Are You Killing Your Metabolism?

You are doing all of the “correct” things …

You are eating healthy, you are watching your calories, and are working out every day. So why aren’t the pounds coming off? There is nothing more frustrating than to be doing all of the things, and see no results, am I right?!

Everything from the health and wellness communities, the television, social media … they all tell you the same thing. If you want to see results, you need to workout more and eat less. They explain that it is a simple “calorie in, calorie out” equation. While being in a calorie deficit is a part of weight loss, too much deficit can stall your progress and make any type of weight loss next to impossible.

While calorie reduction will work temporarily, every body has a threshold in which it will halt fat loss/weight loss when total caloric intake is too low. For the average woman, this is anything less than 1200 calories. When you repeatedly reduce your caloric intake, your body goes into self-preservation mode, and will hang on to fat to be used as a fuel source. If your goals involve fat loss, this is going to be counterproductive, and will do nothing but cause you frustration when you are doing all of the “right” things!

In order for you to see the fat loss/weight loss that you are desiring, you need to get your metabolism working for you. When we under eat we kill our metabolism! The good news is that with the right plan of action we can get it firing hot again and get you into that fat burning mode, and you will be able to start seeing the fruits of your labor!

Metabolism is closely related to muscle mass, and the more muscle that you have the faster your metabolism is going to run. So how do we get your metabolism running again? We start out by eating enough of the right foods. Your body needs a combination of proteins, fats, and carbs (known as macronutrients, or macros) to run efficiently for you. If you are restricting a macro food group like carbs you will not only disrupt your hormones, but you will notice a significant dip in your energy. Studies have shown that long-term restriction of carbs and calories can significantly lower your metabolic rate making fat loss nearly impossible. Low carb (Keto type diets) are all the rage right now, and while they offer a short term solution, these should be avoided for long-term use in order to preserve hormones and metabolic function.

In the FASTer Way To Fat Loss we leverage the benefits of Keto by implementing some low carb days, so that we can deplete our glycogen stores in our muscles and we can dip into our fat stores for energy. We offset this depletion by practicing carb-cycling. Carb cycling is simply a variation of carb intake during the week. In the FASTer Way we pair our carb cycling with intentional workouts to burn fat and keep energy levels high. With the intentional, science backed plan in place we are able to preserve hormone function, burn fat, and raise energy levels.

I mentioned that it is necessary to eat enough of the right foods to maintain muscle, have energy, and to protect our hormones. Eating whole foods is a huge component to seeing success and keeping your metabolism running hot. We have a saying that "if a food “comes from the ground or has a mother” that it is fair game. That is a good rule of thumb when determining if something is, or isn’t a whole food. Eating whole foods as a basis for your diet will not only make you feel better, it will stoke that metabolism and get it going again.

Exercise while is not mandatory will most definitely elevate your results. Because metabolism is so closely tied to the amount of lean, calorie burning muscle you have, the more muscle you have the faster your metabolism is going to run, and the more fat you are going to burn! While working out, will help you see results, it is also important to rest. Your body needs time to repair and heal itself while it is building new muscle. This combination is when we really see that metabolism heat up!

So, if you have not been seeing the results that you are looking for, and are frustrated, I encourage you to be sure that you are eating enough of the right foods, getting enough rest, limiting cardio, and lifting heavy. THIS is the secret sauce to revving up your metabolism and achieving the results that you want!

If you are tired of going it alone, and are ready for a proven, scientifically backed program that will be tailored to you and your needs and goals, you need to hop into my next round of the FASTer Way To Fat Loss where I will work 1:1 with you to get your metabolism revving at full capacity so that you can reach your health and wellness goals quickly and efficiently. Ready to learn more? Chick here for more information!

Be safe and be well friends!

XO,

Stephanie

*This advice is general in nature and not to be taken as personal professional advice