I will never forget the first time a client tearfully confessed she was worried I thought she was lying about how much she was eating.
This was during a time when “calories in, calories out” was the loudest message in fitness and most assumed you were underestimating how much you eat/not tracking accurately if you couldn’t lose fat…
I was not only heart broken, but pissed because I did believe my client, and knew there was something else likely going on after reviewing what she had been consistent with and that it had been well over a year since her last cut.
I am here to tell you that if you have been:
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Tracking your nutrition honestly and accurately
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Creating an appropriate calorie deficit through diet, steps, and cardio
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Prioritizing protein, fiber, and whole foods
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Practicing good sleep habits
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Lifting weights to build strength and muscle
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Monitoring progress with pictures, measurements, the scale, and how clothes fit (and have realistic expectations of the process)
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Being mindful of stress
And still feel like you have to move the most and eat the least to get any type of body composition changes … it may be time to dig deeper into WHY.
Before we do, and if you look at that list and are thinking "ehh.... sometimes ?" Let's consider some other reasons why your metabolism may be slow. Becuase it’s probably not as slow as you think.
What Is Metabolism?
Metabolism is the sum of all reactions in the body that give you energy. When people talk about metabolism, they usually mean Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), which includes:
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Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) - this is the amount of energy your body burns at rest to keep your organs running. Genetics, organ size , age, height, weight and muscle mass can all impact this.
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Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) - the energy your body expends digesting, absorbing and metabolizing food
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Exercise Activity (EAT) - Energy expended during structured training and exercise
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Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)- Energy expended in day to day tasks, think : tapping your foot while you work, doing laundry, grocery shopping, yard work etc. This is the component that has the most variability among individuals
If You Think Your Metabolism is Slow Review These First
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Tracking nutrition accurately - Get a food scale and track your intake honestly for a week. You may be eating more than you think and sadly surprised your 2 tbsp of peanut butter has been 1/4 cup - that's the difference of 200 caloires! You may discover your fav bagel sandwich on the weekends is 1000 calories, or that the sauce you use has a lot more sugar and carbs than you thought.
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Protein and fiber - two macronutrients many people under consume. Protein has the highest thermic effect of food (you burn more calories to absorb and digest protein than you do fats and carbs) and supports muscle growth and metabolism. Fiber as well offer a whole host of metabolic benefits.
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Sleep - not getting enough sleep or inconsistent sleep is a fast way to down regulate your metabolism as well as decrease your daily output (sleepy=low energy out) and cause problems with how your body stores fat and builds muscle. Poor sleep also make it harder to control your cravings for sugary or unhealthy foods because your body is trying to find quick energy when it's not getting enough rest.
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Micronutrients - deficiencies in various micronutrients won’t serve your metabolic health. Use Cronometer to check on how you’re doing on the micronutrient front.
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Steps and NEAT - how much do you move in a day? If you’re clocking in less than 5k steps a day even though you train or do cardio, this may be why you feel you can’t lose weight. Daily step counts aren't the exact same thing as NEAT , but they are a proxy for them and more movement habitually is a great way to "boost" your metabolism.
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Resistance training - all modes of exercise can help increase metabolism and while building muscle don’t dramatically increase your metabolic rate, it still does. ~100 kcal a day on average is fairly significant. Muscle is still more metabolically active than fat, so even if you don’t want to be jacked- you want muscle for endless reasons- a ‘faster’ metabolism being one. Lift heavy and train with intensity.
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Stress - it’s a jump to say high stress = slow metabolism. But chronic, un managed stress can cause issues related to HPA axis dysfunction. Thyroid, sex hormones, gut health, immunity, mood, adrenals, blood sugar, blood pressure, sleep cycles, muscle growth and recovery.
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Consistency - The body thrives off it. Inconsistent sleep, sometimes tracking food, sometimes not, wild swings to intake, periods of being sedentary, being “in and off plan” - all reasons why your metabolism may seem slow.
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Last time you took a break from dieting -
If you can’t remember the last time you went 6 months straight not dieting (or attempting to) you need to work on eating at maintenance and supporting your metabolism Hormones adjust during a prolonged fat loss phase (or chronically under eating, namely thyroid hormones, which in turn down-regulate your metabolic rate. If this is you, you will need to enter some type of health phase, work on strategically increasing your calories and food strategically (depending, going too slow is a thing) with a reverse diet to up regulate metabolism and support a healthy hormonal axis.
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You Checked the Boxes and Your Body Fat is Seriously STUCK
Successful fat loss often requires periods of pushing or pulling back for sustainable results. Diet breaks, refeeds, different cardio styles- even gasp* not tracking all macros - may be worth considering if the same isn’t working any more.
And still…
If you are doing the work and feel like you have to move the most and eat the least to get any type of body composition changes, there is a line as a coach I’m starting to get red flags.
Beyond Eat Less Move More
It’s not always as simple as eat less move more… especially If you feel like you have to move the most and eat the least to get any type of body composition changes - that’s no way to live or get sustainable results.
Yup, some clients will need to dig more than others but there are very real underlying health concerns that can impact fat loss. It isn’t that your body is broken.
Your metabolism adapts to what you throw at it.
Your lifestyle, history of under-eating or constantly dieting may be down regulating it. But just as it can down regulate, it can up regulate up too. We work with many indivudals who have been under eating or dieting for YEARS and there are hormonal shifts that happen that may be corrected or supported to up regulate metabolism.
