Still Blaming Metabolism for Slow Weight Loss?

Fast-paced Lifestyle Has Affected Metabolic Rates Largely

Chemical processes happening within every living being to maintain life is metabolism. People often blame metabolism for slow weight loss which is practically not true. What you eat, drink and do are the most influential factors on your body weight.

Nutritionists are often bombarded with questions on metabolism and weight loss. But how do you know that your metabolism is slow? Are there ways to deal with this problem and do you think metabolism is the root cause of all the problems? There is more to metabolism than food and drinks. Some other factors that slow down this complex process include:

Eating Too Little

People often starve to lose weight but still complain that they are not losing so. Eating too little calories can sometimes backfire and prevent weight loss. We all know that cutting down calories can help you become slim, but sometimes consuming decreased quantities of food can push our body to starvation mode and slow down your metabolism to keep you alive.  

Inadequate Sleep

Research shows that sleeping for 7.5-9 hours every night helps to maintain body weight. You can lose or gain weight depending on your sleep patterns. Too little sleep produces abundant ghrelin (hunger hormone) and too little leptin (fullness hormone) which makes you feel hungry throughout the day. Sleep restrictions also trigger the production of cortisol, which is responsible for your desire of sugary, fatty and starchy foods.

Eating Whenever You Feel Like Eating

Proper meal timings enable the body to use the calories consumed to convert it into energy and helps to burn more calories. But, when meal times are irregular, the body is not sure of the next meal and goes into conservation mode burning less calories and increasing fat stores in our body.

Sitting Down Continuously

You may exercise hard for an hour, but when you sit continuously for the next 23 hours your metabolism slows down. Sitting in one place for more than 20 minutes pushes your body to a non-energy-burning state. So, even if you job demands you to sit for prolonged time periods, make it a habit to walk around for a few minutes every hour or so to decrease cholesterol and blood sugar levels, waistlines and triglycerides.

Missing Out Strength Training Exercises

Cardio exercises burn abundant calories when they are done but all these calories come back when the body returns to resting levels. More the muscle tissue in the body, higher the metabolic rates. Strength training is directly linked to muscle mass and occupies top priority in increasing metabolic rates.

Not Drinking Enough Fluids

Every cellular function in the body requires water for its activity. When fluid intake does not happen, it leads to dehydration and the body burns up to 2% fewer calories. Make it a point to drink at least 2 liters of water every day increasing the intake during summer season. Cold water is more helpful to rev up metabolism as the body heats water to body temperature.

Inappropriate Calcium Levels

Along with building strong bones, calcium plays a pivotal role in fat metabolism determining whether you burn calories or store them as fat. Find the best dietary sources of calcium at www.firsteatright.com to increase metabolism.

Stress

You will always have to wait for the best. Here too, we are discussing stress as the last factor as it is the most important factor affecting metabolism. Stress produces more cortisol which increases your cravings as mentioned previously. Stress affects the body in multiple ways: it decreases our desire to exercise, increases our passion for comfort foods, slows digestion and causes a lower need to metabolize calories. Finally, it affects our quantity and quality of sleep which again affects metabolic rates and increases weight gain.