic rate and help you burn more calories.

5. Food To Eat

• Certain foods increase metabolism which you can add to your daily diet, which will help you increase your metabolic rate.
• Consuming fiber-rich foods and healthy carbs can also help in building metabolic rates.
• Adding a good amount of protein-rich foods can lead to high metabolism, eggs, salmon, milk, yogurt, etc are rich in protein, so avoid red meat, instead, focus on seafood.
• Intake of spicy food can also boost metabolism, as spicy food contains a component called capsaicin which helps in burning the body fat faster.

Faqs

How to speed up your metabolism?

To do so, you need to follow the above-mentioned tips and make it a part of your daily routine. It is a process that requires patience and certain lifestyle changes that we have mentioned above, especially your diet.

How To Lose Weight Fast?

Well, to lose weight fast, it is important to take a proper weight loss diet plan from an expert dietitian who can guide you to the best. However, you can click on this link and know better by yourself.

Fun Fact

Weight Loss is been a major issue for many people and losing weight is not easy moreover, weight loss and metabolism are interrelated to lose weight you need to fix your metabolism. In case to understand this better read more.

Bottomline 

To keep losing weight, you will need to either reduce your calorie intake or increase your physical activity. This may become impossible at some time because your calorie intake is already low, and it is difficult to maintain a low-calorie diet without feeling hungry or exhausted. Therefore you need to ensure to have a good metabolism to be able to function well, physically and mentally.

Contact Us Today

Your search to find the right guidance to be a part of all those fat-to-fit stories ends here. So, contact us today if you are looking for a diet plan with cheat meals. Also, we will discuss how we can help you achieve your weight loss goals.

Disclaimer

This blog post was written to help you to make healthy and better food choices altogether. So, be aware and take care. The important thing to consider is your health before starting a restrictive diet. Therefore, always seek advice from a doctor/dietitian before starting if you have any concerns.

Eat Healthy, Live Healthy. Enjoy a long happy life.