Don't Blame Metabolism

 

People have been blaming metabolism for their difficulty in losing weight for as long as people have been having difficulty loosing weight. As Eric Cartman would always say on South Park, "I'm not fat I'm just big boned." In fact, metabolism is not really to blame.

What is metabolism anyway?

Metabolism is blanket term that describes all the work that your cells do and the energy (in calories) that your body expends doing it. Most of this work involves moving molecules through the cell walls and converting one type of molecule into another through processes like digestion and respiration. The total calories your body burns each day is the sum of two things: the energy you expend at rest simply maintaining your bodily functions (your basal metabolic rate), and the calories your muscles burn when you are engaged in some activity (walking, exercise, looking for the remote). 

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) can vary by 200 calories or so between similar people because of your individual body composition. Tall people burn a little more than short people, lean people burn a bit less than heavier ones. And some people just burn a little more energy than others. But in the scheme of things, that 200 calories is not the challenge when it comes to losing weight.

Blaming a "low metabolism" for difficulty losing weight is a fundamental misunderstanding of how metabolism works. In fact, the culprit is your brain. The hypothalamus specifically. Our bodies have evolved to store excess calories (those consumed above what your BRM and activity burn) as fat. In the past, this was a backup for when food might be scarce. And the hypothalamus worries a lot about that. It doesn't want to let go of the "rainy day" fat supply. It is very good at making you compensate for any increase in energy use (calories burned) by increasing your sense of hunger.

It is fairly well established that people around the world have roughly the same BMR, give or take a little. And yet some societies are lean while others are... well, fat. But to understand why, you don't need to evoke metabolism at all.

The typical processed, packaged foods at our supermarkets have eliminated fiber, protein and just about anything that will make you feel full and satisfied. Sugar, fat, salt and artificial everything are added to light up your brain's reward system (dopamine receptors) when you eat it. And in the USA, food is everywhere.

Despite what promoters of foods and diet plans might say, it is simply not possible to "supercharge", "boost", "ramp up" or "reset" your metabolism. If you want to lose weight, you are going to have to do it the old fashioned way - consume fewer calories than you burn. Fortunately, there are ways to do this that can thwart your hypothalamus. I'll talk about them tomorrow.