When we’re young, it feels like we can eat anything without worrying about ballooning up afterward. As we get older, though, it feels like we can feel our waistline inch forward overnight with every questionable dietary choice. What’s changed? How do we go from being lean and mean in our teens to a “Dad bod” as the years fly by? It’s all about our metabolisms. Our metabolism is the process by which our body converts the things we consume into energy. The speed and efficiency of that process can vary due to all kinds of factors (age being a big one).
Is there a way to crank up that metabolic treadmill inside us? Or will our body after a certain point always be burning calories at half speed? The good news is that there ARE steps you can take to power up your metabolism. Read on as we break down how our metabolism works and what we can do to supercharge it.
Neat, Neat, Neat
Your metabolism is always running. You could do absolutely nothing in a day, completely vegging out on the couch, and you would still burn between 100 to 800 calories a day through nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT for short). Even minor movements like fidgeting in a chair can trigger NEAT. NEAT is your metabolism at its most passive, burning up a minimal amount of calories.
In addition to the calories that get converted into energy through NEAT, our metabolism is also fueled by simple everyday activities like eating and sleeping. It’s counterintuitive but true: EATING does burn calories. Naturally, it doesn’t burn enough calories to cancel out what you’re taking in but you do burn some thanks to all the chewing, physical manipulation of utensils, and the internal activity of your body taking in and breaking down your food.
Rest Well, Burn More
If you want your metabolism to run well, you need to be well-rested. Sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on your metabolism. This is due in large part to sleep deprivation imbalancing your glucose and insulin levels. A drop in these levels can cause a metabolic slowdown, which can lead to brain fog, fatigue, weight gain, digestive issues, and other health problems. Aim to get six to eight hours of sleep a night, and try to avoid using screens at least 30 to 60 minutes before bed (as the blue light can disrupt your body’s ability to produce melatonin, leading to poorer quality of sleep).
Make Big Moves
Nothing slows your metabolism to a crawl like a sedentary lifestyle. While you do burn some calories thanks to NEAT, it isn’t enough to stay healthy. A sedentary lifestyle can lead to obesity, increased risk of diabetes and heart disease, hypertension, depression, and other chronic health issues. All of these risk factors can slow down your metabolism. The more chronic health issues you have, the more strain it places on your internal processes to compensate for them.
Fill Up On Fiber
One of your most stalwart allies in the battle against slow metabolisms is fiber. High fiber foods can reduce cholesterol, promote blood sugar control, increase satiety (the filling of “fullness” that keeps you from idle munching), and feed your gut bacteria. A healthier, more active gut biome can improve digestion, which in turn helps speed up your metabolism.
Pump Up Your Metabolism
One of the most effective ways to boost your metabolism is to build muscle tissue. Muscle burns more calories, even when you’re at rest. The more muscle mass you develop the higher your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) will be. Your BMR is the minimum amount of calories your body needs to consume and burn off in order to function properly; the higher your BMR, the more active your metabolism will be.
In addition to calories burned from exercising, strength training has a calorie-burning post-exercise effect called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). What this means is that your body requires more oxygen to rest up and rejuvenate itself post-workout, which in turn burns additional calories to help fuel this process.
Article by Austin Brietta
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