3 Things That Might Be Messing Up Your Metabolism

Let's take a few minutes to talk about metabolism! Essentially, metabolism is the collection of chemical reactions in your body that turn the food and drink you eat into energy. When you don’t have a healthy metabolism, it can disrupt your physical and emotional well-being, lead to unwanted changes in body composition, alter your energy levels, cause chronic disease and so much more. Clearly, you don’t want to mess with your metabolism! Here are 3 things you should avoid at all costs if you want to keep your metabolism humming along and healthy:

Sleep Deprivation

This might sound counterproductive, but sleep is key to maintaining a healthy metabolism. When you don’t get adequate sleep, your body perceives this as a stressor. There are several ways this affects your body. Firstly, levels of stress hormones such as cortisol increase in the body (you can read all about stress here!). These stress hormones signal to your body to conserve energy by slowing down your metabolic rate. When you don’t sleep well, your body becomes tired and you are more likely to move less in an attempt to prevent unnecessary wastage of energy. Lastly, sleep deprivation alters your levels of hunger hormones so that you feel hungrier and crave more calorically dense food. This helps your body ensure that it has adequate energy reserves to deal with the stressor. So how do you get enough sleep? Well, you can read all about it here!

Not Lifting Weights

Strength training is one of the best ways to keep your metabolism healthy! Lifting weights regularly helps to increase lean muscle mass in the body. And your body requires more calories to maintain muscle tissue. This means that the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate. Lifting weights also results in something called the “Afterburn Effect”. These are the additional calories you continue to burn after a workout as your body recovers. So if you haven’t already started, grab those weights and start lifting!

Eating Too Little

Your body needs calories to function! When you don’t give it enough fuel, your body panics and goes into “starvation mode”. This is your body’s attempt to conserve energy for vital functions needed to survive. As a result, your metabolism slows and you burn fewer calories. Additionally, if your body is not getting enough fuel, it will break down lean muscle tissue to get what it needs. And the less muscle you have, the slower your metabolic rate! We are firm believers that you don’t have to starve to be healthy and look good. Instead, consume a balanced diet that is based on whole foods, limit your sugar intake, and eat adequate amounts of protein!

To summarize, if you want to keep your metabolism happy, don’t pull all-nighters, eat wisely and make sure to lift some heavy things. While being smart about sleep, diet and exercise are important for metabolic health, your metabolism is complex. That’s why we created the Metabolism Jump Start Guide. This guide is designed to help you master your metabolism specifically for the purpose of burning fat and improving your body composition. In addition to the easy and delicious metabolism-boosting recipes that are included, you will also get a primer on dietary and lifestyle habits that you can implement in your life to support a healthy metabolism. If you want to look good and perform in your life, mastering your metabolism is key! Don’t overlook this VERY important part of your biology!

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