Weight loss can definitely feel like an uphill battle for most, and lets be honest. . . as the years go on, the struggle becomes increasingly more difficult! Many people wonder why this is. . . we immediately blame age, which does factor in, but there are other reasons that our weight loss attempts are getting harder as the years pass.
First, lets talk AGE to get it out of the way! As we age we naturally lose muscle and muscle is the driving force behind our metabolic rate! The more muscle we have, the more calories we burn, so the loss of muscle naturally slows down our metabolic rate. A slower metabolism means, that in order to maintain or lose weight, we must eat less. This also can have detrimental effects because our metabolism quickly adapts, and therefore slows down due to the restriction of calories, which just adds to the difficulty to lose weight!
Next lets talk METABOLIC DAMAGE. . . I bet the first time we all tried to lose weight it wasn’t nearly as hard as it is today. We had never dieted, therefore, we had never restricted calories, so we hadn’t experienced a slowed metabolic rate from too low of calories. With calorie restriction, we naturally lose a little muscle as well, which again further slows the metabolic rate (add this loss of muscle to the loss we experience from age, and it’s a double whammy!).
For most people who diet, the weight often comes back on, and the majority actually gain more weight back. This is due to a multitude of factors we won’t specifically discuss in this blog, but the important part I want us all to note, is that we now have a slower metabolism than we did before the diet, and now we have more weight to lose. . . see the problem?! If this pattern of “yo-yo” dieting (losing and gaining weight) continues, we find that each future attempt at weight loss is harder, because now we’re fighting to lose more weight with a slower metabolism and less muscle. The future attempts to lose weight just continue to drive the metabolism further down until we just give up on dieting altogether because at this point it’s miserable! Consuming too few of calories just isn’t sustainable, and willpower just won’t cut it!
Metabolic damage is a real thing, and it makes our attempts at weight loss harder and harder because we basically drive our metabolism down through restricted calories and muscle loss. Continuing the same patterns to lose weight by exercising more and eating less will just continue to further the damage. Each time the metabolism will adapt, and in order to lose more weight, calories will have to be cut further and exercise will have to continually increase. . . this is a recipe for metabolic disaster! It becomes a vicious cycle of continually adding more exercise and cutting calories further, until it’s not sustainable anymore!
So how do we stop this cycle? Here are 3 things you can do stop the vicious cycle of yo-yo dieting and get your metabolism repaired:
- Instead of focusing on calorie restriction, focus on eating more nutritious foods!
- Stop over-exercising and doing hours of cardio!
- Stop looking for the next best diet that will shed the pounds quickly! Detoxes, diets, pills, etc. do not work, and quick fixes will almost always lead to gaining the weight back!
If you’re ready to get on the path to repair your metabolism, download my FREE Metabolic Makeover Guide! In this guide, I lay out simple steps you can start doing today to repair your metabolism and get back on track for sustainable weight loss! Get it HERE!
If you’re ready to take charge and want to join my next RESTORE Nutrition/Fat Loss 12-Week Coaching Group, get on my waitlist HERE and be the first to know we enrollment opens!