Boost It!

Several times a week I have conversations with clients about metabolism, how to speed it up, what can slow it down, and ways to boost it. There are some things that we can’t control when we talk about metabolism though...age, sex, and genes. When we get older, our metabolism tends to slow down because we naturally lose muscle, 5% each decade after 40, in fact. Men, who naturally have a higher ratio of muscle to fat, tend to burn up what they eat faster than women. Genes play a role as well. You are born with a certain body type. Some people just burn more calories than others.

Let’s get technical here for a second, so that we can try to fully understand metabolism. Metabolism is the way your body converts the food and drink you consume for energy and is usually measured in calories. The total amount of calories a person burns per day is known as total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and it comes from several sources including resting metabolic rate (RMR), the thermogenic effect of food (TEF), non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), and exercise (Ex).

TDEE = RMR + TEF + NEAT + EPOC + Ex

RMR is the number of calories your body burns, at rest, per day. TEF is the amount of energy required to digest and process the food you eat. An apple requires way more energy to break it down than a bowl of ice cream does, for instance. RMR and TEF are relatively constant and only fluctuate if you gain or lose muscle or with dietary shifts. NEAT (the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating, or exercise), EPOC (a measurably increased rate of oxygen intake following strenuous exercise ***the afterburn effect***), and Ex have large variability and can greatly influence caloric burn.

RMR formula:

Male – (9.99 x weight in kilograms) + (6.25 x height in centimeters) – (4.92 x age) + 5

Female – (9.99 x weight in kilograms) + (6.25 x height in centimeters) – (4.92 x age) – 161

Jody – (9.99 x 69.4) + (6.25 x 172.72) – (4.92 x 45) – 161

(693.3) + (1079.5) – (221.4) – 161 = 1390.4

I roughly burn 1400 calories per day at rest. BUT there are ways that I can boost this burn, as can you. Exercise is easily the most adjustable variable in TDEE. Sedentary people will expend just a little bit above their RMR while others can more than double it. The following list defines activity level and can be multiplied by your RMR to roughly determine TDEE.

Sedentary – desk job and little to no exercise (multiply by 1.2)

Lightly Active – light exercise/sports 1-3 days per week (multiply by 1.375)

Moderately Active – moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days per week (multiply by 1.55)

Very Active – hard exercise/sports 6-7 days per week (multiply by 1.725)

Extremely Active – hard daily exercise/sports and physical job or training (multiply by 1.9)

Jody = 1390.4 x 1.55 = 2155.12 approx. calories burned per day

8 Ways to boost metabolism

1. De-stress! Stress is a huge factor impacting your metabolism. Stress increases the production of cortisol, a hormone that increases appetite and makes us reach for comfort foods. Stress can decrease our desire to exercise, (even though we know that exercise is a powerful stress buster), stress slows digestion, and stress impacts quality of sleep.

2. Eat well! Be consistent with your meal times and eat food that fuels you.

3. Get your rest! Sleep 7-9 hours each night.

4. Lift heavy things! More muscle = faster metabolism

5. Hydrate! Drink water, drink water, and then drink more water.

6. Stand! Don’t sit for too long.

7. Find your happy medium! Eating too few calories can actually backfire on you. Your metabolism thinks times are lean and puts the brakes on fat burning to conserve energy.

8. HIIT it! High intensity interval training = Super Awesome Afterburn Effect! Studies have shown that HIIT is the leading contender for the title of best RMR enhancer. SWEET!

There you have it, folks, a bit of info for you to process. Now, pour yourself a glass of water, make a plan for some good and healthy meals this week, schedule in exercise making sure to do some intervals work that makes you grab your knees, get up, stand tall...and GO!

SoulShine Schedule - still keeping all classes virtual for the time being - please sign up now. Thanks!

Monday – HIIT – 8:15-9:15 am

Tuesday – HIIT Yoga Fusion – 8:15-9:15 am

Thursday – PiYo – 8:15-9:15 am

Friday – HIIT – 8:15-9:15 am

Love and happiness to all of you,

Jode xo