By: Nutritionista
Jillian Foley, RDN
Chances are if you've ever tried losing weight & felt like the scale wasn't moving, you've questioned your metabolism. Theoretically, if you start eating less and moving more, then weight-loss should occur. Unless, theres's an issues with your metabolism. Right?
First, what is your metabolism? We often think it's our digestion and whether we hold onto food differently than someone with a fast metabolism. But disgestion is only the first part of it. Your metabolism is ,simply put, your bodies ability to break down food into energy for our cells and to help them rebuild the body. Your metabolism naturally regulates itself to meet your bodies needs.
So why does my metabolism seem slow? There are several things that dictate a persons metabolism:
Muscle mass to fat ratio: Muscles require a larger amount of calories to maintain than fat does. For that reason, having more muscle mass gives you a faster metabolism.
Sex: Because men have higher testosterone levels, they also have more muscle than women, which means they have a quicker metabolism.
Age: Although your meatbolism appears to drop as you get older, in a recent study of 6,500 people from 29 countries Harvard Health Publishing states that your metabolism doesn't significantly drop off until age 60. If a persons metabolism appears to be slowing down, it is most likely due to the changes in body composition ie: muscle to fat.
Genes: Your genes can lead to metabolic issues in adulthood such as an underactive thyroid or Cushing's syndrome.
Physical Exercise/Movement: Because the metabolism is the utilization of energy "calories" to perfom properly, it would only make sense then that exercise would speed up the metabolism to keep up with the activity level.
If it's not my slow metabolism that's keeping me from losing, then what is it? In my professional opinion, it's 2 things that keep the scale from going down consistantly, leading you to blame your metabolism:
Although our metabolisms don't dramatically slow down with age as previosly thought, that doesn't mean our bodies don't change with age. As we get older we retain water & sodium differently. When you are a kid and you eat some pizza & fries, your weight will most likely be the same the next day. As an adult, however, your weight could go up 3lb, convincing you that something must be wrong. Don't put all of your energy just into the number you see on the scale. Trust that your body knows what it's doing & stay consistent.
In this country we eat out & order in far more than we should. And although you may have been working hard to learn about food groups and portion sizes, it is very easy to eat more calories than you thought you did because you weren't the one that prepared it. The Journal of Health Psychology states in a systematic review done in 2017 that the participants signifigantly under-reported their calorie intake.
Let's have an honestly relationship with your metabolism. To find out your BMR aka your metabolic/caloric needs you can either use the Mifflin-St-Jeor equation or get a metabolic test for true accuracy. Try to be truly honest about what you are eating, especially with take-out, and try to be honest about extra oils, sauces & dressings that could be used. Be patient with the scale and don't expect immediate results...trust in the process, not just in the number on the scale. Lastly, if you feel there is something wrong with your metabolism and you are gaining for no apparent reason, see your primary care doctor for bloodwork.
Jillian Foley, RDN Nutrititionista is a Registered Dietitian that specializes in Food Therapy. She believes that weight-loss & disease prevention/management is 20% food education & 80% psychological. She owns her own practice for 1-on-1 sessions as well as courses. You can find more info @www.Nutritionista267.com Follower her on IG Nutritionista_1
留言