HAVE YOU LOST AND REGAINED THE SAME WEIGHT OVER AND OVER? YOU MAY BE STRUGGLING WITH A SLOW METABOLISM THAT HAS BEEN DAMAGED BY YO-YO DIETING.
"Metabolic adaptation', , is the phenomenon referring to the body's physiological adaptation or natural response to long term calorie restriction or deficit.
This deficit can be a result of reduced calorie intake, increased calorie expenditure through exercise, or a combination of the two.
Essentially, metabolic adaptation can come about as a result of your body's attempt to maintain energy balance and prevent starvation. He actually thinks you are not going to feed him anymore.
One main reason why metabolic damage or adaptivity can occur is when our calorie deficit is too large (that is, the energy going in is less than energy going out), which essentially tells our bodies to slow down metabolism in order to preserve energy. Simply put, you are not eating enough, and haven't been for some time.
When you lose a lot of weight, the body's adaptation response is to start trying to conserve energy by reducing the number of calories you burn. ( By slowing down your metabolism) As a result, this can make you feel hungrier and increase food cravings. This may cause a halt in your weight loss efforts, which can make you feel unsuccessful and miserable that you abandon your weight loss efforts and gain the weight back as a result.
The most common reason for metabolic issues is starvation type diets, fad diets, followed by long periods of over-eating and then under-eating again. Yo-yo diet in other words.
Does any of this sound familiar?
'I'm dieting but I don't seem to be losing weight'
'I started losing weight on this diet I'm following but it's all come to stop'
'I started this diet that worked for me in the past but it's not working this time around and it's really frustrating me. I think I need to eat less and train more'.
Signs and symptoms to look for which suggest there is some form of metabolic dysfunction include:
- Bloating
- Gas
- Constipation and/or diarrhea
- Reflux or heart burn
- Low energy or fatigue
- Increased hunger and food cravings
- Reduced libido
- Oedema -- fluid retention, especially in the calves or ankles
- Anxiety and depression
- Weight gain or stubborn weight loss
- Loss of muscle mass
- Irregularity or cessation of periods in women
- Low immunity, recurring and/or prolonged colds and flu
- Sleep disturbances
- Changes in mood
To help out your body and metabolism, try following these tips.
1. Avoid over training
While it's still important to move your body on a regular basis, over-exercising may cause more harm.
The best thing you can do to help yourself if you find yourself in this situation is to rein in the exercise. Rest and recovery is absolutely essential and if you're someone who is training five or more days a week and even twice a day, it is recommended you cut back on the metabolic conditioning and long-duration cardio.
Reducing the intensity and duration of your training sessions will see an improvement. You may continue doing some strength training to help maintain muscle mass, which is prone to break down faster in these states.
This doesn't mean limiting your calories or cutting out foods. Eating a variety of whole foods, and treating yourself once in a while, is important.
2. Focus on a balanced, healthy diet
The initial step in rectifying these issues is to aim towards a healthy homeostasis. By that I mean cleaning up your diet by eating more whole foods because they force your body to expend more calories through digestion, which means your metabolism is already on its way to improving,
Diet is essential to make sure your body is getting the right macro nutrients, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to help prevent further stress on the body. A professional can help you formulate the right plan for you.
3. Make de-stressing a priority
Stress management is vital. If you have added stress from work, finances, unhealthy relationships and so on, it will add to the emotional stress on the body and create more of an imbalance.
Engage in some stress management activities such as yoga, meditation, tai chi or even slow walks on the beach.
4. Sleep!
Sleep is the time your body undergoes physical and mental repair. Make sure you are going to bed at a reasonable time and are getting a good night's sleep.
If you are struggling in this area, it's important that you find ways to improve it.
5. Look after your gut
With more research showing the importance of a healthy gut, it's important to make your gut health a priority, for both metabolism and overall health.
Your gut health is crucial because it determines how you digest food, including the amount of energy you expend digesting it, how much of the food you eat is actually stored, and finally what your body does not need and excrete. A healthy gut is imperative to a healthier metabolism adaptation.
Finally, to avoid metabolic damage or starvation mode to start with;
- Avoid fad diets like the plague -- they are temporary and not sustainable.
- Increase your protein intake -- protein has a high satiety so it will keep you fuller.
- Eat every three hours to encourage your body to trust that you are going to nourish it regularly, hence giving your body less of a reason to latch onto food and store it as fat.
- Avoid processed foods -- they require little digestive effort because a lot of the processes required during digestion are missing due to the fact that they are processed.
Source and further reading:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/09/19/this-is-what-metabolic-damage-is-and-how-you-can-fix-it_a_21474452/
http://www.trimmedandtoned.com/metabolic-damage-explained-keep-losing-weight-consistently/
https://www.pritikin.com/yo-yo-dieting-metabolic-damage
