Why Care About Your Metabolism…
Angie Taylor 
…because only 12% of Americans have a properly functioning metabolism.
I spent the first 19 years of my life as that girl who could eat anything and never gain an ounce. Sadly, that all changed after the birth of my first child.
Seeking information about how to get rid of the last 15 pounds of pregnancy weight, I was told to use the ultra slim-fast plan.
GREAT BIG MISTAKE! Instead of losing those last 15 pounds, I gained 30 more over 30 days.
It’s been more than 30 years since I started my journey and I now have over 100 pounds to lose. I’ve read all the books and have “successfully” completed many programs where I did indeed lose weight. The problem is that all the weight came back on — and more — the moment I entered the ‘maintenance’ phase.
In this picture, I'm the one in bright pink.
This picture was taken after I lost 60 pounds using the HCG Weight Loss Protocol. Did you know that it has a 60% failure rate? Within 18 months of this picture being taken I had regained those 60 pounds + 20 more.
Now, more than 30 years after I began my own 'weight loss' journey, we finally have access to the information we need to better understand why the body does what it does. I tell you that because, if you are sitting in the same place I’ve been sitting, it was never your fault. We have been fed the wrong information (pun intended). We followed the instructions we were given not knowing that those instructions could never lead us to the level of wellness we were seeking because those instructions are what cause metabolic imbalance in the first place.
It’s time to move forward with the new information that’s been learned over those more than 30 decades since I began my journey.
Let me start by sharing that your body’s only goal is to keep you alive. It does all kinds of things in the effort to successfully complete that one job every single day. Most of what it does doesn’t make much sense. AND, we’ve been told that we have the ability to control what our body is doing for us.
Nope, that’s not true either.
The truth is that the human body heals itself. YOU do get to choose how to support its normal function. Choosing how to support your body’s normal function can be challenging when we’ve been lied to about so much, like ‘fat makes you fat.’ Turns out that dietary fat is not only good for you, it is required for proper functioning of your body.
It’s really important to acknowledge that everything you use in, on and around your body has the ability to
(1) support its normal function by providing it with what it needs to function normally OR
(2) hamper its normal function by not providing it with what it needs to function normally.
THE SIMPLE TRUTH = The human body is more in control than you’ve been led to believe.
If you comment on this story sharing how something healed your body, I will respectfully disagree with you because your body heals itself. YOU used something that supported your body’s normal function and your body used it to heal itself.
If you ask a question about what to use or how to use something in order to heal your body, I will respond with what you can do to support the normal function of your body so it can heal itself.
I am very convicted about this. There is no pharmaceutical nor natural product that heals the body. The moment you understand this is the moment you will see all the possible ways to support your body’s normal function.
Give the body what it needs so it can heal itself.
In the instance of your metabolism, let’s start with understanding what “metabolism” is…
‘Metabolism’ is the process of digesting, absorbing and assimilating the nutrients from your food, and then using those nutrients for daily activity.
So, why care about whether or not your metabolism is “working” for you?
When your metabolism isn’t functioning “correctly,” you can expect to experience some or all of the following:
- large waist circumference
- high blood pressure
- high blood sugar
- imbalanced cholesterol levels
- never ending hunger
- cravings galore
- tired all day long
- brain fog
- can’t get to sleep
- can get to sleep but can’t stay asleep
- wake feeling like you haven’t slept
- insomnia
- negative self talk
- feel emotionally unstable
- etc…
Any of that sound like you?
I’ll admit that my waist is far bigger than it could be, I haven’t been sleeping well for decades and my emotional state has not been all that great lately. I am grateful that thus far my blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels are not effected…yet.
Turns out that nutrition, movement, sleep and mindset all play vital roles when it comes to your metabolism. AND there’s one thing that impacts them all for better or worse depending on its level of wellness.
Keeping this one thing healthy will have a positive impact on your metabolism because it will positively impact your body’s ability to use the nutrients you consume, thereby giving you the energy you require in order to naturally move more.
Guess what happens when you’re naturally moving more?
You sleep better! WOOHOO!
What happens when the nutrients in the foods you eat can be used so you have the energy to naturally move more and end up sleeping better?
Your mindset and self talk automatically shift from negative to positive!
What is that one thing that when you keep it healthy it has a positive impact on your metabolism? It’s your gut health!
There are 5 pieces to the metabolic healing puzzle:
- Gut health,
- Gentle Nutrition,
- Naturally moving more,
- Positive mindset, and
- Restful Sleep
Over the years, I’ve discovered after decades of following “eat less/move more weight loss” gurus that living a metabolic lifestyle has nothing to do with restrictive eating plans, super low calorie intake, nor extreme exercise routines. A metabolic lifestyle supports your body in keeping itself functioning optimally. When you live a metabolic lifestyle, it feels effortless.
One of the services I offer is Metabolic Lifestyle Coaching. I guide the women I serve as they explore and discover the best way for them to reset or reboot their metabolism for their unique situation.
An unbalanced metabolism is often referred to as:
- metabolic damage
- starvation mode
- metabolic adaptation
- weight loss resistance
- adrenal fatigue
- insulin resistance
Despite the variety of names, they are all about the same thing — a reduction in the amount of energy (metabolic output) experienced by the body, as a survival response to restrictive eating plans, super low calorie intake, and/or extreme exercise routines. ← This used to be me.
In the health and fitness world, this metabolic imbalance is mostly seen from the ‘eat less, exercise more’ group of people.
Yes, it’s absolutely true that if you eat less and exercise more, you’ll easily create a caloric deficit. The problem is that this also creates an unbalanced metabolism because it has no choice but to slow down. This is known as ‘metabolic down-regulation’ and it makes it impossible for fat cells to shrink because it puts you in a state of never consuming enough calories so that your body can burn off the energy stored in your ever-growing fat cells. ← This is your body ensuring that you survive another day.
A metabolic reboot or reset is therefore for people, like me, who fall into any of the above listed categories. It’s also for those who struggle with lack of motivation, low libido, over training, illness, or feel they have done everything ‘right’ and no longer respond to diet and training in the same way.
Here on my blog, I’ll be giving you the exact steps I’ve taken to start to heal my own metabolism. So far I’m very pleased with how things are going!
Categories: Metabolic Lifestyle, Metabolism, Nutrition, OolaFitness
