Metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories. Do you have a friend who eats all day long and never stores body fat? That person has a high metabolism – every calorie ingested is converted to fuel which gives them plenty of energy. The definition of a calorie is a “unit of energy.” Whether the calorie is stored as body fat or burnt for energy is a function of metabolism.
Restricting calories actually lowers your metabolism and tells your body to store more fat.
The 5 pillars of metabolism
Digestion – when digestion is working well then the body gets all the healthy nutrients in food to make metabolism work and to alleviate cravings. In this first step we evaluate your digestive health and use tools to boost digestion so that all your delicious food is efficiently converted into energy.
Breakfast – when we eat enough protein and good fat in the morning, we’re essentially telling the metabolism that all is good and you can safely convert calories into energy. A strong breakfast helps alleviate afternoon sugar cravings. The function of sugar cravings is to prevent us from starving to death and if you’ve had a good strong breakfast your metabolism won’t be afraid of starvation thus tempted to store calories.
Stress connection –When you’re under stress or restricting calories the adrenals rise and the thyroid intentionally lowers in order to conserve calories and store fat cells. The thyroid directly controls metabolism. There are a number of food tricks we can use to boost the thyroid and metabolism.
Hormone connection – Estrogen, progesterone and testosterone regulate how we feel- whether we want to lay on the couch or go for a hike. These sex hormones can affect body pain, fat storage, mood and energy. Balancing hormones can help release weight without any calorie restriction.
Toxins and sensitivities connection – Sometimes extra weight is a protective mechanism hold on to valuable energy and to dilute toxins and protect the rest of your body. Toxins can be anything from a food sensitivity to pollen allergy to a yeast overgrowth or mercury toxicity.
Calorie restriction actually lowers metabolism and starves your body of the important nutrients needed to burn calories. Calorie restriction will never be a part of my program – you won’t go hungry! If you’re not willing to enjoy enough food to boost your metabolism then this program isn’t for you.
Sign up here for my online class to boost metabolism so you can enjoy calories converted to energy. Set up a time to talk about your own personal metabolism journey here.