6 SIMPLE DIET-FREE STEPS TO MASTERING YOUR METABOLISM

Often women seek health coaching after they feel like they have exhausted all diet and fitness plans.

They tell me that:

• They are tired of chasing fat loss

• They want to see their muscle tone

• Nothing has worked and are starting to think they have to accept what is

• They can lose weight but always regain it

• They think they’re metabolism is broken and want to know if they can improve it

• They REALLY want to lose the fat and be the best version of themselves

So what if we rebranded dieting and weight loss, and thought of them in a different way? As holistic health coaches, at VRHC we are also, in effect, diet coaches. But a better way to describe this is nutrition coaches.

Did you know the term diet is actually defined as, “the kinds of food that a person eats”?

I bet you might have given it a different definition. Like… a way to describe a “style of eating for the purpose of losing weight” or a “set of rules or restrictions to food”.

Something that is important to understand is that there may be different seasons of nutrients your body needs for purposes of healing, however when we are talking about losing weight the most important thing to know is the what you are consuming really won’t change, it’s the how much that will (this is assuming your diet is starting from a really nourishing place, which is really one of the indicators that should be used for getting a “permission slip” to start a fat loss phase in the first place). 

One way we like to teach nutrition initially is to start with helping you learn how to nourish your body. The reason is because so many have restricted, set rules and taken away food sources which have caused them to end up with a really poor relationship with food (another part of getting a “permission slip” to start a fat loss phase).

As a holistic health coach, I can use symptomatology and labs to deduce what types of food are going to be most helpful to start bringing homeostasis to one’s body. There’s no way around nutrition, so we have to learn it and understand it for our unique body to help eliminate the tiresome chase of physique change and ultimately dominate it.

So today I want to start with bringing you some knowledge and awareness to: metabolism.

Busting The Myths Of Metabolism For Good

Have you ever thought "I just have a slow metabolism, so I will never lose weight?"

There’s a lot of false information going around about metabolic health.

It is NOT true that…

❌ Your metabolism slows as you age

❌ Your metabolism can break

❌ Small meals throughout the day boosts metabolism

❌ Your metabolism is out of your control

Here's the thing, your metabolism doesn't just slow down and it sure doesn't slow because you turned __ age. Your metabolism is incredibly adaptable. Meaning, it can up-regulate and down regulate based on certain stimuli and messages that you send to your body.

Signals that DOWN regulate your metabolic function come from behaviors like:

- Lack of sleep

- Skipping meals

- Lack of sunlight

- Excess cardio

- Not managing your stress

- Under eating for long periods of time (intentionally or unintentionally)

- Yo-yo dieting

Signals that UP regulate your metabolic function come from behaviors like:

- lifting weights

- Eating enough

- Getting sunlight

- Sleeping enough

- Consuming enough protein, micronutrients and minerals

- Etc...

It's important to understand that metabolic health is not just about physical appearance/body fat... it plays an important role in aging, longevity, hormone health and fertility, digestion, brain function and more.

This is why you need to take breaks when dieting or in pursuit of fat loss. Implementing diet breaks, periods at maintenance and reverse dieting are helpful to counter the metabolic and hormonal effects that can occur with dieting. Making sure the behaviors that support an UP regulated metabolism are a focus of your daily efforts will be key for supporting health and weight loss success while also supporting your digestive health, energy, hormone health, libido and more.

If you feel stuck in the "slow metabolism" feels, and wonder “how do I improve my metabolism”, I recommend you keep reading to find my short checklist for optimizing your metabolism.

How Does Your Metabolism Work?

Your metabolism is the sum of ALL the reactions that occur within each cell throughout the body to provide the body with energy.

There are thousands of reactions that need to happen to help you feel energized, and when those interactions are interfered with or don’t have the fuel they need to complete their reaction, we will have difficulty feeling in control of our body and hence, weight loss resistance.

So how can we optimize our metabolism for weight loss that ends with us also feeling better (not worse)?

Read on and I’ll explain.

How To Optimize Your Metabolism

What you should know is that how you live and what you do daily affect your metabolism.

As outlined above, your metabolism is made up of all the chemical changes that take place inside your body to grow, reproduce, and stay healthy, which means your metabolism can (and WILL) change if it receives different or new input. Knowing this, I hope you can see how if you understand how everything you are doing daily is impacting your metabolism, you can start to appreciate the amazing work it’s doing behind the scenes and feel empowered to decide on better behaviors and actions to influence how you are feeling or the response you want from your body to change.

Over time, we tend to accumulate more stressors, which can make our body feel more threatened and go into more of a conservation mode and adapt to slower tendencies. Notice I said ADAPT. This means that if it becomes LESS threatened, it can also readapt to a better functioning state. Your metabolism is very much adaptable.

So if you wish to support your metabolism, working on decreasing the threats your body and brain are perceiving is a great place to start because your body doesn’t know the difference between a ‘tiger chasing you’, constant multi-tasking or that overwhelming workload you’re facing.

The great thing is you can help your body feel safe and in turn, up-regulate your metabolism.

Here are 6 (of the many) ways you can start improving your metabolism today:

1. Eat enough consistently
Under-eating for chronic periods of time is threatening to your body. Many of you have been led to believe that you should eat 1200, 1500 or 1800 calories a day. This is incorrect information and will lead you to a down-regulated metabolism, likely followed by hormone, digestion, reproductive, or immune system issues. 

It takes a lot (A LOT) of educating to get some of you to eat more. We offer personalized nutrition consultations, which can be a great alternative to a full coaching package, find the details here!

 Check out this blog for details of how to know if you’re eating enough.

2. Manage your stress
To deal with stress, our body enters fight or flight mode. We don’t have the fear of predators day to day like our ancestors, but our body reacts in the same way to the daily stresses we have in our lives. Do you find yourself jumping at sudden noises more than you think is normal? This could be because your body is in high alert mode and therefore releasing more cortisol in your system.

Cortisol is a hormone naturally produced by your body. It is created by the adrenal glands and released when you’re under stress temporarily pausing regular bodily functions and turning on ‘protection mode’ in the body. Cortisol causes the metabolism to slow down and increases cravings for fat and sugar.

Check out this blog on methods of stress management.

3. Get 7-9 hours of quality sleep
Not getting enough quantity or good quality sleep leaves our body feeling threatened (and feels crappy too which is a tell tale sign). When you don’t get enough sleep, you don’t get the restoration sleep provides. Hello threat! Animal studies have linked inadequate sleep to changes in gut flora (bacteria and other organisms that live inside the intestines) that trigger inflammation and affect insulin sensitivity.

4. Lifting Weights

Building muscle can greatly help your metabolism, why? Lean tissue, muscle, needs a lot of energy to ‘survive’ which means the more you have, the more calories you will burn just being.

In the past we’ve tended to see gyms saturated with men, but women have been learning the strength that comes from lifting is far more than just muscular, it’s mental too (a big reason I started lifting when I was just twelve years old). Remember ladies, strength training does not = bulk. At VRHC, we curate personal fitness coaching packages to help you feel confident in the learning process of using weights to shape your metabolism and physique.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you put half as much effort into eating more and building muscle as you did cutting calories, intensely dieting and worrying about weight loss… you’d likely be at your goal already! Like eating more, it takes A LOT of education to get many of you to leave your cardio behind and focus on progressively getting stronger. The sooner you put in the same efforts to eat more and strength train that you do to cut calories and eat less, the sooner you'll reach your goals. 

If you’re struggling to get on the right track, why not book into a complimentary, obligation free “get unstuck” call with me (Amanda, functional health coach for over two decades)?

As a first step, take a look at this blog post focusing on how to get toned healthily.

5. Sunlight

Humans and animals have evolved to live by the sun, when it rises we wake and when it sets we sleep. So with the introduction of artificial lights and the transition from outdoors work to offices with no sunlight, we are impacting our circadian rhythm. By disrupting this rhythm, we are altering the hormones produced in our body and the energy production from our metabolism which can lead to weight gain.

This is a pretty simple one to control. Could you walk to work? Have your morning coffee outside or just next to a window (after breakfast that is)? Leave the office at lunch time and try to have an evening walk after dinner (this is also great for digestion!) Try to avoid bright lights for an hour before bed and even invest in a natural light lamp.

6. Consuming enough micronutrients and minerals

Your body needs these to help your metabolism turn proteins, fats and carbohydrates into energy. These macronutrients also help support the maintenance of tissues as well as the manufacture of new proteins, cells and body parts. When it comes to weight management, micronutrients, minerals and vitamins can impact metabolism. Small but mighty right?

If you want help understanding the macronutrients you need and how your diet and nutrition can impact your metabolism and weight, get in touch!

What next for your metabolism?

Now you have a bit more of an understanding of the wonders of your metabolism, it’s time to stop blaming it for your troubles with weight loss.

Try out the check list above and see the difference in your energy levels and weight management after 2 weeks or a month! If you struggle to find time or consistency, we would love to help. If you worry there may be something else underlying that is affecting your metabolism, we can run labs and get to the bottom of it.

A big component of holistic health coaching with us comes down to educating you to help you separate belief from science and to teach you which tools are best for you to achieve and sustain your health and weight loss goals.

We offer Health & Nutrition Consultations (aka diet coaching) and 1:1 Coaching to help you develop a proper strategy for better progress. Curious to know if that might be supportive for you? Let’s chat!