If you’ve been trying to shed some pounds but remain unsuccessful despite trying everything in the radar, then it’s time to give your metabolism a reality check. Do not underestimate your metabolism because it plays a crucial role in getting rid of the excess fat. Your metabolic rate determines the number of calories you burn, while also helping the body to maintain a balanced blood sugar, cholesterol, triglyceride and blood pressure levels.
Our metabolism rates are directly impacted by our lifestyle, the food we eat, and daily activities. Some people have higher metabolic rate while others have lower. The latter might need an extra push in order to lose some weight. The good news is, you can give your metabolism a surge by tweaking your lifestyle and habits, but we don’t know what causes the metabolism to be weakened.
Here are four bad habits that can slow down your metabolism.
1. Eating too little
It’s a common misconception that eating fewer calories can help them lose weight. However, it may surprise you that limiting calories intake to an excess can decrease your metabolism. It is true that your daily calorie intake shouldn’t be more than your body needs in order to lose weight, but if there’s too little calorie, it can backfire. Your body senses there’s food scarce and it will lower the rate at which it burns calories.
2. Sedentary lifestyle
As much as we love the comfort of our home and the happiness lounging while watching tv brings, it can weaken metabolism rate which results to weight gain. When you live a sedentary lifestyle, it drastically decreases the amount of calories you burn. Living in the pandemic has increased this kind of lifestyle. But that shouldn’t hinder you from getting any workout done. Any little work you can do around the house, be it sweeping, mopping, taking the stairs or even cooking can help you burn calories.
3. Eating too many refined carbs
Refined and complex carbs are very different from each other. Although refined carbs get digested easily, it causes a spike in your blood sugar levels and your body will use less energy to break them down. You need to make your body work harder to burn more calories. That can be achieved by limiting your carb intake, which slows down your metabolism, and eating more whole grains which works harder to burn calories.
4. Not sleeping enough
Getting sufficient sleep is important for maintaining overall health. If you’re getting only a couple of hours of poor sleep every night, it can risk yourself to illness such as heart disease, diabetes and depression. Inadequate sleep can also lead to weight gain because it lowers your metabolic rate significantly. To maintain a healthy metabolic rate, you need to replenish your body with proper sleeping pattern and hours.
