You need to figure out what’s causing your body to hold on to that excess weight to lose it

Lose those extra kilos by strengthening your metabolism, sleeping better and being conscious about your diet
You need to figure out what’s causing your body to hold on to that excess weight to lose it

Many of us want to lose weight, be it less or more and at some point of time we can’t really burn off that excess weight from the body. Why is this happening or what’s the root cause? Weight loss is hampered by a number of things ranging from inactivity, lack of sleep, stress, bad lifestyle, poor emotional health, sluggish metabolism, negativity, over-exercising and so on. You need to figure out what’s causing your body to hold on to that excess fat and weight, work on the root cause and you’ll start reducing gradually. Many times we correct all other aspects of life and body but still we aren’t able to lose those extra kilos, in such cases we need to check if there is an underlying problem which is causing our metabolism to become sluggish (thyroid, diabetes, etc). 

A slow metabolism never helps us to reduce weight or feel up to the mark. Having said that, what exactly is metabolism?   

Metabolism is nothing but a complex process in the body during which the calories from food get combined with oxygen present in the body and release energy which is really important for the body to function properly. In other words, it’s the rate at which the body burns calories. BMR or the basic metabolic rate refers to the amount of energy your body needs to maintain homeostasis (balanced and steady internal condition). Even when we are resting, the body needs energy in order to perform different functions like proper heart rate, blood circulation, breathing, detoxification, repairing cells, etc. And this metabolism is known as RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate). There’s one more known as the Thermic effect of food (TEF) which is the energy you use to eat, digest and metabolise food. It contributes between five to 10 percent of your daily energy usage.

Metabolism can be conveniently divided further into two 
categories:

Catabolism: The breakdown of molecules into smaller units to obtain energy or carry on. 

Anabolism: The synthesis of all compounds needed by the cells or in other words is the process by which the body utilises the energy released by catabolism.

Burn baby, burn
Your age, diet, stress, lack of sleep, inactivity, health condition and lifestyle can all send your body’s calorie burn screeching to a pause. And as we always discuss, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is important because that plays a vast role in determining your metabolism. Please find below a few tips which you can follow to correct your lifestyle as well as metabolism:

Proteins are important to build muscle mass but did you know that protein also causes the largest rise in TEF which contributes to increased metabolism? Plus, eating protein has also been shown to help you feel more full because it increases satiety and prevents you from overeating, which reduces your overall food consumption.



Drinking enough water smoothens your bodily functions like blood circulation, nutrient uptake, and repair, which in turn it increases your RMR. Plus it helps in detoxification as well, which helps to boosts the metabolism. Whenever hungry, try and drink a glass of water and you’ll see that the hunger is curbed for a while which reduces overeating or untimely eating and makes you lose weight.
Staying active or atleast going for regular walks improves your metabolism, which will help you reduce weight. Mixing up your walk or exercise routine, and adding in a few high-intensity workouts, can boost your metabolism and help you burn extra fat.

Get up, stand up!
Sitting is the next smoking and this is true because it really ruins our metabolism. Try and get up from a place every 45-60 minutes just to make sure your blood circulation is going strong. Light stretches or a leisure walk helps in improving metabolism in this scenario.

A lack of sleep can decrease the number of calories you burn, change the way you process sugar and disrupt your appetite-regulating hormones. Sleep deprivation is shown to boost the hunger hormone ghrelin and decrease the fullness hormone leptin. That explains why many people who need sleep feel hungry or experience the cravings and struggle to lose weight.

Let’s focus on bringing these minute changes into your routine to boost that sluggish metabolism and shed those extra kilos!

(The writer is a clinical nutritionist with a focus on healthy lifestyle choices.)

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