How you can optimize your metabolism
We’ve all heard the word metabolism before, but what actually is your “metabolism” and what does it do? (Hint: It’s not just the rate you digest and excrete.) Your metabolism is the collection of biochemical processes that occur in your body to break down and use food for energy balance, tissue breakdown, and repair.
It works 24 hours a day. There are two ways your metabolism works: in the fed state and in the fasted state. The “fed state” is your body after you eat, where food is available as an energy source. The “fasted state” is your body after NOT eating for a prolonged period of time (i.e. overnight), where food is not available for energy and the body has to find other ways to maintain itself. In the fed state, your body uses glucose from food for energy. In the fasted state, your body uses fats from your liver and fat tissue for energy. Metabolic flexibility is the ability to switch from utilizing glucose and fats as energy substrates freely, with no complications.
The more metabolically flexible you are, the easier it is to regulate your energy and weight.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO BE METABOLICALLY FLEXIBLE?
Your body’s preferred form of fuel is glucose – it’s easy, quick, and accessible. But if you’re only burning glucose for energy, how are you supposed to burn those extra fat stores that you’re holding on to? This is where metabolic flexibility comes in. It allows your body to more easily dip into fat for fuel, allowing you to lose weight without having to go into extreme calorie deficit. When you’re not eating, your body is literally burning fat!
If you’re metabolically inflexible, you’re unable to switch to fat burning because your body is relying on glucose as its only form of fuel. During a “non-eating” period, instead of sustaining itself by burning fat for fuel, it will send signals to your brain that it’s hungry. The term for this is metabolic inflexibility – essentially preventing your body from easily burning fat.
HOW TO KNOW IF YOU’RE METABOLICALLY INFLEXIBLE
Ask yourself these questions:
- Are you hungry as soon as you wake up?
- Do you feel like you HAVE to eat before exercising because you will get dizzy and lightheaded otherwise?
- Are you hungry every 2-3 hours?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, it’s possible your body is unable to switch to fat burning easily, so it uses glucose from food for energy.
2 REASONS YOU MAY BE METABOLICALLY INFLEXIBLE:
- You’re Constantly Eating. You may have heard of the classic dieting tip “eat every 2 hours to keep your metabolism going”. That tip may be doing many people more harm than good. Eating that often is telling your body that food for energy is always available, and since food is the easier energy source your body will not burn fat (or ever gain the ability to burn fat!). Since glucose is the easiest way for your body to use for energy – you need to “train” it to use fat. You may be saying to yourself: “but I’m ALWAYS hungry!”.
There are a few reasons you may be hungry every few hours. One is that your body isn’t trained properly, as we just talked about. The other is you’re not eating enough of the Key3: 1) clean protein, 2) healthy fats, and 3) fiber. Consuming these macronutrients at every meal helps keep you full and satisfied for 4-6 hours (as meals should do!) by balancing your blood sugar and keeping insulin levels controlled. For more on this, head over to Key3 and Blood Sugar.
- Physical inactivity. In healthy metabolic flexibility, your muscles first use glucose to power movement, and later they quickly and easily switch to the next source of fuel: your fat stores. However, a constant intake of food and never having the need to actually USE the food (physical inactivity) causes biochemical confusion, in which your muscles are unsure how to switch from glucose to fat – leading to metabolic inflexibility
Luckily, changing this is just a matter of adjusting your diet and movement.
HOW TO I BECOME METABOLICALLY FLEXIBLE?
- Include the KEY3 nutrients in your smoothies and meals.
- Try Circadian Synced Fasting
- Fasted HIIT Workout – this can be as short as 15 minutes!