slow metabolism

AmandaM15

Try eating clean. Ditch the prepackaged foods with lots of ingredients, they usually have way too much sodium and sugars. Go with lean proteins and complex carbs (like veggies, fruits and whole grains) at every meal. Try eating six small meals through out the day. Have small amounts of healthy fats like olive oil, raw almonds and avocado. After a few weeks you'll feel so much better and I'm sure the scale will start moving down again.

heybales

I eat 1200 cals a day and exercise 5 days a week. I do elliptical and running. I burn between 350-500 calories per workout depending on what I do.

As others have said, weight lifting.

And include intervals in your cardio. Anything can be made into intervals, no matter what level of intensity you are currently at.

And is your calorie estimate of exercise based on heart rate, or time or distance only, is weight even included? That estimate could be way off. Based on age, sex, weight, and heart rate is much closer to correct. You may be way off on estimate otherwise.

Anyway, studies regarding sprints and weight lifting, and fat burn benefit from both since more muscle can't help but help.
These 2 together are great, because you make more muscle, and then use it in intervals. Great combo effect.

http://www.exrx.net/FatLoss/HIITvsET.html
After a 5 week conditioning period on a recumbent cycle, The High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) group perform sprints while the Endurance Training (ET) group performed a more traditional aerobic protocol, throughout the remaining 15 weeks. Both groups progressed in intensity. At the conclusion of the study, the HIIT group lost over 3 times as much subcutaneous fat as the ET group despite expending less than half as many calories. For every calorie expended during HIIT, there was a nine fold loss of subcutaneous body fat, as compared to the ET group.

http://www.exrx.net/FatLoss/WT&End.html
Wayne Westcott, Ph.D. conducted a study in which 72 over weight individuals participated in an eight week exercise program. The participants were placed in two groups. The first group performed 30 minutes of endurance exercise on a stationary cycle. The second group performed only 15 minutes of exercise on the stationary cycle plus an additional 15 minutes on weight resistant exercises. At the conclusion of the study, the "endurance only" group lost a total of 3.5 lbs.; 3 lbs. of which was fat and a half pound was muscle loss. On the other hand, the "endurance and weight resistive" group lost 8 lbs. with an actual fat loss of 10 lbs. and an increase of 2 lbs. of lean body weight.

asyouseefit

^^^Great info! Thank you mbales!

RonSwanson66

http://www.exrx.net/FatLoss/HIITvsET.html
After a 5 week conditioning period on a recumbent cycle, The High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) group perform sprints while the Endurance Training (ET) group performed a more traditional aerobic protocol, throughout the remaining 15 weeks. Both groups progressed in intensity. At the conclusion of the study, the HIIT group lost over 3 times as much subcutaneous fat as the ET group despite expending less than half as many calories. For every calorie expended during HIIT, there was a nine fold loss of subcutaneous body fat, as compared to the ET group.

http://www.exrx.net/FatLoss/WT&End.html
Wayne Westcott, Ph.D. conducted a study in which 72 over weight individuals participated in an eight week exercise program. The participants were placed in two groups. The first group performed 30 minutes of endurance exercise on a stationary cycle. The second group performed only 15 minutes of exercise on the stationary cycle plus an additional 15 minutes on weight resistant exercises. At the conclusion of the study, the "endurance only" group lost a total of 3.5 lbs.; 3 lbs. of which was fat and a half pound was muscle loss. On the other hand, the "endurance and weight resistive" group lost 8 lbs. with an actual fat loss of 10 lbs. and an increase of 2 lbs. of lean body weight.

Please link to the primary sources or these articles. As far as I can find, they never made it past peer review.

rileysowner

Try eating every few hours in small meals. A lot of people swear up and down that it stimulates metabolism, many say it does nothing but curb appetite. Regardless, maybe give it a try. And maybe add some weight lifting to your exercise routine.

Eating every few hours for some people may help feel full, but there are tons of research papers that show the net effect over the day on metabolism is that it makes no difference at all.

I would say eat food prepared by yourself, and change up your exercise. Some sort of strength training either using body weight or weighted exercises would be good. Once you get the exercise form down you can look at more metabolically demanding ways to do them.

Also, what are you using to calculate your exercise calories. I find the numbers for exercise here on MFP and on many exercise machines is a little high. Not a big deal if you are running a 1000 calorie deficit, but more of a problem when you are running a 500 calorie one.

Lastly, how carefully are you measuring your food. BTW trusting that the portion size for pre-packaged foods is always correct might be a mistake. At least under the laws of Canada, and probably other places, they are required to have at least as much as they claim on the package. To make sure of that many, probably most, manufacturers add a little extra. It is called an overage, and is meant to avoid lawsuits for not having as much product as they say on the label. Not a big deal overall, but when you are counting calories a 20-30% overage would mean 20-30% more calories. That is the other reason making your own food is much better, you can measure precisely.

LabRat529

You do not have to eat clean to lose weight. If you want to eat clean, awesome, but if eating pre-packaged meals makes your life easier and helps you stick to your diet, then that's what you should do.

The most important thing is finding a lifestyle you can stick with. I personally could never make the 'eat clean' work. So please don't feel like you have to drastically change your eating habits. The more complicated and difficult you make your diet, the less likely you will be to stay with it. Keep it simple That's my diet strategy.

I personally like the weight lifting/strength training suggestions to get your metabolism going. I'd honestly focus on repairing that metabolism before I worried too much about losing weight.

Good luck.

cecilia0909

I agree with a lot of what others have said. I am not an expert on diet or exercise but I have read a lot on the topic and from what I have seen work for other people I would suggest more weight training exercises and it wouldn't hurt to look at eating less processed foods

koosdel

You do not have to eat clean to lose weight. If you want to eat clean, awesome, but if eating pre-packaged meals makes your life easier and helps you stick to your diet, then that's what you should do.

The most important thing is finding a lifestyle you can stick with. I personally could never make the 'eat clean' work. So please don't feel like you have to drastically change your eating habits. The more complicated and difficult you make your diet, the less likely you will be to stay with it. Keep it simple That's my diet strategy.

I personally like the weight lifting/strength training suggestions to get your metabolism going. I'd honestly focus on repairing that metabolism before I worried too much about losing weight.

Good luck.

To expand on this,

The calorie deficit determine how much you lose, the macros determine what you lose. Somewhat.

bellawares

Your rate of metabolism is controlled by the amount of muscle mass you have. Nothing else..

I suggest a weight lifting routine, followed by moderate cardio, and patience. It will happen.

I totally agree with this. I am hypothyroid and have a very slow metabolism. I burn less calories per workout then you do and I was able to lose 71 lbs. It has taken me a year of changing my diet to mostly plant based and adding strength training 2 to 3 times a week. I also have upped my protein intake at the suggestion of my trainer and I was able to increase my rate of burn.

Dietary changes and strength training have been key for me.

Acg67

As someone previously mentioned, the high glycemic index foods are probably contributing greatly to your lack of weight loss. If your metabolism is slow your body doesn't remove insulin quickly. I believe it's called insulin resistance. High glycemic index foods cause your body to produce more insulin. I'm in a similar boat.

Google for the web sites that will show you the glycemic index of foods. Most processed foods are probably going to do that to you. Google search and see what you can find. For example, rice is a high glycemic food. I happen to like rice but I'm not eating any right now as I'm trying to lose weight. Here's a good web site to start at:
http://www.glycemicindex.com/

Google and read about insulin resistance. Ask your doctor about it and about lower glycemic foods. You can lose the weight. If your metabolism is really slow then your diet becomes even more critical.
http://www.womentowomen.com/insulinresistance/whatisinsulinresistance.aspx?id=1&campaignno=insulinresistance&adgroup=ag1insulinresistance&keywords=what+is+insulin+resistance&gclid=COPPvoWd1awCFYqA5QodPVNPrQ

Hang in there and don't give up!!

besides the fact that GI is mostly irrelevant to the avg person

An 18-mo randomized trial of a low-glycemic-index diet and weight change in Brazilian women

http://www.ajcn.org/content/86/3/707.abstract

Conclusions: Long-term weight changes were not significantly different between the HGI and LGI diet groups; therefore, this study does not support a benefit of an LGI diet for weight control. Favorable changes in lipids confirmed previous results.

Reduced glycemic index and glycemic load diets do not increase the effects of energy restriction on weight loss and insulin sensitivity in obese men and women.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16177201

In summary, lowering the glycemic load and glycemic index of weight reduction diets does not provide any added benefit to energy restriction in promoting weight loss in obese subjects.

Long-term effects of 2 energy-restricted diets differing in glycemic load on dietary adherence, body composition, and metabolism in CALERIE: a 1-y randomized controlled trial

http://www.ajcn.org/content/85/4/1023.abstract?ijkey=57903af923cb2fcdc065ffd37b00a32e22f4c5cf&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha

Conclusions:These findings provide more detailed evidence to suggest that diets differing substantially in glycemic load induce comparable long-term weight loss.

No effect of a diet with a reduced glycaemic index on satiety, energy intake and body weight in overweight and obese women.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17923862

CONCLUSION:

This study provides no evidence to support an effect of a reduced GI diet on satiety, energy intake or body weight in overweight/obese women. Claims that the GI of the diet per se may have specific effects on body weight may therefore be misleading.

Acg67

as for HIIT vs Steady State

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/stead-state-versus-intervals-finally-a-conclusion.html

cramernh

You do not have to eat clean to lose weight. If you want to eat clean, awesome, but if eating pre-packaged meals makes your life easier and helps you stick to your diet, then that's what you should do.

The most important thing is finding a lifestyle you can stick with. I personally could never make the 'eat clean' work. So please don't feel like you have to drastically change your eating habits. The more complicated and difficult you make your diet, the less likely you will be to stay with it. Keep it simple That's my diet strategy.

I personally like the weight lifting/strength training suggestions to get your metabolism going. I'd honestly focus on repairing that metabolism before I worried too much about losing weight.

Good luck.

No one at all said to 'eat clean" .... her food logs show nothing but prepackaged - processed - frozen foods, all high in sodium, high glycemic ingredients, sugars in some cases on top of high glycemic foods... no where did I see an actual composed meal made from fresh ingredients... right now she is eating plenty of processing chemicals and its bascially all junk...... She will never learn about proper eating if she relies on frozen meals, open-the-can/box-and-heat-and-serve type of meals.... her food related choices are definitely contributory....

ddiestler

Wow, I guess I didn't know this would spawn such controversy. First of all I do cook fresh meals with fresh ingredients. Secondly, I feel a little attacked.. I have done alot of changing my eating habits and feel good about most of the choices I make.

I understand if you go back to the last week it does show that I've gone out or eating a lean cuisine. However, thats not all eat by all means.

Learning to eat healthy is a work in progress for me. I was raised on non healthy foods made with plenty of butter..I am trying to adapt to a new lifestyle. There is so much of eat this don't eat that..

I welcome any suggestions on what kind of "home cooked" meals I should make.

LabRat529

You do not have to eat clean to lose weight. If you want to eat clean, awesome, but if eating pre-packaged meals makes your life easier and helps you stick to your diet, then that's what you should do.

The most important thing is finding a lifestyle you can stick with. I personally could never make the 'eat clean' work. So please don't feel like you have to drastically change your eating habits. The more complicated and difficult you make your diet, the less likely you will be to stay with it. Keep it simple That's my diet strategy.

I personally like the weight lifting/strength training suggestions to get your metabolism going. I'd honestly focus on repairing that metabolism before I worried too much about losing weight.

Good luck.

No one at all said to 'eat clean" .... her food logs show nothing but prepackaged - processed - frozen foods, all high in sodium, high glycemic ingredients, sugars in some cases on top of high glycemic foods... no where did I see an actual composed meal made from fresh ingredients... right now she is eating plenty of processing chemicals and its bascially all junk...... She will never learn about proper eating if she relies on frozen meals, open-the-can/box-and-heat-and-serve type of meals.... her food related choices are definitely contributory....

Actually... if you re-read some of the posts, at least one person DID say specifically to try clean eating... and your suggestion is pretty close.

My point is... it's much more important to find a life style you can live with than it is to cook and eat the foods you describe. So what if she eats frozen meals? If it makes it easier for her to stick to her diet, then great!

People in general make dieting far more complicated than it needs to be. Whole grains, quality proteins, lots of fruits and veggies... these are good things!!! But good heavens, "frozen meals, open-the-can/box-and-heat-and-serve type of meals" are fine too. Most of them are high in sodium... but... eh... sodium is not the devil either. It should be minimized, but no need to freak out about it.

LabRat529

Wow, I guess I didn't know this would spawn such controversy. First of all I do cook fresh meals with fresh ingredients. Secondly, I feel a little attacked.. I have done alot of changing my eating habits and feel good about most of the choices I make.

I understand if you go back to the last week it does show that I've gone out or eating a lean cuisine. However, thats not all eat by all means.

Learning to eat healthy is a work in progress for me. I was raised on non healthy foods made with plenty of butter..I am trying to adapt to a new lifestyle. There is so much of eat this don't eat that..

I welcome any suggestions on what kind of "home cooked" meals I should make.

You know what... you have lost 27 lbs which is awesome! You should be proud of yourself for that. And Lean Cuisine isn't going to hurt you now and then. You are doing fine. Do whatever you need to to stick with your program. Short-cuts are fine if they help. In my opinion anyway

If you do want to incorporate some changes into your life, I'd recommend adding things slowly here and there that are "nutrient dense": Dark green veggies- raw or lightly steamed/sauteed, nuts, berries, whole grains, lean meats... I've gotten out of the habit, but when I was being "good", I'd try to eat at least one cup of raw or lightly cooked veggies with every meal.

Edit: Actually dark veggies period. They dont' have to be green. Beets are awesome. I can't stand 'em, but they're awesome and dark purple/red. Dark is usually good.

Rae6503

So, I had a test done that proved I have a slow metabolism. My resting BMR is 1250 and with the little bit of walking I do in a day bumped it up to 1500. With that said, realistically I can only lose about 1 pound a week. UGH! I'm not able to create a 500 calorie deficit from food.

I eat 1200 cals a day and exercise 5 days a week. I do elliptical and running. I burn between 350-500 calories per workout depending on what I do.

I drink 6-9 glasses of water a day as well

The problem is, My damn scale still isn't moving.. any suggestions?

I am making huge improvement on working out but the scale reflects a different story. I'm feeling very frustrated..

Thanks for any advice.

Dawn

First, how did they test your BMR? Just curious.

Second, I think you are calculating things wrong. You're BMR is what you'd burn in a coma. You then multiple that by a coefficient to determine how much you burn a day. MFP uses about 1.25 for a sedentary lifestyle. That'd give you 1562. So then you'd subtract you deficit. 500 for a pound a week. BUT that'd give you less than the magical 1200. So when you don't exercise you eat 1200 which should set you up to lose 0.72lbs a week. Still not bad.

Then you work out and burn your 500 calories. Then you can get your 500 calorie deficit by eating 1562. Not bad.

But honestly some people's bodies do not respond well to big calorie deficits. You might do better with a half pound a week setting (and eating all your exercise calories).

And lastly, yeah, I'm not a "clean" eater either (don't think you have to be) but I do try to add fruits, veggies, protien shakes, fish oil and a multivitamins to my processed foods.

MercenaryNoetic26

One pound a week is very normal and the recommended setting. Nothing to be disappointed about. Women, it takes you a long time to gain your weight. Please be patient with losing it. High expectations result in all the depressing forums. Shoot for realistic goals and you'll have nothing to worry about and great results.

ddiestler

I went and had a test done through a dietician..It's called an indirect calorimeter reading. You fast for 4 hours..in my case I went to bed and went right when I woke up. I breathed into a machine for 10 minutes and it calculated my BMR. So my BMR number was 1250 which the dietician then multiplied it and gave me a BMR of 1500.. However, I still can only create about a 300 calorie deficit with diet alone.

ddiestler

Thanks for all the responses. I do keep my diary open as it keeps me accountable. I know some of my food choices are bad, however, I do and have made better choices. You see McDonalds on there but what you don't see is I used to eat a big mac and large fries.. You see olive garden where I would eat several breadsticks, coke, salad, and fettuccini alfredo.. Now, I eat 1 breadstick, salad with lite dressing on the side and a bowl of soup.

My breakfasts generally consist of a protein shake or kashi whole grain ceral, skim milk and a piece of fruit. My snack is 1/2 cup cottage cheese.. yes, somedays my lunch is a lean cuisine and dinner is meat, potato, and vegetable.

I don't drink soda and consume 8-9 glasses of water a day.

I would hardly say I'm not making positive choices.

I have had nothing but positive experiences on this site and find it beneficial. Thanks to all that respond

heybales

Regarding HIIT vs Steady State cardio.

Very nice articles on comparing the pro's and con's.
I noticed they seemed to have indeed commented on the benefits for the regular person, but forgetting it is the pro with time on their hands.

For those that are in the beginning of a long term life time of exercise, intervals (not all out sprints, but increased efforts), even that blog seems to bear out it would still be useful.

Other studies besides the one he says is debunked still show the benefit for intervals for active or untrained people exercising.
Especially with the fact we all only have so much time, and exercise is fit into a schedule. Our jobs usually don't give us exercise as training.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19088769
High-intensity aerobic interval training increases fat and carbohydrate metabolic capacities in human skeletal muscle.

This study demonstrated that 18 h of repeated high-intensity exercise sessions over 6 weeks (3 d.week-1) is a powerful method to increase whole-body and skeletal muscle capacities to oxidize fat and carbohydrate in previously untrained individuals.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17991697
Similar metabolic adaptations during exercise after low volume sprint interval and traditional endurance training in humans.

Given the markedly lower training volume in the SIT group, these data suggest that high-intensity interval training is a time-efficient strategy to increase skeletal muscle oxidative capacity and induce specific metabolic adaptations during exercise that are comparable to traditional ET.

And why intervals can be almost as useful as weightlifting.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21451146

These findings support the hypothesis that an acute bout of low-volume HIT activates mitochondrial biogenesis through a mechanism involving increased nuclear abundance of PGC-1α.