slow metabolism

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ddiestler
ddiestler Posts: 353 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
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
«13

Replies

  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
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    What about the foods you are eating? You havent mentioned anything about that...
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
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    Actually, I noticed your diary was available... Im sorry but you eat ALOT of prepackaged foods, and the sodium and high glycemic foods are not helping you at all....

    Have you ever thought about making your meals from real foods, fresh foods? Cooked from scratch?
  • fininski
    fininski Posts: 32
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    Agreed on the above...also, if you are repeating the same exercises your body will get used to them and they wont be as effective and as such your metabolism will plateau because it doesnt need to work hard to keep up with the workout as its well oiled to it!

    Shake up the exercise and eat fresh home cooked food :)
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
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    I agree with the previous poster, you need to eat more whole and fresh foods. Cut down on the processed food and the restaurant visits. I would also work on upping your protein intake.
  • adrian_indy
    adrian_indy Posts: 1,444 Member
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    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.
  • LeanMeanFitnessMachine
    LeanMeanFitnessMachine Posts: 659
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    Spicy foods have been scientifically proven to give your metabolism a boost! Try eating more peppers (red, jalepeno, and banana peppers are my fave), medium-hot salsa, and mesquite and cayenne seasonings are great for giving chicken and steak a spicy boost too.

    Studies have also suggested (not proven, but it def has worked for me) that eating 5-6 SMALL meals a day, rather than three meals a day revvs up your metabolism because it keeps it active all day instead of speeding it up and slowing back down 3 times. It makes sense. Just like the engine in your car functions better when you keep it running at a steady pace rather than a constant fast slow, fast slow pace.

    I hope that all made sense & good luck!
  • koosdel
    koosdel Posts: 3,317 Member
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    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.
  • lmelangley
    lmelangley Posts: 1,039 Member
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    It's going to say odd, but try bumping up your calories for a week or so. Nothing drastic - just around 1300 a day. I hit a plateau earlier this year and discovered that I need more than 1200 calories to lose anything.

    And, don't be so hard on one pound a week. You want weight loss that's sustainable and healthy - one pound a week is good.
  • MisdemeanorM
    MisdemeanorM Posts: 3,493 Member
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    Plus, if you can afford it, have your metabolism rechecked down the road. If you exercise consistently (and haven't been before) you could get a higher result later. I noticed my metabolism slowed in the 6 weeks I was off for back surgery, but it picked back up again when I was active.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    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.

    THIS.

    How often you eat has nothing to do with your rate of caloric burn throughout the day:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9155494

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11319656

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8399092
  • lmelangley
    lmelangley Posts: 1,039 Member
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    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.

    That isn't necessarily true. My sister recently had some GI testing that showed her gastro-intestinal motility is really, really slow. The longer food stays in your GI tract, the more is absorbed into your body. It doesn't mean weight loss is impossible, it just means it might be slower for one person than another. You're right, though, that patience is key. For all of us.
  • RonSwanson66
    RonSwanson66 Posts: 1,150 Member
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    Spicy foods have been scientifically proven to give your metabolism a boost!

    The effect on metabolism is trivial, and spicy food has also been shown to stimulate appetite
    Studies have also suggested (not proven, but it def has worked for me) that eating 5-6 SMALL meals a day, rather than three meals a day revvs up your metabolism because it keeps it active all day instead of speeding it up and slowing back down 3 times.

    False. If you're going to use the phrase "Studies show", you best be prepared to back it up with said studies.
    Meal frequency and energy balance
    France Bellislea1, Regina McDevitta2 and Andrew M. Prenticea2

    a1 Inserm U341, Hotel Dieu de Paris, 1 place du Parvis Notre-Dame, 75181 Pans Cedex 04, France

    a2 MRC Dunn Clinical Nutrition Centre, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2DH, France

    Abstract

    Several epidemiological studies have observed an inverse relationship between people's habitual frequency of eating and body weight, leading to the suggestion that a ‘nibbling’ meal pattern may help in the avoidance of obesity. A review of all pertinent studies shows that, although many fail to find any significant relationship, the relationship is consistently inverse in those that do observe a relationship. However, this finding is highly vulnerable to the probable confounding effects of post hoc changes in dietary patterns as a consequence of weight gain and to dietary under-reporting which undoubtedly invalidates some of the studies. We conclude that the epidemiological evidence is at best very weak, and almost certainly represents an artefact. A detailed review of the possible mechanistic explanations for a metabolic advantage of nibbling meal patterns failed to reveal significant benefits in respect of energy expenditure. Although some short-term studies suggest that the thermic effect of feeding is higher when an isoenergetic test load is divided into multiple small meals, other studies refute this, and most are neutral. More importantly, studies using whole-body calorimetry and doubly-labelled water to assess total 24h energy expenditure find no difference between nibbling and gorging. Finally, with the exception of a single study, there is no evidence that weight loss on hypoenergetic regimens is altered by meal frequency. We conclude that any effects of meal pattern on the regulation of body weight are likely to be mediated through effects on the food intake side of the energy balance equation.

    http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=879792
  • RonSwanson66
    RonSwanson66 Posts: 1,150 Member
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    Your rate of metabolism is controlled by the amount of muscle mass you have. Nothing else..


    Nothing else? Really?

    I guess all those thyroid hormones aren't doing anything.
  • koosdel
    koosdel Posts: 3,317 Member
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    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.

    That isn't necessarily true. My sister recently had some GI testing that showed her gastro-intestinal motility is really, really slow. The longer food stays in your GI tract, the more is absorbed into your body. It doesn't mean weight loss is impossible, it just means it might be slower for one person than another. You're right, though, that patience is key. For all of us.

    Nope. It's always true.

    Simple human physiology- muscle requires energy, more muscle requires more energy.

    A condition that affects muscle development can indirectly effect metabolism, but the fact remains that metabolism is directly related to muscle mass.
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
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    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.

    That isn't necessarily true. My sister recently had some GI testing that showed her gastro-intestinal motility is really, really slow. The longer food stays in your GI tract, the more is absorbed into your body. It doesn't mean weight loss is impossible, it just means it might be slower for one person than another. You're right, though, that patience is key. For all of us.

    Nope. It's always true.

    Simple human physiology- muscle requires energy, more muscle requires more energy.

    A condition that affects muscle development can indirectly effect metabolism, but the fact remains that metabolism is directly related to muscle mass.

    I don't think anyone argued that muscle mass is unrelated to metabolism. However in your first post you stated that muscle mass is the ONLY thing that affects metabolism which is not true for all people all the time.
  • RonSwanson66
    RonSwanson66 Posts: 1,150 Member
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    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.

    That isn't necessarily true. My sister recently had some GI testing that showed her gastro-intestinal motility is really, really slow. The longer food stays in your GI tract, the more is absorbed into your body. It doesn't mean weight loss is impossible, it just means it might be slower for one person than another. You're right, though, that patience is key. For all of us.

    Nope. It's always true.

    Simple human physiology- muscle requires energy, more muscle requires more energy.

    A condition that affects muscle development can indirectly effect metabolism, but the fact remains that metabolism is directly related to muscle mass.


    Not really:

    http://weightology.net/?p=192

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9688626
  • LisaKyle11
    LisaKyle11 Posts: 662 Member
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    you can also focus on getting your metabolism moving faster by gaining muscle. use the muscles you have... the more muscle you have and preserve, the faster your resting metabolism will be. start slow and just gradually increase your workouts.
  • b1gfr0g
    b1gfr0g Posts: 2 Member
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    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!!
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,017 Member
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    Personally I find it hard to believe that all the movement over the course of the day only represents 250 calories.
  • RonSwanson66
    RonSwanson66 Posts: 1,150 Member
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    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!!

    GI is irrelevant (unless you're diabetic)

    http://alanaragon.com/elements-challenging-the-validity-of-the-glycemic-index.html

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