Metabolism?

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Any tips on how to make your metabolism faster? A couple of years ago I think I ruined mine going on a crazy diet. I know that the right route to go is the healthy one now but I'm having trouble because my metabolism is so much slower.

Replies

  • LillyD32
    LillyD32 Posts: 8 Member
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    Okay thank you ! Maybe I just assumed it was that because I'm not seeing the progress I want to , I've only lost 4 pounds while dieting for 2 months. I'll definitely have to do more weight training then!
    Height : 5'2
    Weight: 170
    Goal weight :125
    And I'm eating 1500 a day. I was hoping to lose 1-2 pounds a week.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
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    Exercise will do it. Regular exercise. Adopt a program 3-6 times a week and stick with it. Mix in some cardio with weight/resistance training. It'll put your metabolism in overtime.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    You can't speed up your metabolism but you can increase your TDEE by being more active.

    It is unlikely you caused yourself metabolic damage.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    LillyD32 wrote: »
    Okay thank you ! Maybe I just assumed it was that because I'm not seeing the progress I want to , I've only lost 4 pounds while dieting for 2 months. I'll definitely have to do more weight training then!
    Height : 5'2
    Weight: 170
    Goal weight :125
    And I'm eating 1500 a day. I was hoping to lose 1-2 pounds a week.

    The bigger question is, are you logging daily and do you use a food scale? Also what is your exercise program. It may not even be possible to lose 2 lbs a week, or even 1 lb. If you are eating 1500 on average, your current maintenance would be around 1750. So getting 1 lb per week would require a decrease in calories by 250 or an increase in calorie expenditure by 250.
  • LillyD32
    LillyD32 Posts: 8 Member
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    psuLemon wrote: »
    LillyD32 wrote: »
    Okay thank you ! Maybe I just assumed it was that because I'm not seeing the progress I want to , I've only lost 4 pounds while dieting for 2 months. I'll definitely have to do more weight training then!
    Height : 5'2
    Weight: 170
    Goal weight :125
    And I'm eating 1500 a day. I was hoping to lose 1-2 pounds a week.

    The bigger question is, are you logging daily and do you use a food scale? Also what is your exercise program. It may not even be possible to lose 2 lbs a week, or even 1 lb. If you are eating 1500 on average, your current maintenance would be around 1750. So getting 1 lb per week would require a decrease in calories by 250 or an increase in calorie expenditure by 250.

    I do log daily and I don't use a food scale! I just use measuring cups. I do an hour of cardio 5 times a week. Do you think I should be eating less calories? Like 1250?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,114 Member
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    LillyD32 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    LillyD32 wrote: »
    Okay thank you ! Maybe I just assumed it was that because I'm not seeing the progress I want to , I've only lost 4 pounds while dieting for 2 months. I'll definitely have to do more weight training then!
    Height : 5'2
    Weight: 170
    Goal weight :125
    And I'm eating 1500 a day. I was hoping to lose 1-2 pounds a week.

    The bigger question is, are you logging daily and do you use a food scale? Also what is your exercise program. It may not even be possible to lose 2 lbs a week, or even 1 lb. If you are eating 1500 on average, your current maintenance would be around 1750. So getting 1 lb per week would require a decrease in calories by 250 or an increase in calorie expenditure by 250.

    I do log daily and I don't use a food scale! I just use measuring cups. I do an hour of cardio 5 times a week. Do you think I should be eating less calories? Like 1250?

    Using measuring cups and spoons could be your problem. Are you leaving 1/8 inch rim at the top when measuring? It is really easy to eat 200-400 extra calories a day using measuring cups. That would negate your lowered calories right there.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    LillyD32 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    LillyD32 wrote: »
    Okay thank you ! Maybe I just assumed it was that because I'm not seeing the progress I want to , I've only lost 4 pounds while dieting for 2 months. I'll definitely have to do more weight training then!
    Height : 5'2
    Weight: 170
    Goal weight :125
    And I'm eating 1500 a day. I was hoping to lose 1-2 pounds a week.

    The bigger question is, are you logging daily and do you use a food scale? Also what is your exercise program. It may not even be possible to lose 2 lbs a week, or even 1 lb. If you are eating 1500 on average, your current maintenance would be around 1750. So getting 1 lb per week would require a decrease in calories by 250 or an increase in calorie expenditure by 250.

    I do log daily and I don't use a food scale! I just use measuring cups. I do an hour of cardio 5 times a week. Do you think I should be eating less calories? Like 1250?

    I don't think you should be eating less, but it is very likely that your estimations may be incorrect. No shame here. There's a 20% margin of error in calorie estimation to begin with and even professionals under observation are off by 10%. Check your logs - especially any high calorie items that hold more risk.

    Either way your loss is good - just a matter of time.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    CSARdiver wrote: »
    LillyD32 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    LillyD32 wrote: »
    Okay thank you ! Maybe I just assumed it was that because I'm not seeing the progress I want to , I've only lost 4 pounds while dieting for 2 months. I'll definitely have to do more weight training then!
    Height : 5'2
    Weight: 170
    Goal weight :125
    And I'm eating 1500 a day. I was hoping to lose 1-2 pounds a week.

    The bigger question is, are you logging daily and do you use a food scale? Also what is your exercise program. It may not even be possible to lose 2 lbs a week, or even 1 lb. If you are eating 1500 on average, your current maintenance would be around 1750. So getting 1 lb per week would require a decrease in calories by 250 or an increase in calorie expenditure by 250.

    I do log daily and I don't use a food scale! I just use measuring cups. I do an hour of cardio 5 times a week. Do you think I should be eating less calories? Like 1250?

    I don't think you should be eating less, but it is very likely that your estimations may be incorrect. No shame here. There's a 20% margin of error in calorie estimation to begin with and even professionals under observation are off by 10%. Check your logs - especially any high calorie items that hold more risk.

    Either way your loss is good - just a matter of time.

    I agree. I would probably pick up a food scale and increase accuracy.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    Another vote for "Team Food Scale" here.

    One more question: how are you calculating your workout calorie burns?
  • LillyD32
    LillyD32 Posts: 8 Member
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    I don't :/ I do a kickboxing class at my gym so I'm not sure how to , do any of you guys know how to calculate it?
  • Arizona_C
    Arizona_C Posts: 1,476 Member
    edited December 2016
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    What has worked for me is working out in the morning. It awakens the metabolism and gives a great start to the day.

    Even if you have little time, just 20-30" of high intensity in the morning is really worth the effort.

  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
    edited December 2016
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  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    LillyD32 wrote: »
    I don't :/ I do a kickboxing class at my gym so I'm not sure how to , do any of you guys know how to calculate it?

    At this point, I wouldn't even worry about that. Since you aren't losing very fast, it's not important to add back exercise calories. If anything, spend the $15 and get a food scale. It's amazing how much we under estimate calories in and over estimate calories out. It's just human nature.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    Arizona_C wrote: »
    What has worked for me is working out in the morning. It awakens the metabolism and gives a great start to the day.

    Even if you have little time, just 20-30" of high intensity in the morning is really worth the effort.

    As a point of semantics, your metabolism never shuts down. It's literally all the bio chemical processes to convert and utilize food into energy.

    And the timing of exercise is largely individual. Glad it's working for you though.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,853 Member
    edited December 2016
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    LillyD32 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    LillyD32 wrote: »
    Okay thank you ! Maybe I just assumed it was that because I'm not seeing the progress I want to , I've only lost 4 pounds while dieting for 2 months. I'll definitely have to do more weight training then!
    Height : 5'2
    Weight: 170
    Goal weight :125
    And I'm eating 1500 a day. I was hoping to lose 1-2 pounds a week.

    The bigger question is, are you logging daily and do you use a food scale? Also what is your exercise program. It may not even be possible to lose 2 lbs a week, or even 1 lb. If you are eating 1500 on average, your current maintenance would be around 1750. So getting 1 lb per week would require a decrease in calories by 250 or an increase in calorie expenditure by 250.

    I do log daily and I don't use a food scale! I just use measuring cups. I do an hour of cardio 5 times a week. Do you think I should be eating less calories? Like 1250?

    Get the food scale. You should be able to get a good one for $15-20, and the thing that most people don't realize is that - once you learn some tricks - weighing food is both quicker and easier than measuring everything in cups, in addition to being much more accurate.

    Some tips:
    • Assembling a salad in a bowl, a stew in a pan, sandwich on a plate? Put the bowl/pan/plate on the scale, zero, add an ingredient, note the weight, zero, add the next ingredient, note the weight . . . .
    • Using something from a carton or jar, or cutting a slice from a hunk of cheese? Put the container or chunk on the scale, zero, take out portion, note the negative value (it's the amount you took out).
    • Eating a whole apple, banana, unhulled strawberries, corn on the cob? Weigh the ready-to-eat food, eat the yummy parts, weigh the core/hulls/peel, subtract & note.
    • I like to keep a few clean plastic yogurt-tub lids around to weigh small items, like a handful of nuts or chopped hardboiled eggs or something. Drop the lid on the scale, zero, add item, note weight, eat or use - just a quick rinse of the lid under the faucet & you're done.
    No measuring spoons to scrape out, or wash, except when you need to measure liquids . . . and you can weigh some of them, too.

    You may need to adjust your calorie goal . . . but first, get a better handle on how many calories you're actually consuming (and simplify your routine at the same time).
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    LillyD32 wrote: »
    Just ordered one ! Thanks guys :)

    Great. If you want to run an experiment, try to estimate calories without using the scale and then use a scale to validate it. I typically was off 200-300, especially with foods high in fats.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    psuLemon wrote: »
    LillyD32 wrote: »
    Just ordered one ! Thanks guys :)

    Great. If you want to run an experiment, try to estimate calories without using the scale and then use a scale to validate it. I typically was off 200-300, especially with foods high in fats.

    I was off that much on a bowl of cereal alone. 2/3 cup = 45 grams my *kitten*.
  • LillyD32
    LillyD32 Posts: 8 Member
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    Yes! lol I've probably been off this whole time! Can't wait to start using it :)