An efficient metabolism is one of the best ways to ensure healthy weight loss, increasing the number of calories you naturally burn each day and allowing your body to utilize food as fuel more effectively. But sometimes, through a variety of outside factors your metabolism may suffer and if you went through a period of severe calorie reduction your body may now be less effective at burning fat once you’re eating an adequate amount again.
So the question remains: how do you repair a damaged metabolism? We checked in with Paula Doebrich, MPH, RDN to develop a concrete plan for getting your metabolism back on track and increasing natural fat burn within the body for healthy and sustainable weight loss.
What causes metabolic damage?
First and foremost, becoming aware of the factors that can damage your metabolism initially will make it easier to understand the healthy changes you need to integrate to reverse it. The leading cause of metabolic issues, according to Doebrich, is quite simple: eating too few calories. “While a slight calorie deficit is needed to lose weight, many people tend to go too low. There is a mentality of less is better among dieters but that’s simply not true,” she explains. “Extremely restrictive diets, with long windows of not eating anything at all can significantly impact metabolic rate. When energy intake is too low, the body responds by lowering the rate at which it burns calories.”
With a dramatically decreased metabolism to compensate for the inadequate amount of food you’re consuming, your body will naturally struggle to lose weight easily as it burns less fat and therefore, calories. “While decreasing metabolic rate happens fairly quickly in response to insufficient energy intake, getting it back up is much harder,” notes Doebrich. “This is why a small calorie deficit with regular exercise is much better for sustainable weight loss and overall health.”
So how do you fix it?
The short answer is that damage sustained to your metabolism in many cases may take significant work to repair, and studies have shown that even with extensive effort your body may maintain a lower metabolic rate and calorie burning capabilities, creating an uphill battle for weight loss. However, not all hope is lost, and there are some tricks you can incorporate into your daily routine that may be beneficial to the body. Doebrich suggests first making sure to eat your meals at regular intervals and don’t skimp on calories as this was the mistake that impacted your metabolism in the first place. “This will communicate to your body that the period of scarcity is over and there is no need to spare energy anymore,” she says.
Exercise is another beneficial tool for increasing calorie burn, and integrating strength training into your routine can help to torch fat and increase muscle mass which may improve the efficacy of your metabolism. “Muscle mass is much more metabolically active than fat, so increasing lean body mass will increase overall metabolic rate,” notes Doebrich. Increasing your protein intake will also fuel muscle growth which will in turn have a positive impact on your metabolism with time.
While your metabolism may not be able to bounce back to the state it was in before a restrictive diet, following these steps can help to increase calorie burn and set your body in a better position for healthy weight loss. Making sure to fuel yourself with enough calories and not depriving your body of essential nutrients will put you in a position to look and feel great, and trusting that nourishing your body over time will net positive results will at the very least preserve your metabolism at the state it is, keeping your body as healthy as possible.
