How Metabolic Weight Loss Works

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Optimizing your body’s energy-burning processes to increase the number of calories expended is how metabolic weight loss works best. Rather than simply cutting calories to create a caloric deficit, it pairs a protein-forward intake of lean proteins and low-glycemic whole foods like spinach, asparagus, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, kale, cauliflower, and hot peppers. In addition, alliums like garlic and onions are rich in probiotic fibers and can help fuel beneficial gut bacteria.

Since high-fiber, low-glycemic vegetables slows digestion, plant-based proteins that are low-carb are an excellent choice for promoting a feeling of fullness to reduce food intake sooner. Moreover, non-starchy vegetables improve insulin sensitivity to help prevent unwanted blood sugar spikes. Naturally, eating nutrient-dense foods without excessive calories can support metabolic efficiency, so the body burns fat as a primary fuel source and spares glycogen.

Improving metabolic efficiency helps everyone, but athletes are often dedicated to reducing their dependency on external calorie sources during longer activities and often become a pro at managing fuel sources that are specifically geared at preserving glycogen by burning fat or carbohydrates (based on availability). This allows them to maximize fat oxidation, reduce the risk of gastrointestinal distress, and helps with improving their overall body composition.

How deprivation of food or sleep affects metabolism...

For starters, make sure you are getting seven to nine hours of quality sleep each night. The human body has a circadian rhythm around which food intake (feeding) and rest (fasting) work together to help regulate the release of insulin hormone and glycogen into the bloodstream. Sleep deprivation, whether from chronic stress (high cortisol) or too much blue light exposure before bedtime that suppresses melatonin, can cause your body to produce excess insulin and too much insulin immediately triggers the liver to synthesize triglycerides to be stored as fat.

Additionally, eating too little can backfire on you regardless of your weight. That’s because the body adjusts by slowing the rate at which calories are burned, which is often referred to as its “starvation mode,” which is designed to protect energy stores during periods of food shortages. With that said, skipping breakfast and lunch to just eat dinner can signal your brain that there is a potential shortage and your metabolic rate should be lowered. Once that happens, your body is trying to store every single calorie. Consuming more but smaller protein-forward meals each day may help.

KEY PRINCIPLES OF METABOLIC WEIGHT MANAGEMENT

Rather than just cutting calories, metabolic weight management works by maximizing your body’s metabolism for energy-burning to increase energy expenditure and reduce fat storage that can cause unintended weight gain. That sounds a lot like “eat less, exercise more,” but its not. That’s because two people who weigh the same, but one has been normal weight their whole life and the other has struggled with obesity, can have similar activity levels and eat an average amount of food, but the obese person has a higher risk of weight regain.

Preserving muscle mass and building new muscle through resistance training (lifting weights, resistance band exercises) can raise your basal metabolic rate (BMR) to ensure your body burns more calories at rest when you’re not physically active. Then, maximizing your daily activity by combining cardio is an efficient way to increase metabolism and burn more calories. Rather than turning to extreme calorie deficits, focus on metabolic adaptation to prevent starvation mode by consuming lesser amounts of protein-forward foods but more often each day.

Primarily through a high thermic effect of food (TEF), a protein-forward diet that has been personalized to meet your body’s specific needs can boost your metabolism. Add a protein-first eating pattern and you can increase your daily calorie burn by roughly 100 calories while promoting satiety and reducing overall calorie intake. Moreover, studies indicate that lean, low-carb proteins decrease hunger and increase feelings of fullness by releasing gut hormones like glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and PYY without conscious calorie restrictions.

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Studies clearly show that following a protein-forward menu plan that’s personalized for your body both increases your total daily expenditure and helps to keep your metabolism operating a peak performance, even during nighttime hours of restful sleep. Equally important for long-term metabolic weight management is to preserve existing lean muscle mass, while daily food intake is reduced to lose unintended fat gain. If you’re trying to decide whether a prescription-based weight loss plan or a more holistic metabolic weight loss program is right for you, contact MRC Lincoln  today. One of our weight loss coaches will be in touch to discuss how hormone imbalances, genetic factors and key lifestyle habits may have slowed your metabolism and led to unintended weight gain. After all, hormonal balance can be restored and disrupted metabolic rates can be reset with a personalized approach.