Do you think you can 'reset' your metabolism?
AgidGirl
Posts: 138 Member
Was talking with a friend recently and he mentioned that I could boost my metabolism by eating earlier in the day and by eating every few hours. What does MFP think about that theroy?!
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Replies
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It's nonsense. Nutritional timing has no significant impact on metabolism. It is a broscience myth.13
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It's nonsense. Nutritional timing has no significant impact on metabolism. It is a broscience myth.
Cosigned. Nutrient/meal timing is irrelevant.
Your metabolism works 24 hours a day. If it's not working when you wake up, you just woke up dead. In which case you have bigger things to worry about than what to have for breakfast.16 -
broscience about resetting metabolism
nutritional timing in general is majoring in the minors - for people who are aiming for very specific goals/needs (bodybuilders etc)3 -
I think that theory has just as much merit as the one that intermittent fasting is supposed to burn more fat - aka, none.
Lol, typo8 -
Agree with everyone above.3
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Your friend is wrong.7
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Even if there were benefits (which I'm not saying there are!), they'd be quite small, or else the method would be quite dangerous (meth, anyone?). There are no shortcuts. Just find what works to get you to a caloric deficit and stay there.1
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Metabolism is the natural process by which your body converts calories into energy. This is not the same as jump starting a car battery or resetting a fitness tracker.5
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Good, thanks! I HATE eating before 9 AM...it makes me more hungry throughout the day :-)2
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Your metabolism is a fluid process that changes over the course of your life, depending on many factors.
Meal timing has almost nothing to do with that process, however.2 -
Good, thanks! I HATE eating before 9 AM...it makes me more hungry throughout the day :-)
Same here. I discovered that about myself long ago. When I came to the MFP forums, I found out that skipping breakfast and eating your first meal around lunch is called intermittent fasting. I gradually decreased my window of eating so that my meals are timed within a six-hour span. You'll see people refer to 16:8 or 20:4 or 18:6.
There's nothing special about doing this, it's just a way of helping you control your appetite/calorie intake.3 -
I mean, I suppose it might wake you up and make you feel more energetic, and therefore you might do more stuff, meaning you burn more calories. For some people it might do that.
Is that the kind of thing we're talking about?0 -
CattOfTheGarage wrote: »I mean, I suppose it might wake you up and make you feel more energetic, and therefore you might do more stuff, meaning you burn more calories. For some people it might do that.
Is that the kind of thing we're talking about?
That's what my morning run is for!
I am absolutely freezing, no matter what the weather is until I exercise every day.2 -
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »CattOfTheGarage wrote: »I mean, I suppose it might wake you up and make you feel more energetic, and therefore you might do more stuff, meaning you burn more calories. For some people it might do that.
Is that the kind of thing we're talking about?
That's what my morning run is for!
I am absolutely freezing, no matter what the weather is until I exercise every day.
A couple of cups of coffee and a workout gets my metabolism kicked up just fine.
And yes, I do all my workouts fasted.
Lately, at age 66 and in a deficit I have hit PRs on bench and OHP working out fasted. No one is as surprised as me about this! Eating before workout doesn't feel optimum. I get plenty of cals the rest of the day, a little over 2000. Works just fine. YMMV3 -
The only benefit eating b-fast would have is to help you eat less throughout the day.. or so I was told by a nutritionist.. Other than that, it's still based on how many calories you take in and what you burn. I hate b-fast as well.. I have noticed that if I start my day with two boiled eggs, I'm less hungry the rest of the day and better manage my food intake. No other food does this for me. But for someone else it could be a grapefruit, a donut, a smoothie.. coffee only.. we are all different. I don't particularly like eggs.. but I'm not arguing with what works. I'm just thankful mine wasn't cabbage! Ugh!1
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »CattOfTheGarage wrote: »I mean, I suppose it might wake you up and make you feel more energetic, and therefore you might do more stuff, meaning you burn more calories. For some people it might do that.
Is that the kind of thing we're talking about?
That's what my morning run is for!
I am absolutely freezing, no matter what the weather is until I exercise every day.
A couple of cups of coffee and a workout gets my metabolism kicked up just fine.
And yes, I do all my workouts fasted.
Lately, at age 66 and in a deficit I have hit PRs on bench and OHP working out fasted. No one is as surprised as me about this! Eating before workout doesn't feel optimum. I get plenty of cals the rest of the day, a little over 2000. Works just fine. YMMV
Same here. I cannot work out with food in my stomach. I used to need to eat before I lifted, but I've changed how I lift (trying to lift heavy got me frustrated because I failed to progress and it triggered migraines) and it feels more comfortable doing it fasted. And saying that, I still don't eat for a good long bit after I'm done working out.
I do some combo of run/walk every morning for 5.5 miles (how much of each varies depending on the day, I vary my run length and sometimes do intervals after the main run) and lift three days a week a couple hours after that. Fasted.
And like you, I get plenty of calories the rest of the day. I'm eating at deficit right now, it's around 1700-1800. I also get a few more walks in during my day. I stay pretty active throughout the day.3 -
GlassAngyl wrote: »The only benefit eating b-fast would have is to help you eat less throughout the day.. or so I was told by a nutritionist.. Other than that, it's still based on how many calories you take in and what you burn. I hate b-fast as well.. I have noticed that if I start my day with two boiled eggs, I'm less hungry the rest of the day and better manage my food intake. No other food does this for me. But for someone else it could be a grapefruit, a donut, a smoothie.. coffee only.. we are all different. I don't particularly like eggs.. but I'm not arguing with what works. I'm just thankful mine wasn't cabbage! Ugh!
When I eat breakfast it makes me hungrier so I actually eat more throughout the day.7 -
GlassAngyl wrote: »The only benefit eating b-fast would have is to help you eat less throughout the day.. or so I was told by a nutritionist.. Other than that, it's still based on how many calories you take in and what you burn. I hate b-fast as well.. I have noticed that if I start my day with two boiled eggs, I'm less hungry the rest of the day and better manage my food intake. No other food does this for me. But for someone else it could be a grapefruit, a donut, a smoothie.. coffee only.. we are all different. I don't particularly like eggs.. but I'm not arguing with what works. I'm just thankful mine wasn't cabbage! Ugh!
But eating breakfast doesn't necessarily make you eat less calories during the day, that's just not true.
Many of us have found that the first meal we eat turns on an "appetite" switch, and the longer we delay it, the better off we are.
I personally do best eating 2 meals a day with a small dessert. I do drink some tea before I eat my first meal, but that's it.
If I eat early in the day, I do nothing but think about food all day long and wonder when the next time I can eat is. When I eat my first meal at 2:00? I have no trouble sticking to my calorie goal. I know other people who do the same thing for the same reason have the same experience.
Nutritionists have very little in the way of real training. For accurate information, one should consult a registered dietitian.5 -
Nah, that's just a myth. I work at a subway at I only eat a light breakfast (200-300 cal) and nothing the entire day until 3pm since I work over lunch almost every day. I find that I can 'forget' about the hunger till I'm done with work. I enjoy eating in the evening so I save my cals for that! I've experienced no ill metabolism effects.0
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Just saw an article in Prevention magazine that eating breakfast to lose weight is a myth, so the tide must be turning! Making room for some new myth, I'm sure.
I forced myself to eat breakfast for years because it's supposed to be the most important meal. But once I switched to just a cup of coffee with a splash of milk until my first real meal at noon, it made it so much easier to stay within my calories!1 -
singingflutelady wrote: »GlassAngyl wrote: »The only benefit eating b-fast would have is to help you eat less throughout the day.. or so I was told by a nutritionist.. Other than that, it's still based on how many calories you take in and what you burn. I hate b-fast as well.. I have noticed that if I start my day with two boiled eggs, I'm less hungry the rest of the day and better manage my food intake. No other food does this for me. But for someone else it could be a grapefruit, a donut, a smoothie.. coffee only.. we are all different. I don't particularly like eggs.. but I'm not arguing with what works. I'm just thankful mine wasn't cabbage! Ugh!
When I eat breakfast it makes me hungrier so I actually eat more throughout the day.GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »GlassAngyl wrote: »The only benefit eating b-fast would have is to help you eat less throughout the day.. or so I was told by a nutritionist.. Other than that, it's still based on how many calories you take in and what you burn. I hate b-fast as well.. I have noticed that if I start my day with two boiled eggs, I'm less hungry the rest of the day and better manage my food intake. No other food does this for me. But for someone else it could be a grapefruit, a donut, a smoothie.. coffee only.. we are all different. I don't particularly like eggs.. but I'm not arguing with what works. I'm just thankful mine wasn't cabbage! Ugh!
But eating breakfast doesn't necessarily make you eat less calories during the day, that's just not true.
Many of us have found that the first meal we eat turns on an "appetite" switch, and the longer we delay it, the better off we are.
I personally do best eating 2 meals a day with a small dessert. I do drink some tea before I eat my first meal, but that's it.
If I eat early in the day, I do nothing but think about food all day long and wonder when the next time I can eat is. When I eat my first meal at 2:00? I have no trouble sticking to my calorie goal. I know other people who do the same thing for the same reason have the same experience.
Nutritionists have very little in the way of real training. For accurate information, one should consult a registered dietitian.
I read GlassAngyl's post to say more or less exactly that.0 -
Newp0
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Nope. I did however "reset my metabolism" by making sure to move my *kitten* more during the day. It took conscious effort at first, but is now just another habit.
So no, I didn't "reset" anything, but I did get my maintenance calories from ~2300/day at 230 lbs., to ~2800/day at 165, by not spending so much time sitting.2
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