How Your Metabolic Health Is Causing Your Weight Loss Plateau
Most people think about weight loss as a simple matter of calories in and calories out. But this line of thinking neglects the equally important matter of your metabolic health.
Your metabolic health refers to your body’s ability to efficiently convert food into energy, otherwise known as digestion.
But did you know that how your metabolism functions can tell you a lot about your overall health, specifically your risk of developing chronic illnesses like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes?
In fact, your gut does far more than simply digest your food. It influences your energy, hormones, fat storage, weight management, and even your mood.
Today, we’ll dive deeper into your metabolic health, why it matters, and how to improve it through simple lifestyle interventions.
Bonus: working towards better metabolic health coincides directly with weight loss and weight management!
The 5 Markers of Metabolic Health
Good metabolic health is more than just having a fast metabolism.
When experts define metabolic health, they typically look for normal levels of the five symptoms of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is defined as a grouping of symptoms that increase an individual’s risk factors for coronary heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.
These symptoms include:
High blood glucose (sugar)
Low levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol in the blood
High levels of triglycerides in the blood
Large waist circumference or “apple-shaped” body
High blood pressure
An individual with three or more of these symptoms is diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.
A metabolically healthy person has optimal levels of all five of these markers without the aid of medication.
Shockingly, even normal-weight Americans have markedly poor metabolic health. In one recent study, less than one-third of normal-weight adults were metabolically healthy.
These statistics drop drastically lower when we look at overweight and obese individuals, of whom only 8% and 0.5% of individuals are metabolically healthy, respectively.
More notable statistics are that only 9% of individuals between the ages of 40-59 and 2.1% of individuals over 60 years old are metabolically healthy.
These statistics are quite alarming and should show us just how important it is to educate ourselves and implement habits that increase our metabolic health, regardless of age, weight, or health status.
Why Metabolic Health Matters for Weight Loss
Improving your metabolic health is essential if your overall goal is weight loss.
Metabolic syndrome creates a positive feedback loop where individuals who are overweight or obese have higher risk factors for developing symptoms, while the symptoms themselves also cause weight gain.
One indication of this is that high blood sugar is a sign of insulin resistance, which is a precursor to weight gain.
Poor metabolic health also causes fatigue, making it harder to exercise and impacting decision-making.
It also disrupts the hormone cycles that regulate appetite, increasing cravings, especially for highly palatable processed foods high in sugar and fat.
Finally, insulin resistance disrupts how your body stores and uses energy. This process promotes fat storage and inhibits fat burning, causing your body to retain stubborn fat, even when you are taking steps to lose weight.
Signs Your Metabolic Health May Be Struggling
Only your doctor or practitioner can diagnose you with metabolic syndrome through labs and physical examinations.
However, there are some signs you can look for that your metabolism is not working optimally, as well as some steps we can all take to improve our overall health.
Some common red flags of poor metabolic health that you can look for are feeling fatigued often, having high amounts of belly fat, frequent food cravings, and high blood sugar.
If you feel you exhibit some or all of these symptoms, it is worth getting properly diagnosed by your healthcare provider. Your practitioner may even suggest medication to mitigate some of these symptoms.
But in the meantime, improving your metabolic health can be done with lifestyle interventions.
How to Improve Your Metabolic Health Naturally
If you are in the early stages of metabolic syndrome, you can improve your health through three simple lifestyle changes.
Even better, these same interventions are ones that will help you with other health goals like weight loss.
Nutrition
There are two important aspects of improving your diet: the first being what you avoid, and the second being what you increase.
Ultra-processed foods, refined carbs, and added sugars all contribute to insulin resistance and poor metabolic health. While we are proponents of enjoying all foods in moderation, they should not be a staple of a healthy diet.
Instead, prioritize whole foods that contain protein, fiber, and healthy fats. These can include lean meats, legumes, whole grains, and fresh fruits and vegetables.
Foods rich in protein, fiber, and healthy fats actually move differently through your digestive system. They are digested more slowly, which helps regulate blood sugar and your hormone cycle.
This also helps to increase satiety, keeping you fuller for longer and reducing cravings.
Movement
Regular strength training and daily movement do more than just burn calories; exercise helps to improve your overall metabolic function.
To start, regular exercise actually helps to build muscle, and more muscles mean a higher overall metabolism.
More muscle also affects your hormone regulation, which improves your body’s ability to use fat for fuel.
What’s more is that regular exercise helps your body better learn to switch from burning sugar to burning fat, utilizing both food and fat stores for energy.
The effect is a more efficient metabolism.
Finally, exercise helps to increase blood flow throughout your body, meaning your body is more efficiently carrying oxygen from your heart to your muscles and organs.
The secondary impact of this is a stronger heart and better cardiovascular health.
Sleep & Stress
We are increasingly aware of the impact quality sleep and stress management have on our overall health, but we should consider how much these factors influence our metabolic health.
Too little or poor quality sleep can disrupt your metabolism, increasing cravings and making your metabolism overall less efficient.
The consequence is more fat retention, higher fatigue, and higher insulin resistance.
Another consequence of poor sleep and high stress is hormone disruption in the form of chronically high cortisol.
Cortisol is the hormone responsible for that fight or flight feeling, otherwise known as stress or anxiety.
When your body is chronically exposed to cortisol, it responds with high inflammation and increased fat and sugar storage, particularly in the abdomen, causing stubborn belly fat.
Put It All Together
Improving your metabolic health can be as simple as incorporating healthy lifestyle changes in three areas: diet, exercise, and sleep.
First, eat a diverse diet rich in whole foods. Second, develop an exercise routine including daily movement and weekly strength training. Third, focus on methods of reducing chronic stress and improving your sleep habits.
If you are concerned that you have metabolic syndrome, be sure to consult with a healthcare professional to conduct lab tests and create a personalized plan to improve your health.
Finally, remember that making lifestyle changes is difficult and requires long-term effort.
The best way to make long-term sustainable lifestyle changes is to implement them slowly. Try to start with small habits that you can build on over time.
For example, introduce exercise by committing to 10 minutes per day and build on that habit over time. Similarly, don’t overhaul your entire diet overnight; instead, make small changes that become habits over time.
What’s Next?
Weight loss is much more than a simple matter of calories in, calories out. Your metabolic health directly impacts your ability to maintain a healthy weight, and your weight impacts your metabolic health.
You can identify poor metabolic health through five health markers: high blood glucose (sugar), low levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol in the blood, high levels of triglycerides in the blood, a large waist circumference or “apple-shaped” body, and high blood pressure.
Three or more of these symptoms classify an individual as having metabolic syndrome, a cluster of symptoms that increases your likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or stroke.
When you are ready to improve your health, focus on the three main areas most impactful to your metabolic wellness, including a healthy diet of whole foods, regular daily movement, and improved sleep and stress levels.
Need help getting started? Reach out to us at TeleHealthNP for a personalized weight loss plan!
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