As people get older, changes happen to their bodies. One of the most noticeable factors is your metabolism starts to slow down by your mid-twenties. If it could burn through almost everything you ate back when you were younger, it now starts to get weaker and weaker. This is probably why you’ve noticed your arms, stomach, hips, and legs getting bigger, and activities like walking or moving around require a bit more effort on your end.
How can you reduce or reverse slow metabolism and get back into shape without going to gyms or wellness clinics? Keep reading for specific nutrition tips.
But first, let’s go back to basics.
What Is Metabolism?
Metabolism is how the human body processes energy for activity and rest. That particular energy comes from the solid and liquid food we eat, also known as calories. The body uses calories upon ingestion or stores them for later use.
If you burn calories as fast as you consume them, you do not need to worry about your metabolism slowing down. This means your body is constantly using the calories you eat or drink.
However, the body stores energy if there is a surplus of calories or those you don’t use. Non-usage of these calories slows metabolism since your body knows it doesn’t have to process energy as much as it used to when you’re active.
Fun Fact: People have different types of metabolism. Some are faster, while others are slower. Faster metabolisms mean their bodies use energy immediately. However, they need to keep eating. Otherwise, their body starts drawing fuel from muscles.
Those with slow metabolism conserve calories for later use. This means they do not need to eat as much and can live off intermittently on their energy reserves.
Metabolism-Speeding Nutrition Tips
Now here’s the good part. These tips help speed up your metabolism without going to a clinic:
- Calculate Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR): Men and women have different energy-consumption calculations to meet their needs. As a general rule, men need more energy than women. These can be seen in the following metabolic rate calculations below:
Men: 66.47 + (13.75 * weight [kg]) + (5.003 * size [cm]) − (6.755 * age [years])
Women: 655.1 + (9.563 * weight [kg]) + (1.85 * size [cm]) − (4.676 * age [years])
- Aim for a Calorie Deficit: Once you have computed your metabolic rate, eat a slightly lower amount of calories to revive your metabolism. For example, if your BMR is 1,634, eat only 1,500 calories and below.
- Eat Every Two to Three Hours: The problem with eating three long-spread meals a day every six hours is it does nothing to speed up metabolism since it trains the body to do the opposite. Eating every two to three hours activates your metabolism more often and encourages your body to burn more calories instead of storing them.
- Get Fiber: Fiber found in fruits and vegetables have a positive two-fold effect on your gut. First, they’re easy to digest and, therefore, speed up metabolism. Two, they flush out toxins from the body much faster.
- Choose Complex Carbohydrates, Avoid the Rest: Complex carbs are full of nutrients like fiber, potassium, selenium, and magnesium, satiating you faster. It means you won’t be tempted to eat more.
- Hydrate: Drinking eight to ten glasses of water a day boosts your metabolism by signaling the body to heat the water for digestion. The more water you drink, the more your body has to metabolize it to turn into urine.
Conclusion
We hope these nutrition tips help speed up your slow metabolism and live the life you’ve always wanted. Before embarking on a diet or health cleanse, be sure to consult a licensed health professional to guarantee your body is getting the nutrients and calories it needs to stay fit and healthy!
If you’re wondering where you should start, contact Z Med Clinic right now! We’re one of the wellness clinics in Houston with trusted and state-of-the-art methods that keep families in Corpus Christi, The Woodlands, and other services areas in Texas in the pink of health!
