Metabolism

meanmachine235

Hi got a question if eating in a deficit slows down your metabolism or adapts to it then its said that muscle mass increases metabolism so therefore your metabolism shouldn't really slow down or should it

usmcmp

Metabolic adaptations do happen during dieting, some of that comes from lean mass loss and the rest will return to normal after maintaining a new lower weight for a while. Adding muscle does increase metabolism, but it's not as dramatic as many people try to make it seem. Overall when you lose weight your maintenance will be lower simply due to moving around less weight 24/7.

meanmachine235

So how much exactly does muscle increase metabolism

usmcmp

Many places say a pound of muscle burns 50 calories per day, but I believe it's actually closer to 15 calories.

happysherri

https://bodybuilding.com/fun/9-tips-to-increase-metabolism.htm
This may help, regarding metabolism and possibly raising your BMR. Interesting article anyhow

CharlieBeansmomTracey

usmcmp wrote: »

Many places say a pound of muscle burns 50 calories per day, but I believe it's actually closer to 15 calories.

some things I read said its 6-10 calories burned per lb of muscle so go figure.either way its lower than most think.

AnvilHead

meanmachine235 wrote: »

So how much exactly does muscle increase metabolism

A pound of muscle burns about 6 calories per day. A pound of fat burns about 2 calories per day. So gaining a pound of muscle increases your overall expenditure by 4 calories per day.

Source: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/dissecting-the-energy-needs-of-the-body-research-review.html/

psuLemon

happysherri wrote: »

https://bodybuilding.com/fun/9-tips-to-increase-metabolism.htm
This may help, regarding metabolism and possibly raising your BMR. Interesting article anyhow

It's actually fairly poor and plays on a lot of bro-science or over exaggerations (so pretty typical for bb.com).


Really the majority of what is going to drive metabolism is significant increases in muscle mass and exercise. Increasing activity level (both from exercise and spontaneous NEAT (e.g., walking more) would increase TDEE which can make losing weight easier.

psuLemon

Noel_57 wrote: »

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

some things I read said its 6-10 calories burned per lb of muscle so go figure.either way its lower than most think.

I agree. The muscle/higher metabolism connection is more myth than fact, imo. I have known the boniest people, who have very little muscle say that they can eat huge amounts of food to try to gain weight and just can't do it. And I have talked to bodybuilders that say they have to watch every calorie they take in because they gain weight so easily.

What people say vs reality are two different things; plus there is more than metabolism that affects TDEE. But there are direct relationships between muscle and EE.

TimothyFish

Eating at a deficit slows down your metabolism for a number of reasons. Probably the least important is because you lose lean muscle mass along with fat. Then there is the fact that you are eating less so you burn fewer calories digesting food. But the big one is because you are losing weight you require less energy to do simple things like rolling over in bed or standing up from a chair, let alone things like walking across a parking lot or climbing a set of stairs. Imagine how much more energy it would take if you had to carry a fifty pound child on your back all day. Your metabolism decreases by the same amount if you lose fifty pounds of fat.

faidwen

Also an interesting article that shows it really doesn't matter as much as folks believe

https://examine.com/nutrition/does-metabolism-vary-between-two-people/