You do not need to be a doctor to understand that most people gain weight when they eat more calories than they burn. That being said, the metabolism bears the most significant responsibility for how efficiently the calories are converted and used for energy. When the metabolism is in optimal condition, it can do its job quickly and effectively.
Many people want to know how to reset their metabolism for weight loss or if it is even possible. There are many anecdotal stories on social media claiming that a cleanse, fasting, or keto diet can reset your metabolism in only one week; however, weight loss experts agree that none of these methods offer sustainable results.
Today’s topic is going to be an overview of metabolism, its function, why it does not always work as it should, a metabolism reset program, and steps you can take to get it in optimal condition.
What Is Metabolism?
The series of biological reactions that take place inside our bodies are collectively referred to as “metabolism.” It is in charge of turning carbs, proteins, and fats from food into fat and other body tissues (constructive metabolism).
It is also responsible for breaking down substances, including the food we eat and sometimes body fat, generating energy (destructive metabolism), and consequently supporting every function in the body.
So you may ask, “How does the metabolism impact your weight loss goals?” How quickly your metabolism works overall is the primary factor in determining how many calories you burn. If your metabolism is “high” (or fast), you will burn more calories both when you are at rest and when you are engaging in physical activity. If your aim is to maintain your ideal weight and you have a fast metabolism, you’ll need to consume more calories.
This explains why some people can consume more food than others without putting on weight. Because a person with a “low” (or slow) metabolism burns fewer calories both while being inactive and active, they must consume fewer calories overall to avoid becoming overweight or obese.
Is There A Way To Reset Your Metabolism?
There is a prevailing theory among professionals that the human body has a “set point,” or a certain weight that it will always work to maintain, regardless of whether or not the person gains or loses weight. This makes it somewhat easier to understand why yo-yo dieting happens so frequently.
After dropping a few pounds, your body will increase the intensity of its hunger signals in an effort to “assist” you in regaining the weight, which will make it more difficult for you to keep the weight off. This vicious cycle may be a large factor that causes individuals to become so frustrated when attempting to lose weight that they ultimately give up.
There is still much that is unknown about metabolism, but we do know that an individual’s metabolic composition is partly genetic and largely uncontrollable. It is up for debate whether this can be easily changed. Some people are simply fortunate and have inherited genes that promote a faster metabolism, allowing them to eat more without gaining weight. Others are less fortunate and were gifted a slower metabolism than their ancestors.
Some experts believe that the best way to reset metabolism is by losing weight gradually (about 10%) and maintaining it for about six months. After those six months, they can lose another 10%, and so on. This gives their body time to adjust to the new weight and, in theory, creates a new metabolic set point.
Can You Speed Up Your Metabolism?
The basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the rate at which the body burns calories to generate the energy required for fundamental functioning. BMR is affected by body size, muscle mass, gender, and age. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn at rest. While there are some strategies that can be used to enhance one’s BMR in order to encourage weight loss, the truth is that it is appetite, not a slow BMR, that often contributes to weight gain.
Aside from BMR, which is the principal calorie burner in the body, two additional components contribute to overall caloric output. These include activity-induced thermogenesis (AIT), which includes both non-exercise activity such as moving a shopping cart through the supermarket and exercise, and DIT thermogenesis (diet-induced), which includes eating.
When we eat, our bodies burn calories during the entire process (chewing, swallowing, and digesting the food), resulting in a transient spike in metabolic rate that can be as significant as 15% of our daily calories.
On average, an individual spends around 10% of their daily energy expenditure digesting and absorbing food; however, this number varies based on the type of food they eat. One thing you can do to speed up your metabolism is to eat whole foods that use a substantial amount of calories to digest.
The most energy is needed to break down protein, which makes up between 20 and 30 percent of all protein calories. Carbohydrates use between 5 and 10% of the calories, followed by fat, which uses either zero calories or up to 3% for digestion. This means if you eat 100 calories of protein, your body will need between 20 and 30 of those calories just to go through the digestive process and absorb the protein, and your body would retain only 70 to 80 calories.
Because carbohydrates use fewer calories during digestion, they leave your body with 90–95 calories. When you eat 100 calories of fat, you will retain 97–100 calories.
Other Lifestyle Factors That Can Help Speed Up Your Resting Metabolism Rate Include
- 1. Eat a lot of protein
- As outlined above, protein has a higher thermic effect and requires more calories to digest than other types of foods.
- 2. Get enough sleep
- Getting an inadequate amount of sleep lowers your resting metabolic rate and reduces the number of calories you burn each day.
- 3. Perform strength training exercises
- Building muscle requires energy to convert amino acids into muscle tissue, and muscle burns more calories even at rest.
- 4. Do HIIT training
- High-intensity intervals during exercise help raise your metabolic rate for a significant amount of time after your workout, so you are burning more calories the rest of the day.
- 5. Drink at least 64 ounces of water daily
- When you become dehydrated, it causes your metabolic rate to drop.
- 6. Consume some metabolism-boosting foods
- Coffee, tea, cinnamon, some spices, and green tea are all examples of foods that increase the metabolic rate and help burn extra calories.
- Chili peppers contain capsaicin, which is linked to increasing calorie burn, and the epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in green tea can increase fat oxidation and energy expenditure by about 4% for 24 hours.
- Cinnamon contains cinnamaldehyde, which can promote increased activity of enzymes, proteins, and genes that are responsible for fat metabolism. Granted, none of these are going to make a huge difference, but hey, any help is appreciated when you are trying to lose weight!
- 7. Do not skip meals
- If you do not eat, your metabolism will slow down and go into survival mode.
How Long Does It Take To Reset Your Metabolism?
There is not one definitive answer to this question because each individual is different, and for some people, it cannot be done without medical intervention. Using the methods above can work for some people, and it will increase their metabolic rate a little, but it may not be significant enough to help individuals who are severely overweight or obese.
For individuals who have a significant amount of weight to lose, the best metabolism reset program would involve a non-surgical weight loss procedure such as the Orbera gastric balloon or endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty. These procedures will help patients with portion control and also alleviate the annoying hunger pangs that make it difficult for anyone who is trying to lose weight.
A Non-Surgical Weight Loss Procedure That Can Help You Lose Weight And Reset Your Metabolism
1. Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty (ESG)
Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG) is fast becoming one of the most popular ways to lose weight without surgery. Non-surgical ESG provides weight loss benefits that are strikingly similar to those obtained through gastric sleeve surgery but without the risks and recovery associated with surgery. ESG helps patients lose weight by limiting the quantity of food they may eat in one sitting.
Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty is conducted under general anesthesia, and there are no incisions used. To obtain access to the stomach, the surgeon utilizes an endoscope, which is a narrow tube-like surgical device with an attached camera that is lowered down the patient’s throat.
The surgeon can watch exactly what they are doing on a nearby video screen in the operating room thanks to the small camera.
The patient’s stomach is reshaped into a significantly smaller tube-like pouch and held in place using sutures that are applied with a special instrument. The ESG procedure takes approximately 30 to 45 minutes and because it is outpatient, patients can return home the same day.
The patient’s smaller stomach can only consume limited amounts of food and will help them feel full longer because their stomach will empty more slowly.
Following ESG, patients must adhere to a strict diet regimen (liquids, purees, soft foods, and finally solids) as their stomach adjusts to its new reduced size. Most patients return to all their normal activities within a week. The patients dropped an average of 49% of their extra body weight during the clinical studies, which was more than double the trial’s original goal. Patients have reported weight losses of 100 pounds and more.
2. The Orbera Gastric Balloon
The ORBERA® balloon is part of a 12-month supervised weight loss program and, when administered appropriately, can help patients lose a considerable amount of weight. (Patients have reported losing between 33 and 92 pounds.)
The Orbera balloon assists the patient’s weight loss efforts by reducing hunger pangs and restricting portions, which are two of the most difficult aspects of losing weight.
The Orbera balloon is a weight loss procedure that requires roughly 20 to 30 minutes to complete and does not require surgery. The silicone balloon-like device is put into the patient’s stomach and deflated using an endoscope while the patient is mildly sedated. After the balloon has been inserted in the correct location in the stomach, it is inflated with saline until it is the size of a medium grapefruit. The patient is usually discharged on the same day and recovers in approximately three days.
The Orbera balloon works to help the patient lose weight because it takes up the majority of the room in the patient’s stomach, limiting the amount of food they can consume, making them feel less hungry, and enabling them to lose weight. The balloon will be left in place for six months before being removed, but the patient will continue to follow their regimen for the next six months without the balloon.
Throughout the 12-month Orbera program, patients receive a high level of assistance from a team of medical specialists, which may include dietary and nutritional guidance, physical conditioning, and emotional support.
Patients can continue to lose weight or maintain their desired weight by following their established regimen, which incorporates a healthy, low-calorie diet and daily physical activity.
If you are struggling with your weight and would like to learn more about metabolic weight loss and how it can help you reach your weight loss goals, contact Simmons MD Advanced Weight Loss Solutions today to set up an appointment.
Our team of professionals has been expertly trained in the treatment of the complexities of obesity. They are here to help you succeed in reaching your weight loss goals through an individualized program that can identify and address underlying conditions that may be inhibiting your weight loss efforts. Contact us today; we would love to help!
