Metabolism question

DeButterflyx

I lost 1 stone with slimming world but have at least 5 to loose I'm again at a standstill and noticed before calorie counting was giving better results but also things like when I'm out and about and want to grab a light wrap for 2/300kcals that's fine when calorie counting vs with slimming world it could be 20 something syns so way way over allowance.

My only concern is that years of dieting on and off and now calorie counting may effect my metabolism. Anyway of increasing it?

I want to start exercising when iv time have small kids but maybe walks now hopefully weather's improving a bit and some cardio/kettlebells at home as we live a bit away from a gym

Walkywalkerson

Ignore all of that metabolism nonsense that companies like WW and Slimming World etc .. tell you to buy their products!
Count calories - eat at a deficit and you will lose weight.
Calculate the amount of calories you need per day to lose weight with an online TDEE calculator.
Buy an electronic kitchen scale and weigh everything with calories and log it on here with the meal planner.
It's really easy to do once you get into a habit of doing it.
Good luck 😊

claireychn074

Your metabolism will be fine - but you can increase it in two ways. 1. Fidget - build in more movement during the day (go up and down the stairs more, chase after your little ones, walk around when on the phone - you’d be surprised how much that all adds up) and 2. Build muscle. Muscle needs calories to grow and repair, and that will also give you more calories each day to eat.

A lot of these companies tout a faster metabolism as a miracle cure to losing weight. I had a fast metabolism for years owing to a medical issue - it is grim. You feel shaky, you feel exhausted, your body is in high alert and stressed, it affects your hair and skin and causes horrendous digestive issues.

So up your daily activity a little bit but don’t worry about your metabolism!

AnnPT77

It's possible to have a "slower than average metabolism", but it's much less common to have a slower metabolism than it is for people to believe that they have a slower metabolism. (I'm a living example of that incorrect belief, though I've now revised my thinking.)

Advice: Pursue energy and good health, alongside a sensibly moderate weight loss rate for your current size. (IMO and IME, calorie counting is one straightforward way to do that, though it's not ideal for every single person.) Get some non-exhausting exercise you enjoy that's practical for you to do, and ideally is fun or at least tolerable, bonus if that exercise increases strength/muscle. Eat nutritiously.

Those are the things you can do for your "metabolism" (where "metabolism" is defined as the calories you burn just by being alive, before counting the calories from daily life movement or exercise).

IMO, once you're doing that, "metabolism" isn't worth worrying about. You need the calories you need. To lose, you eat somewhat fewer calories than you need to maintain weight. Other strategies can make that easier or harder for specific individuals, but that's the main deal, a sensible reduction in calories below maintenance calories.

If you want to work at increasing movement in daily life (non-exercise), there's a long thread about that here, with lots of people's ideas:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1

Maybe some of those are impractical for you, but I'm betting some could be workable. It's not a huge thing, but it's a help. (Some people get up to a couple of hundred or so extra calories benefit daily, when really working at it.)

If you want to take a deep dive into how repeat dieting or other factors affect metabolism, this is a good thread:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1077746/starvation-mode-adaptive-thermogenesis-and-weight-loss/p1

(If that title doesn't seem like it would be relevant . . . well, ignore that. It is. The OP of that thread split his main points into about half a dozen posts, at the start of the thread. The first 2-3 posts are background, for someone wanting to focus on the effects of repeat weight loss, but in approximately the 4th post (headed "Why is it important? And the article review ... finally") he gets into that specific issue of dieting's effect on calorie needs. I'd suggest reading the ones before and after that, too, to get the most out of it.)

Mostly, just try to adopt a health-promoting, active set of habits that fit well into your life and are sustainable long term, and you'll make progress, ideally even get off the yo-yo dieting merry-go-round and find the happy near-autopilot habits that keep you at a healthy weight long term.

Best wishes!

kshama2001

xDaniellexsh wrote: »

I lost 1 stone with slimming world but have at least 5 to loose I'm again at a standstill and noticed before calorie counting was giving better results but also things like when I'm out and about and want to grab a light wrap for 2/300kcals that's fine when calorie counting vs with slimming world it could be 20 something syns so way way over allowance.

My only concern is that years of dieting on and off and now calorie counting may effect my metabolism. Anyway of increasing it?

I want to start exercising when iv time have small kids but maybe walks now hopefully weather's improving a bit and some cardio/kettlebells at home as we live a bit away from a gym

I'm sorry, I know that a stone is 14 pounds, but when you say "5" are you referring to 5 more pounds or stones (70 pounds)?

Bridgie3

xDaniellexsh wrote: »

I lost 1 stone with slimming world but have at least 5 to loose I'm again at a standstill and noticed before calorie counting was giving better results but also things like when I'm out and about and want to grab a light wrap for 2/300kcals that's fine when calorie counting vs with slimming world it could be 20 something syns so way way over allowance.

My only concern is that years of dieting on and off and now calorie counting may effect my metabolism. Anyway of increasing it?

I want to start exercising when iv time have small kids but maybe walks now hopefully weather's improving a bit and some cardio/kettlebells at home as we live a bit away from a gym

Your metabolic rate is the minimum amount of calories it takes to run your body as it is now, if you fell into a coma or fell asleep or something: your minimum daily spend.

To imagine that you have changed or ruined it, you'd have to assume it was inefficient to start with. What was it overspending on?

I don't really believe in 'lowered metabolism' or 'famine mode'. I think your body after 100,000 yrs of evolution is probably pretty efficient all the time.

If you want to increase your metabolic rate you have to increase the expense of running you: the easiest way is to gain muscle.