Working out at your neighborhood Fitness 19 gym is always a good idea if you’re determined to lose weight. But it’s also important that you maintain a fast-working metabolism so your body is more efficient at burning off calories.
Unfortunately, you may have adopted some bad eating habits that are actually hindering your metabolism. Here are some mistakes that may be keeping your metabolism from working at peak efficiency:
You’re Eating Too Much at Once
This is an obvious mistake that anyone can recognize. In fact, if you’ve eaten too much for a single meal, you’ll probably feel bad about it. This is one of the easiest ways to gain weight. And when the latest stats show that 71.6% of all adults in the US (ages 20 or more) are overweight or obese, you know that overeating is a very common mistake.
It’s not just because you’re consuming a lot more calories than you ought to. Another problem with eating a lot of food at once is that as a result, you’ll feel sluggish and less active afterwards. You’re unlikely to move a lot after a huge meal, and that means you’re burning off few calories. Your metabolism just goes down.
In theory, you can jumpstart your metabolism by exercising and lifting weights. But in reality, that’s hard to do—not when you’re feeling sluggish after that large meal.
What you should do is to start with smaller portions. You can always go back for more food a bit later on when you’re really feeling hungry. At least you’ll spread out your eating, so you won’t feel too full and inactive.
You’re Not Consuming Enough Calories Per Day
There’s eating too much, and then there’s eating too little. Obviously, we still need to consume food each day. We get the nutrients and the energy we need through our food Try not eating for an entire month, and you’ll be dead. Eating enough calories also keeps your metabolism humming along nicely.
Of course, we can limit our calorie intake as a way to create a calorie deficit. That means we’re burning off more calories than what we consume. That’s the classic way of losing weight, because the body responds by burning off your fat storage to produce the energy it needs.
You do have a problem, though, if you’re in a calorie deficit and you’re still not losing weight. What that might mean is that your metabolism isn’t functioning properly.
It turns out that when you miss meals and don’t consume enough calories, your metabolism responds by withholding calories to maintain a bare minimum of energy for your body to still function. But if you’re eating enough meals so you get your proper calorie intake, then your metabolism can work more efficiently, even during the times when you’re not actively exercising.
You’re Eating the Wrong Snacks
Basically, you’re eating lots of carbs as your snack, instead of going with a protein-heavy snack. And that’s a mistake, since protein snacks are just better for you and your metabolism.
The fact is that 30% of the calories you get from protein are burned off simply by the process of digesting and processing the food. Try a turkey breast snack with 300 calories, and you’re actually burning off 90 of those calories when you digest the food. Your body can then distribute those calories as energy throughout your body.
In other words, your metabolic rate increases after a protein snack, while your body is at rest or sleeping.
You’re Not Eating Leafy Greens
How many tines must you be told to eat your vegetables? Leafy greens in particular can help with better digestion, and also takes the stress of your metabolism after eating. Leafy greens produce healthy blood glucose and lipid levels, which can then be easily broken down into energy sources for your body.
You’re Drinking Too Much Alcohol
It’s not that you have to absolutely abstain from alcohol entirely. A drink with your friends every now and then can even be a good thing for you, overall. It’s just that you have to drink moderately. For women, that means a maximum of one drink per day, while the limit is two drinks per day for men.
Alcohol can actually suppress your metabolism even as your drinking stimulates your appetite. But your body digests the alcohol first rather than the food. As a result, your body can end up storing your excess proteins, dietary fats, and carbs as body fat.