Aging and metabolism

Nanner1028
Nanner1028 Posts: 1 Member
edited November 1 in Introduce Yourself

hi I’m Nancy

Thought I would say hi and join the group. I am trying to wrap my head around the idea of eating more to boost my metabolism. I used to eat less and exercise more to get to my goal weight, which is what I’ve always done because it worked! But, I’m told that messed with my metabolism….anyone else struggling with this concept?

Replies

  • yakkystuff
    yakkystuff Posts: 2,345 Member

    Hi, welcome

    Did someone suggest you messed up your metabolism?

    How?

    Did they suggest a way to fix? I would be skeptical of any quick fix promises, programs or products.

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 7,359 Member

    There is a lot of woo in current diet culture regarding our metabolism. But there are a few ways people can 'mess with' their metabolism:

    • Undereating/eating under maintenance for longer periods of time can cause the body to slow down metabolism by slowing down less important processes (hair and nail growth for example, a lower body temperature...). Depending on how susceptible people are and for how long it's been going on, a simple refeed might be enough or reverse dieting (very slowly increasing calorie intake, increasing daily intake by 50-100 kcal every week until weight gain happens) can be a good idea.
    • Repeated yo-yo dieting, essuie-glace with quick weight-loss, can result in the loss of muscle mass. Muscle mass requires calories to maintain, so less muscle mass means your body requires fewer calories. To counteract that, you need resistance training (and sufficient protein intake) to rebuild muscle.

    As for the title, aging and metabolism: the impact is not as great as many people believe (and mostly due to the fast that people generally gradually lose muscle mass as they age).

    Does any of this resonate with you? What did you do in the past? 'which is what I've always done' seems to suggest a yo-yo dieting history? The larger issue is potentially not metabolism but rather not having a strategy that allows you to maintain your weight after you've reached your goal?

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