4 Habits that Slow Your Metabolism and Make Weight Loss More Difficult
Hey Angels and Alphas,
Everyone in the weight loss community knows that your metabolism plays a crucial role in pretty much every aspect of your health and fitness. From managing your energy levels to metabolizing sugars to losing weight, metabolism has a role in just about everything your body does.
Mainstream health authorities all agree that your metabolism tends to slow down with age (as you might suspect.) But does that mean you should be giving up without a fight?
Even though your metabolism naturally slows down as you age, how your body handles that all comes down to what kind of habits you have and how well you take care of yourself.
For this reason, today we’ve come together to explore some of the habits that have been scientifically proven to negatively impact your metabolism as you age. When you know what habits to avoid, you’ll naturally be drawn to healthier alternatives that will, as you age, keep your metabolism functioning optimally for weight loss and fitness success.
As time goes on, you want to avoid implementing these 4 habits into your daily routine so you can keep your metabolism functioning properly.
#1 NEVER SKIP BREAKFAST.
One of the best ways you can start your day in terms of keeping your metabolism running is by eating a nutritious breakfast that consists of all three major macronutrient groups – proteins, carbs, and fats.
This is because your metabolism naturally slows down as you’re sleeping, and consuming food naturally fires it back up and sets your body up for calorie burn throughout the entire day.
When you’re skipping breakfast and you’re not giving your metabolism a head start in the morning, you’re essentially telling your body not to expect a lot of calories to come through during the day, placing it in a fat preservation mode.
But when you do eat breakfast, you’re sending the signal to your body that there will be plenty more calories taken in throughout the day so it can set itself up for calorie burn instead of conserving the calories that come in.
When you allow your body a balanced mix of proteins, carbs, and fats when you wake up, you’re fueling your body for the rest of the day and fueling your metabolism with the resources it needs to keep your body’s internal furnace burning.
#2 SITTING TOO MUCH!
Countless people live in a constant daily routine of going from their office chair to their car to their couch, naturally leading them to a very sedentary way of life. And while sitting for extended periods of time is necessary in today’s work culture, it can also lead your body to shift into a mode of energy conservation, negatively impacting your metabolism.
According to the NHS, sitting for longer periods of time will naturally lead to slowing down your metabolism, poorly affecting how your body regulates blood pressure and breaks down fast.
#3 TOO MUCH STRESS.
Too much stress isn’t really a habit as much as it is a result of a variety of habits that have to do with a poor ability to manage stress. When stress starts building up in your body, it causes the rapid production of a hormone called cortisol.
Cortisol then causes the body to raise appetite levels and this can also increase the cravings for comfort foods… and on top of that, it can cause a decrease in your desire to exercise.
All these things negatively impact your metabolism. And while we can’t control stress levels, you can definitely make an effort to manage them. Be it through mindfulness, exercise, meditation, we can all take steps toward protecting our peace.
#4 NOT GETTING ENOUGH REM SLEEP.
We all know how even one night of bad sleep can cause us to feel cranky, sluggish, and it literally impairs our cognitive processing abilities.
You think that’s bad? Imagine the effects of chronic sleep deprivation on the body that go way beyond creating hunger cravings and getting you cranky. Problems like hormonal imbalances (which are common in sleep-deprived individuals) will further throw your metabolism off balance and make it difficult for you to manage your weight and appetite.
The fix here is simple – always make sure you’re getting your 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night and you’ll be able to keep your metabolism in check, among all the other biological factors that are directly linked to sleep such as energy levels, cognitive processing, memory, and more.
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