Your habits may be slowing your metabolism?

Have you ever heard someone say, “I have a slow metabolism”?  I have.  But have you ever heard someone say, “I have habits that are slowing my metabolism”?  There are habits that can help rev your metabolism and there are habits that can slow down your metabolism.  Some of these habits you may not be aware of and some you may have heard of before.  It is always interesting to me to listen to someone who wants to lose weight and then they go on a diet that slows down their metabolism and actually makes it harder for them to lose weight.  Do you have any habits that may be slowing your metabolism down?

What are some habits you may be doing that may be slowing your metabolism?

    1.  Not taking in enough calories –

Everyone knows to lose weight; you should decrease calories and increase your exercise.  But some people decrease their calories too much and end up slowing their metabolism down.  A person going on essentially a starvation diet has a body that will work hard to preserve body fat and slow down metabolism.  If you want to lose weight, you can cut back on calories but not so much to slow your metabolism.  The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) recommends for those wanting to lose weight:

• Women:  eat at least 1200-1500 calories a day

• Men:  eat at least 1500-1800 calories a day

NHLBI also recommends against any diet with 800 or fewer calories a day.  On such a low-calorie intake not only will your body metabolism slow to conserve energy, you will not be able to get the nutrients your body needs.  And surprisingly, on such a low-calorie diet, you will lose some fat but you will also lose some muscle mass. 

Lisa Moskovitz, RD, CDN, notes:  “In an attempt for quick, noticeable weight loss, many people wrongfully believe that eating as few calories as possible is the best solution.  Not only can this lead to numerous nutritional deficiencies as the body is getting less food overall, it can actually have the opposite effect on weight loss.  When you take in too few calories, it forces your body into starvation mode, which causes your body to use muscle mass as fuel.  It also decreases the rate of your metabolism and calorie burn to conserve energy.”    

        2.  Skimping on Protein

 Believe it or not, it actually takes more calories to digest foods high in protein than foods high in carbs or fat.  Having protein at each meal means it takes more calories to digest and metabolize that meal.  Meals high in fat would take the least calories to digest and metabolize.  It takes more calories to digest carbs than fat and it takes the most calories to digest and absorb protein.  It is always interesting to watch someone trying to lose weight who says “No bread” but then goes to the salad bar and puts a half cup of salad dressing on their salad.  They would be much better off with a slice of bread and much less salad dressing on their salad.  And better yet would be to add some cheese, cottage cheese, hard-boiled eggs to that salad to boost the protein intake.  So easy to add some protein to a meal.  Drink a glass of real milk, enjoy some real dairy yogurt, add some cheese, meat, poultry, fish which are all great protein sources.  Eggs provide a very high-quality protein source and are low in calories.  Have a handful of nuts as a snack. 

  3. Get enough sleep

 

Getting too little sleep over time can result in a slower metabolism.  Seth Santoro, a nutritionist, notes, “A lack of sleep can cause several metabolic problems.  It can cause you to burn fewer calories, lack appetite control and experience an increase in cortisol levels, a hormone which stores fat”.

 

4.  Sitting Too Much

 

For those who have an Apple watch, you get reminders throughout the day that it is time to stand up and walk around.  One way to overcome sitting all day it to get up at least every hour and walk around for about 2 minutes.  In the office, go to the water fountain, go see someone in their cubicle or office rather than send them an email.  Walk around the floor.  At home go up and down the stairs, walk into other rooms.  When shopping for a mattress I was going into the store and noticed the salesman walking pretty rapidly around the store.  When I came in, he looked at me and then explained that he was walking around the store to get his steps in.  Believe it or not, these short bouts of walking throughout the day can help keep insulin levels stable.  This helps your body use up the calories from your meal and not store those calories as fat.  

        5.       Don’t forget the carbs

I am not a fan of low carb diets.  When my daughters and I go out to eat, we ask for the bread basket.  For short-term weight loss one can go on a low carb diet.  But long-term, you want some carbs in your diet.  Carbs spare the protein you eat for muscle building rather than having the protein foods be burned for energy.  To build muscle, you need some carbs in your diet.  But be sure to choose healthy carbs and not sugar-sweetened beverages like soda or loading up on sweets.  (See How to Choose Some Healthy Carbs.)

How can you rev up your metabolism this week?  Try one of the suggestions above?  Sitting for an hour, get up and walk around.  Add some protein to each meal.  Get in those 8 hours of much needed sleep.  Add some healthy carbs to your meals.

Sources:  metabolism, starvation diet , notes , digest foods , nutritionist, notes , How to Choose Some Healthy Carbs  Image Sources:    Starvation Diet,  Sitting all day , High protein foods