Metabolism changes happen. I talk to people all the time about how their metabolism seemed to screech to a halt when had children, or turned 40, or went through menopause. And your hormones do have a huge impact on how your metabolism functions. But often those milestones are also accompanied by lifestyle changes that affect metabolism. So before you throw up your hands and say that you don’t have any control, I want you to go through this list and lifestyle factors that are slowing down your metabolism.

You're not sleeping

Sleep affects your insulin levels and glucose metabolism. So even a few nights of poor sleep or lack of sleep will affect your insulin sensitivity. Poor sleep quality and going to be later are linked to higher blood glucose levels and worse blood sugar control. And if you’re like most of my clients, it’s not just a few nights, you’ve accumulated decades of poor sleep.

The amount of sleep you get can also affect how your body accumulates and burns fat. Some studies show that people who consistently get 8.5 hours of sleep shed more fat, shed fat rather than muscle, and avoid accumulating abdominal fat than people who get less than 5 hours of sleep a night.

Are you consistently sleeping for 7 hours a night? Or are you forcing yourself to function on less sleep?

You're not eating enough

Your metabolism slows down, so you eat less calories. Makes sense, right? Wrong. Study after study shows that cutting calories too low or for too long slows your metabolism. Crash dieting (eating fewer than 1,000 calories) has been shown to have a significant impact on resting metabolic rate. In one study where women ate 420 calories per day for 4–6 months, their metabolic rate slowed down drastically. But even when they increased their calorie intake, their metabolism remained much lower (during the following 5 weeks) than before the diet.

Even studies comparing moderate calorie restriction (1,114 calories per day compared with 1,462 calories per day) show that caloric restriction slows down metabolism.

Are you eating? Are you eat nutritious food that fuels your body consistently throughout the day? 

You're not lifting weights

Another trap that we can fall into when we notice our metabolism slowing down is cardio. Do you choose the workout that will burn the most calories? Do you try to run the weight off? Cardio is important, for your vascular health and your metabolism. But if you’re consistently choosing cardio over weightlifting, you’re doing your metabolism a disservice.

Weightlifting is one of the best ways to build muscle and, as a result, improve your metabolic rate. Because muscle is more metabolically active than fat, the more muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn in a day. You might love seeing a high calorie burn number during a cardio workout, but a strength-training session will increase your metabolic rate for up to 38 hours after your workout.

Are you exercising consistently? Are you building muscle?

You're not drinking water

When you’re running around throughout the day, you might not think about drinking water until you’re dehydrated. But your body needs water to process calories. So if you’re even mildly dehydrated, your metabolism might slow down.

Making sure you’re drinking water can actually be one of the easiest ways to help your metabolism. Drinking water increases your metabolism by up to 25% for nearly an hour after drinking it. Another study showed that adults who drank 8 or more glasses of water a day burned more calories than those who drank 4. 

Are you drinking water? Or do you choose caffeinated soda instead?

You're not taking advantage of your resources

If you feel like your metabolism has slowed down, why are you trying to tackle it alone? Why are you trying to tell yourself it’s normal to feel burnt out, foggy, and exhausted when you know that it’s not? 

There are so many resources and experts who can test your resting metabolic rates and your hormone levels and help you to get a clearer picture of what’s going on in your body. And while sleeping more than 7 hours a night, eating nutritious food, lifting weights, and drinking more water are good general tips, they’re not your only option to boost your metabolism. 

I know nutrition. I know the science of how your body works. And I want nothing more than to work with you to understand your body and figure out the best tools to help you feel great! Set up a time to talk with me and let’s figure out how to boost your metabolism!