Is your metabolism weighing you down? Perhaps both literally and figuratively, but all jokes aside, did you know that your metabolism directly relates to your weight, performance, sex drive, and more? That is right – your metabolic rate determines many factors that impact your health. If you’ve been feeling tired, sluggish, unable to train at your best or even lose weight, your metabolism might need to be reset. We are here to walk you through how to do just that and teach you some critical factors about your metabolism.
Important Information About Metabolism
Before we dive any further, it is important that you understand what your metabolism is, what it does for your body, and how it functions overall. When you consume energy (food + drinks = calories), your body has to use that energy to function. Your metabolism is the rate at which this energy is consumed and broken down for use. If your body is in a caloric surplus, your body will have to store the extra energy as fat, which is how and why people usually gain weight.
However, if your metabolic rate is too slow to break down the energy you are consuming, then it might have the same effect as storing extra, unwanted pounds. Your metabolism is essentially a chemical reaction happening right inside your body.
The relationship between hormone levels and metabolism is also strongly connected. Therefore, the easiest way to determine whether your metabolism has changed is to have blood work tested for certain hormone levels.
Different Health Issues Can Change Your Metabolism
It is possible that your metabolic rate changes over time. In fact, age and time are two things that can cause changes to your metabolism. As you get older, your metabolism slows down, making it harder for you to lose weight and use the energy you consume. That is why older people often comment that they cannot eat as much as they used to, but your metabolism starts changing at the age of 20. Usually, around the time you have completed puberty and are out of your adolescent phase.
Other factors that cause changes to your metabolism include:
- physical activity
- sleep
- stress
- weight
- emotional wellness
- diet
- environment
This is not a complete list of everything that can affect your metabolism. However, the biggest takeaway here is that your metabolism is impacted by your daily habits and the environment within which you exist. Simply put, your metabolism is directly impacted by your health habits. Other factors out of your control that directly affect your metabolism (like genetics), but we are focusing solely on the things within your control.
Similar to what causes changes to your metabolism are signs that it is slowing down or has changed its rate:
- weight gain
- fatigue
- constipation
- slow pulse
- difficult to lose weight
- depression and anxiety
- extreme sugar and carb cravings
- headaches
- decreased nail and hair health
If and when you notice any of the above occur out of the ordinary for you, it is important to figure out if your metabolism could use a reset!
