Help! Do I Need a Metabolic Reset?

I've lost track of the number of times a client has said "I've always been overweight" or "I wish I could get back to the weight I was when I was 25 without dieting." Do you feel the same way?

Do you feel like you have ALWAYS struggled with your weight, or maybe you've even thought that your metabolism is so slow that just looking at food makes you gain weight? You might have even wondered if you need a metabolic reset. We've got some answers as to why this might be below!

In this in-depth article, I'll be discussing how our metabolism works; and what affects it, such as genes, hormones, toxins, inflammation, diet, and lifestyle. Plus, some tips on how to start a metabolic reset. Let's dive right in!

Table of Contents

• What is Metabolism?
• How Does Metabolism Affect My Weight?
• Can My Metabolism Be Broken?
• What Affects Our Metabolism?
• Genetics
• Hormones
  • Insulin
  • Leptin
  • Thyroid
  • Estrogen/Testosterone
  • Cortisol
  • Balancing Your Hormones
• Lifestyle Choices and Your Metabolism
• Why Lifestyle Choices Matter for Your Metabolism
• Food Quality
• Timing
• Exercise
• Prioritizing Sleep
• Digestion
• Toxic Overload
• How to Boost Your Body's Ability to Detox
• How to Make Sustainable Life Choices That Heal Your Metabolism
• Start with One Small Change
• Get Support to Reset Your Metabolism

What is Metabolism?

Metabolism includes all the cellular processes needed for your body to function, and for you to live. Metabolism happens deep in your cells. The mitochondria produce ATP (what our cells use for energy) by burning macromolecule, such as carbs, fat, and protein, for energy.

Essentially, No ATP = no energy = cellular death.

How Does Metabolism Affect My Weight?

Metabolism equates to your body's ability to turn what you put into your body (aka food and drink) into energy. How efficiently and at what rate this process occurs largely dictates your metabolic health and ability to gain or lose weight.

With regards to weight maintenance, your metabolism is driven by many different factors and several organs, glands, and hormones.¹ It's not just a calorie game like diet culture might have us believe.

Can My Metabolism Be Broken?

Let's put to rest the notion that your metabolism can be broken. If it truly is broken, you would be dead. In reality, our bodies want to be healthy. They are constantly working to be efficient and repair damaged cells and tissues.

Unfortunately, consistently making poor diet and lifestyle choices can make it hard for the body to do what it wants and needs to, in order to be healthy. Rather than thinking that your metabolism is "broken," perhaps you just need a metabolic reset to get your health back on track.

What Affects Our Metabolism?

There are many different factors that play a role in our metabolism. Each of them plays a complex and important in keeping the body as fine tuned as possible for creating and burning energy.

Here is a quick look at all of the topics we will cover today:

• Genetics
• Hormones
• Lifestyle
• Food Quality
• Timing (When You Eat)
• Exercise
• Sleep
• Digestion
• Toxin (Exposure and the body's ability to detox)

Let's get right into it. I will include a lot of action steps for getting your metabolism on track as I explain each factor. But don't forget to read to the end to get a summary of all the tips on how to actually get started with your metabolic reset!

Genetics

When you look at yourself and your family, how do you compare?

Same size? Same shape? Similar appetites?

If you notice a lot of similarities, this could be your genes at work. How certain gene variants are expressed, like the APOA2, FTO, DRD2, and LEPR genes, have strong effects on our appetites and calorie intake.

Depending upon which gene variants you have you might complain that you never feel full or you feel like you have to eat much more than others to feel full. People with these genes probably do best on a high fiber diet with moderate to higher protein levels to help them feel full longer. Plus, it'll support their dopamine levels (a hormone responsible for enhancing motivation and pleasure) to feel their best.²

Epigenetics and Your Metabolism

Epigenetics is the study of how our environments and behaviors affect our gene expression. While we can't change what nature gave us, it shows that we can can largely influence how genes are expressed through diet, lifestyle, and supplementation. This is pretty cool! It can take something that feels out of our control and help us make informed decisions for improving our health and metabolism.

Unfortunately, some people will have to simply work harder, be more diligent, and have less wiggle room when it comes to living a healthy life and reaching their metabolic or weight goals. But when optimal health is the primary goal, making the right choices is totally worth it.

Hormones

There are many hormones that affect our metabolism and our weight. In no special order here is the short list of hormones and how they influence our metabolism:

Insulin

This hormone is produced in the pancreas and released when we eat. There is a myth that it's only produced when we eat carbohydrates or sugar. However, small amounts are also released when we eat protein and fat. Insulin helps shuttle glucose (blood sugar) into cells so that our mitochondria (our cell's engines) can use it for energy.

If we are eating too much carbohydrate for our body, over time our cells can become insulin resistant. The cells in our muscles and organs then lock their doors and the excess sugar in our blood stream gets turned into body fat via storage in fat cells that have the capacity to absorb the extra sugar.³

Some people are born insulin resistant and pre-disposed to gaining fat easily.⁴ However, for the majority of people, insulin sensitivity can be boosted with attention to lifestyle factors.

Leptin

This hormone has a strong effect on our appetite. But similarly to insulin, our bodies can become leptin resistant and lead to obesity.⁵ This means that we can have lots of leptin floating around, but our cells (and brain) are not getting the message that we are full and have plenty of fat stores. Instead, we still feel hungry and we keep eating.

Causes of leptin resistance include sleep deprivation, excess stress, and poor diet choices.

Thyroid

This is your master gland of energy regulation. Thyroid hormone plays a key role in metabolism and digestion.

Chronic dieting and/or a lack of certain nutrients (iron, zinc, selenium, Iodine) can all slow down the production, conversion, and use of thyroid hormones. This means that cells that facilitate a healthy metabolism don't get the correct signal from it to work optimally. People with low thyroid function often struggle with chronic fatigue, hair loss, weight gain, constipation, anxiety, depression, and high cholesterol.⁶

Estrogen/Testosterone

Yup, these sex hormones also play a role in our metabolism and weight control. Many women notice that when they go through peri-menopause they gain weight around their middle. This is due to the drop in estrogen affecting their insulin levels and increasing cellular insulin resistance. People with low testosterone levels similarly notice a loss of muscle mass and an increase in fat storage.⁷

Cortisol

This hormone triggers the release of fat and glycogen (sugar)for energy. It also stimulates insulin to maintain appropriate blood sugar levels. The end result can be an increase in appetite and cravings for sweet, high-fat, and salty foods. Keep your stress levels in check to balance your cortisol levels.⁷

Balancing Your Hormones

As you can see, an imbalance in any of these hormones can wreak havoc on your metabolism and lead to weight gain, or make it very difficult to lose weight.

What can you do to bring hormones back into balance? There are two big ones that's we'll dive into deeper later on:

1. Eat real foods in balance and at regular intervals. At the same time, it does means eating enough and quitting the chronic calorie restriction.
2. Get adequate and quality sleep! Except for a small genetic subset of the population, this means no less than 7 hours per night.

Lifestyle Choices and Your Metabolism

Remember, that state of your metabolism dictates how well your cells use the food you eat to fuel themselves. Metabolism is not just your weight, it's literally the energy produced by the mitochondria (the power plants) in your cells.

A broken or faulty power plant = no energy = slow metabolism

Just Say No to Extreme Diets

The Biggest Loser TV competition is a good example of why extreme measures like crash dieting and overexercising don't work like the weight loss industry eludes.

There was a 6 year follow up study of 14 participants from this show. It showed that the excessive exercise and severe calorie deficit actually slowed all of the participants metabolisms. This is because their bodies were simply trying to survive by slowing down all bodily functions.

Initially, their bodies decreased their calorie "burn" or resting metabolic rate (RMR) by about 610 calories/day to try and conserve precious energy. Six years later they were still burning about 700 fewer calories each day than before starting the competition.⁸

Crash Diets Actually Make It Harder to Lose Weight

"By the final weigh-in, contestants' leptin levels had plummeted, so that they had very little of the hormone, rendering them constantly hungry. They also had a slow metabolism. In other words, their thyroid function—which governs metabolism and many other bodily functions—had slowed." ⁹

Obviously, this is not what we want when we're trying to lose weight. Yet, it's exactly what happens when people crash diet over and over again.

Why Lifestyle Choices Matter for Your Metabolism

Thankfully, there's a better way to fix our metabolisms that doesn't require any extreme changes! So what can we do to prevent a slow metabolism, or begin recovering from too many diets? Let's discuss how lifestyle choices can affect and boost metabolism.

Food Quality

Sorry to disappoint, but there are no magical foods that will suddenly increase your metabolism. Instead we need to focus on eating real foods in the right balance for our body's own specific needs.

• For some people this might look like a high fat/low carb ketogenic type of eating
• For others, it might look like a lower fat/moderate carbohydrate style of eating similar to the Mediterranean diet.

Food Quantity Matters Too

What doesn't work for weight loss is eating lots of fat and lots of carbs at the same time. But what are most people's favorite foods comprised of? Lots of processed carbs plus lots of fat: pizza, chips, candy bars, ice cream, french fries, hamburgers, bagels and cream cheese, etc.

When we consistently eat meals/snacks that are processed to be high in both fat and carbohydrates, the body will preferentially use the carbohydrate for energy, and store the fat... as body fat. (That doesn't mean you need to be afraid of fat- it just needs to be eaten in the right quantities and from high quality sources!)

The Problem with Too Many Carbs

There is no true definition for a a high carbohydrate diet. For the sake of this article I will say anything over about 150g of carbs/day,¹⁰ stimulates the body to make a lot of insulin to shuttle all the glucose from the carbohydrate foods into our liver, organs, and muscle cells.

Once our cells are full of sugar (which happens very quickly), they will then lock their doors to prevent any more sugar from entering. This is called insulin resistance. Eating a high processed carbohydrate diet creates insulin resistance very easily.

Adding Processed Fats Makes It Even Worse

Many processed carbs are also paired with highly processed fats, such as those made from corn, soybean, cottonseed, canola, 'vegetable' oils. These oils are known to be inflammatory and will increase insulin resistance over time as they become more and more integrated into our cell walls. It can take over a year for the body to purge these types of fats.

This is part of why it takes time to truly heal your metabolism. Its not to say that you should never ever eat foods with these specific types of fats, but making them a rare occurrence and balancing them with healthier fats will improve your body's ability to function over time.

You can also get more information on blood glucose and your health.

Choose Real Food

As much as you can, strive to choose real foods. I often say if Farmer John can grow it, raise it, hunt it, harvest it, it's probably a real food. We can grow tomatoes, basil, wheat, and milk a cow. But pizza doesn't grow on trees, so choose pizza less often than a tomato, basil, and mozzarella salad.

Timing

Two big meals or 6 little meals/snacks, which is better?

We have all been told to eat every 2-3 hours to stoke our metabolism in order to lose weight. Or at least this is what was promoted to me in my undergraduate and later on by many health professionals and diet books.

But guess what? it's not true.

Less Snacking, More Satiety

Intermittent fasting has grown in popularity over the last decade. While some protocols are extreme, the truth is that learning to eat 2 to 3 bigger meals and not snacking, or limiting yourself to 1 snack often helps people feel MORE satisfied, have fewer cravings, and ultimately lose body fat.

Compared to the old teachings, constant snacking can perpetually triggers insulin, and prevents your body from using stored fat for energy.¹¹ I also find that for many people snacking becomes either a mindless habit or a stressor as they try to figure out what to eat next.

Remember when Grandma used to tell us we would ruin our appetite if we snacked? It's ok to feel hungry, and most of us who have adequate access to food rarely do. Hunger is just a sensation, and often helps us appreciate our next meal more. (If you struggle with disordered eating: binging, restricting, or purging this does not necessarily apply to you right now.)

The Benefits of a Smaller "Eating Window"

Most people are consuming food many times over the course of 16+ hours each day. This is drastically different than eating 3 meals during a more limited time window of 10-14 hours, such as our grandparents might have done.

A smaller window of time that you spend eating each day can make a difference. This is because it decreases the swings in blood sugar and insulin, forcing your body to learn to use its own stores of carbohydrate and body fat for energy between meals.

Plus, spending fewer hours of the day eating gives the body time to restore and rebuild, rather than constantly breaking down food and energy.

How to Time Your Meals

If you currently wake up hungry, go ahead and eat. But if you find that you aren't hungry till 10 am, or even 1 pm, and can wait, it's ok to ignore the old adage of breakfast being so important. What's more important is learning to tune into your body and feed it when it's actually hungry.

However, there is one caveat. Make sure you don't find yourself so hungry that you are habitually heading towards the processed foods and sugary treats that your coworkers brought to the office. You want to eat before you are so starving that you'll eat practically anything (like leftover birthday cake for breakfast). For a deeper dive into all this, I recommend Jason Fung's book 'The Obesity Code.'¹²

Limiting Time Does Not Equate to Limiting Calories

Maybe you're thinking to yourself, "This is all great, but I'm only eating 1200 calories a day, and I'm gaining weight!" It's true, this can happen as demonstrated by many frustrated people and the Biggest Loser study discussed earlier in this article.

Calorie Restriction Slows Metabolism

I recently listened to a podcast discussing broken or slow metabolisms. The host made the statement that a metabolism can't break, it simply adapts.

This is so true, and it's exemplified by Dr. Jason Fung in his book "Life in the Fasting Lane." He describes a woman who had calorically restricted and dieted her way to a slow metabolism of 487 calories/day. That's it! Her body had slowed every cellular function down to the point that it only took about 500 calories to survive and maintain her weight. A weight that was too high and not healthy for her. Over many months, through diet changes, eating MORE, and eating at the right times, she increased her BMR (Basil Metabolic Rate) to 1200 kcals and LOST WEIGHT!¹³

More Restriction is Not the Answer

Due to chronic calorie restriction, maybe your body now only burns 1200 calories per day for normal functions and activities. Unfortunately, decreasing calories further will only make the problem worse at this point.

In fact, calorie restriction is the easiest way to quickly wipe out any potential benefits of intermittent fasting. Rather, it's important to make sure that you are eating enough high quality foods with each meal to keep you feeling full.

If you're not sure where to start, first try eating a little later in the morning and cutting out snacking as we discussed above. But then consider using a concept known as reverse dieting to slowly increase your metabolism and ability to burn more calories.¹⁴

If you feel like this describes you and you're ready to get off the calorie cutting ferris wheel, make an appointment with a CityPT Dietitian today.

Exercise

Did you know that "starting between the ages of 25 and 30, most people lose roughly 5 to 10 pounds of muscle during each decade of life. Muscle is metabolically active, which means it needs a lot of calories to maintain itself...The average person who becomes less active and loses muscle as they age can experience a 20 to 25 percent reduction in 24-hour metabolism by the time they turn 65 years old. This can result in a metabolic drop of around 500 calories" per day.¹⁵

Just like eating, there is a Goldilocks scenario of getting too little and too much exercise. Finding the right balance is the key to your health and metabolism.

The Difference Between Activity and Exercise

Walking 10,000 steps/day has become a bench mark that many people try and hit and believe that it counts as exercise and will help them lose weight. However, unless someone is severely de-conditioned, walking should not be viewed as true exercise by definition.

Exercise is an "activity requiring physical effort, carried out to sustain or improve health and fitness, especially one concerned with a specified area or skill."¹⁶ If someone is starting at 0 physical activity then yes, walking is exercise. If you already walk, then increasing your physical activity through planned exercise that builds muscle, not more walking, will be necessary to increase metabolism.

What Exercise Boosts Metabolism?

Adding more cardio type exercises (running, biking, swimming, aerobics class) will not improve your metabolism or physique in the way people think it will. To get the lean "toned" physical appearance many people want, AKA muscle hypertrophy or bulking, lifting weights is your best option.

More cardio simply makes you more efficient at that activity, and you have to continually run more and bike more to challenge the body. However, this will not improve your metabolism. Over time, excess exercise becomes too stressful, causing the body to keep fat locked away, especially around the mid section. Yes, cardio exercises burn calories, but they often make people hungry and more sedentary the rest of the day.¹²

Of course there are plenty of benefits to getting your heart rate up, but it's important to mix your weekly workouts up with weight training to fine tune your metabolism and overall health.

Sleep Deprivation for the of Sake Exercise: Is it Worth It?

If people are getting up early for their morning run or CrossFit class and cutting their sleep time shorter than it should be, the combination of sleep deprivation and exercise can actually lead to high insulin and high cortisol levels (as we discussed earlier in this article).

This one-two punch means people typically crave and eat processed carbs. However, instead of utilizing them for energy, their stressed out bodies store it as fat.¹⁷ Ouch!

Prioritizing Sleep

"[There is] evidence that sleep loss and sleep disorders have a significant impact on metabolism. Laboratory studies have clearly shown that sleep deprivation can alter the glucose metabolism and hormones involved in regulating metabolism, that is, decreased leptin levels and increased ghrelin levels."¹⁸ -Sunil Sharma

How Much Sleep Do You Need?

As I just mentioned in the exercise section above, getting enough sleep is crucial for healing your metabolism and losing weight. The exact amount that each person needs typically varies from 7 to 9 hours and will require some experimentation for finding the sweet spot that helps you feel optimally rested.

Sleep Boosts All Your Other Efforts

Have you ever pulled an all-nighter or had a bad night of rest and notice that you are starving and moody the next day? This is because your hunger cues and blood sugar levels are out sync and giving you some serious food cravings.

Sleep is often a neglected part of the metabolism equation that can derail all of your other efforts to get on track. That's why it's so important to make restful high quality sleep a priority on your journey to fixing your metabolism.

Digestion

Did you know that 37.2 Million Americans visit their doctor with digestive symptom complaints? And 7.9 million end up in the ER with diseases of the digestive system.³ Unfortunately, poor digestion may lead to weight gain as a result of your digestive system's inability to properly break down foods.

The Nasty Cycle of Gut Dysfunction

The inability to properly absorb vitamins, minerals, protein, carbs, and fats affects the body's metabolism. Since food isn't properly digested, it can't be properly eliminated and many people end up with constipation and/or diarrhea.

This leads to a buildup of toxins (old hormones, metabolic waste products, and environmental toxins) in the body as they are reabsorbed through the gut wall. Continued constipation and bloating ensue; leading to fluid retention and puffiness.

Sound like you? Unfortunately, this is a very common cycle.

What Affects Digestion?

Just about everything we do impacts our gut and our microbiome. Too little or too much exercise, emotional stress, lack of sleep, medications, supplements, where we live, and of course what we eat all impact our microbiome.

Have you heard of the microbiome? The microbiome consists of all the bacteria, viruses, parasites, and yeasts that live in our intestinal tract. Many people take probiotics as a way to support good digestion and as an attempt at altering their microbiome. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. Despite some exciting headlines several years ago, there isn't enough data to recommend taking probiotics as a PRIMARY therapy for weight loss.¹⁹

Is More Fiber the Answer?

While many health minded people encourage lots of fiber, not everyone does so great eating the recommended 25-38 grams of fiber each day. The type and source of fiber also makes a difference in how it is used in the gut.

For example, my husband does great with psyllium fiber found in products such as Metamucil. I do not. Instead, I take a fiber gummy, which doesn't help him at all. Everyone is different.

Gut Health and Your Food Choices

Thankfully, simple dietary changes can make a big difference when it comes to gut health and weight loss. There are three basic changes you can make to support better digestion and metabolism. These include:

1. Eat real foods: As mentioned, if a farmer could grow it or raise it, it's probably a real food
2. Move your body for 30+ minutes each day
3. Drink enough water: 60+ oz for most people

Proper Food Digestion is Key to Optimal Energy Utilization

As Hippocrates said "all disease begins in the gut." To tackle a broken metabolism we must first fix digestion.

Are you struggling with digestive issues, which might include constipation (not pooping daily), straining to poop, frequent diarrhea, frequent heart burn/indigestion, excess gas, or painful bloating? Start working with a CityPT dietitian so you can feel good again and get the scale moving.

Toxic Overload

Dr. Mark Hyman, an expert in holistic health practices for losing weight, has this to say about toxins:

Toxins, which include plastics, pesticides, phthalates, bisphenol A, flame retardants, mercury, lead, arsenic or any one of the 80,000 chemicals introduced into our world since the industrial revolution, can interfere with your metabolism and cause weight gain even when you stick with a normal-calorie diet...Studies show early-life exposure to environmental toxins can play a major role in predisposing animals to insulin resistance, hormone disruptions and obesity...Where do these toxins come from? They lurk in your cosmetics, skincare products, soaps, shampoos, deodorant, food, water, air, household cleaners, plastic food storage containers, furniture, mattresses, and carpets.²⁰

We Encounter Toxins Everyday

How do you know if toxins are lurking in your personal care products or household cleaners?

I often recommend patients use the EWG.org website to evaluate the products they currently have at home and to find alternatives. There is no need to completely ditch all your products over night, simply replace them over time as they run out.

What Are In Your Skin Care Products?

Skin care in particular is a big issue for people, especially women who use approximately 14 different beauty products each day. By the end of a morning routine a person may have exposed themselves to over 100 different chemicals. When using the ewg.org/skindeep site, I try to keep all my products at a score of less than 3 to minimize my exposure, and my family's exposure, to hormone disrupting and metabolism damaging toxins.

Beauty Counter, a cosmetic company on a mission, has a great 'Never List' that you can use to go through and compare against any of your current personal care and beauty products. You can even print it out and take it with you the next time you need to re-stock your shampoo, body wash, or makeup.²¹

How to Boost Your Body's Ability to Detox

Besides avoiding toxins, there are several steps you can take to help support your body's ability to detoxify. (Because we can't avoid them all, and toxin production is a normal cellular byproduct too!) Since we excrete metabolic waste through our urine, feces, sweat, and breathe, keeping these systems running smoothly is important. This might mean:

• Using a sauna to sweat
• Exercising hard enough to sweat
• Dry brushing to improve lymphatic movement
• Drinking adequate fluids to stay hydrated
• Practicing deep breathing
• Pooping daily

The Nutrients Needed for Detoxing

Adequate vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants are needed for our cells to work properly and for our livers to detoxify and excrete waste. With the right nutrients in the body, metabolic waste from our cells and external toxins from our environments can be properly expelled.

Where Do We Find These Nutrients?

VEGETABLES and FRUITS! The darker the color of the produce the more nutrients it will have.

Think about an apple compared to berries. The berries have many more antioxidants and vitamins. Or broccoli compared to corn or potatoes has many more antioxidants. The lower carbohydrate content of the berries and broccoli will typically spike blood sugars less than the apple or potato, which helps keep inflammation down and detoxification pathways moving.

To learn more about how certain foods can cause inflammation, we have an entire series on this!

How Are You Going to Eat More Colorful Produce?

I have several clients who enjoy smoothies as their breakfast or lunch. It's an easy way to really pack a nutrient dense punch in their day and support their detoxification pathways. You can sneak a surprising amount of veggies in without tasting them. Unlike juicing, the fat from the avocado, seeds, and nut butter (as well as the protein powder) will help keep your blood sugar stable, keep you full longer, and prevent sugar cravings later on.

Here is one of my favorite go-to smoothie recipes

Simply add all the ingredients to your blender and hit GO!

1/2 Avocado 1-2 handfuls Spinach/Kale/Chard/Arugula 1/2 cup Frozen Cauliflower Rice 1/2 cup Frozen Fruit 1-2 Tbs Flax, Chia, or Hemp seeds 1 cup Dairy or unsweetened nut milk 30g Protein Powder (1.5-2 scoops typically) Greens Powder - optional 1-2 Tbs Nut Butter - optional

Other Ways to Get More Nutrients

There are a lot of easy ways to add more product to your meals:

• Daily salad
• Add one serving of vegetable or fruit to your meal
• Have a whole piece of fruit for a snack
• Sneak vegetables into your favorite foods- such as soups, eggs, sandwiches, sauces, etc.

How to Make Sustainable Life Choices That Heal Your Metabolism

I've included a lot of in-depth advice in each section of this article on how to fix your metabolism. Let's review all of it now. That way you can make a decision on where to start.

So what are my recommendations for daily life to support metabolism?

1. Eat enough real foods at a meal to be full and satisfied and not need to snack every 2 hours.
2. Be as active and/or walk as much as you can. Working from home? Take a phone call while walking. Take the kids for a walk after dinner. Play frisbee, go hiking, do yoga. Walk at the golf course instead of using a cart. Keep your daily informal and enjoyable. If you already have an active job, this recommendation may not be for you, but most of us have sedentary jobs and need to get the blood flowing to help get oxygen to our cells and improve mitochondrial function. Physical activity supports good moods, reduces stress, and helps reduce blood sugar and insulin levels- all this together means fewer cravings, and a healthier body.
3. Lift weights 3 times per week. This usually means choosing dumbbells greater than 5 to 10 pounds. Your purse, laundry baskets, backpacks, and grocery bags weigh more than that, so challenge yourself. If you are new to the weight room, consider hiring a personal trainer for a few sessions to learn proper form and avoid injury. These days, this can even be done virtually if you have a few affordable weights at home to use.
4. Get adequate sleep. Sleep is highly underrated when it comes to supporting our metabolism and maintaining a healthy weight. For the most part people need a minimum of 7 hours of restful sleep for mental and physical repair.
5. Get enough rest. If you did a really hard workout one day, there is no need to hit it hard again the next (unless you are an athlete training for a specific event). Some people genetically need extra time for muscle and neurologic repair and recovery, while other people do not that have a lower risk of overtraining and injury.²²
6. Drink enough water each day to stay well-hydrated (your pee should be clear to light yellow!)
7. Reduce your your toxin exposure by choosing "clean" products, such as skin care, cleaners, makeup, soap, and foods.
8. Keep your detox pathways running well by sweating, pooping, and eating nutrient dense food daily.
9. Be gentle with yourself. It's probably taken years to get to where you are, so expect the process of healing and increasing your metabolism to take time.

Start with One Small Change

I've covered a lot of information in this series, and maybe you feel a little overwhelmed. My advice is to just start somewhere. Pick one thing and do it until it becomes a habit. Then make another change, and make it a habit. This way your changes are gradual and significantly easier to keep.

Over time your cells, your metabolism, and your body will heal and re-adapt.

"Sustainable habits that lead to long term health outcomes are always better than short term fixes that leave you rebounding and feeling like a failure and ridden with guilt." - Marty Kendal

You can do this!

Get Support to Reset Your Metabolism

If you are feeling ready for a metabolic reset, but you want to increase your chances of success, it's time to get some support. Consider finding an accountability partner that wants to make the same changes as you, such as friend, family member, or online community. At CityPT, we are also ready to help you when you need it to help you get the results you want. All you need to do is book an appointment to get started.

Before you go, please read our disclaimer. This blog is intended for informational purposes only. We are not providing legal or medical advice and this blog does not create a provider-patient relationship. Do not rely on our blog (or any blog) for medical information. Always seek the help of a qualified medical professional who has assessed you and understands your condition.

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