Most people believe their metabolism to be one of the most screwable parts of their body (yeah yeah, vagina butthole haha, grow up). They believe that all their fitness failures and shortcomings are due to messing up and “slowing down” their metabolism and success is solely determined by having a “good” metabolism.
And in this deceptive world of health and fitness, nothing is more misunderstood than your own metabolism. It’s a trendy word no doubt, but so-called “fitness gurus” and marketers are throwing metabolism around way too much nowadays with absolutely no meaning or substance.
In reality, most of what you believe about your metabolism is a myth, such as…
Eating 6 meals per day will help stoke the metabolic fire
The theory behind this commonly used phrase is that if you eat 6 small meals per day, your metabolism will never slow down since you’re constantly supplying your “metabolic flame” with more fuel and you’ll be able to burn more fat throughout the day.
And this sounds incredibly sexy on paper, but it’s just that, a sexy sounding theory. It’s also a great marketing tool to help companies sell more food.
From a body composition standpoint, there is no difference between eating 6 smaller meals as opposed to 1-3 bigger meals.
The most important thing to do is to watch your total caloric intake for the day. There’s nothing inherently wrong with eating 6 times per day, but there are no real benefits to it either.
Find the best meal frequency for your lifestyle.
Fasting will slow your metabolism down to a crawl
Continuing from my first point, fasting will not slow down your metabolism unless you take it to the extreme and do something crazy like fast for 1 week straight.
If you skip breakfast everyday and don’t eat until 2pm, you’re going to be just fine. Calm down. You could even go up to 72 hours without food as this study states and not damage your metabolism (I don’t recommend this, I’m simply trying to make a point that fasting won’t hurt you).
For a more realistic approach, you could do a Eat Stop Eat style fast 1-2x per week (read my review here).
Your metabolism slows down as you age
Yes, your metabolism does slow down as you age, but the amount is minuscule and the only reason it does slow down is because you tend to lose a tiny bit of muscle mass as you age.
For example, a 60 year old man is never going to have as much muscle mass as a 25 year old man even if they follow the exact same workout and diet plans.
Older people also tend to carry more fat. So the best thing you can do to protect your metabolism as you age is to build a lean and muscular body and maintain it for the rest of your life.
So yes in this case, the saying “If you don’t use it, you lose it” really is true.
Don’t use your age as an excuse to let yourself go. There’s no reason why you can’t be old and still look fucking incredible. As long as you continue to lift weights and eat right, your metabolism will be just fine.
Eating [insert magical food here] will boost your metabolism and burn fat
Okay people, it’s time to put on your common sense hats. If losing weight was simply a matter of eating “magical” foods like chili peppers, cinnamon, green tea, and unicorn blood then nobody would be fat.
It boggles my mind the amount of people who believe that eating specific foods is the secret behind weight loss.
Yes, there are studies showing foods like green tea and hot peppers increase your metabolic rate, but the amount is so ridiculously fucking little that eating these foods will never produce any noticeable results.
I’ve never heard of anyone who has successfully lost weight because they ate more chili peppers or drank more green tea. It’s absolute nonsense. There’s nothing wrong with eating these foods, but please don’t eat them for the sole sake of trying to lose weight.
Doing intense workouts (like intervals) boosts your metabolism and burns more calories after the workout
A lot of people these days are doing workouts that are focused around EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) or the calories burned after the workout. Some workouts claim that it’s able to significantly boost your metabolism up to the point that you’ll be burning more calories post-workout than the actual workout itself.
And while this sounds great, the calories you burn post-workout aren’t as significant as you think.
In fact, a 2006 study done on EPOC concluded that the majority of calories burned when exercising are burned during the actual exercise itself. Things like high intensity interval training can boost EPOC a tiny bit more than traditional running, but the amount is nothing significant. This is why people are able to get results with slow, steady-state cardio – because the majority of the calories are burned during exercise.
Quick note: Here is a smart cardio routine that really goes in-depth on how to use cardio to get as lean as you desire.
Gaining muscle will shoot your metabolism though the roof
Muscle tissue is more metabolically active than fat tissue but the extra calories it takes to maintain muscle mass is nothing to write home about. For whatever reason, the media loves to say that gaining one pound of muscle will boost your metabolism by an extra 10-15 calories, with some going as high as 50 calories.
So if you gained an 20 pounds of muscle, your metabolism could technically increase by up to 1000 calories, meaning you would get to eat 1000 extra calories per day just to maintain your weight. Sounds awesome right?
Well… the truth is that gaining 1 pound of muscle will only increase your metabolism by approximately 5 calories. This is why gaining muscle in hopes of increasing your metabolism and losing fat isn’t the smartest thing to do.
Gain muscle to be strong and look awesome, not to boost your metabolism and lose fat.
You can’t lose weight because you have a slow metabolism
Put bluntly, people who claim they can’t lose weight because they have a slow metabolism are simply lazy and ignorant.
These people have become so brainwashed by the media that all their failures are due having a shitty metabolism and that it’s “not their fault” that they can’t lose weight.
But in reality it is their fault.
Try not losing weight on 1000 calories per day.
People who blame their metabolism are people who don’t even bother with tracking their food intake.
These are people who say they got fat after college because they’re getting older and their metabolism isn’t what it used to be. Oh please! I’m sorry buddy, but you’re not fat because your metabolism slowed down, you’re fat because you eat like shit and stopped exercising. Too crude? Perhaps, but with obesity rates skyrocketing, now is not the time to kiss your ass.
Take action. Actually make an effort to track the amount of food going into your mouth. Get your ass to the gym and train with a purpose – lift weights and train with intensity. Do this for a few weeks, and I guarantee your metabolism will magically fix itself.
You can’t gain muscle because you have a fast metabolism
Yes skinny guys have problems too and one of the most common problems they have is that they can’t gain muscle because the believe that their metabolism is too fast.
And it’s true – some guys (especially younger ones) have faster metabolisms, but more often than not, the real reason skinny guys can’t gain muscle is simply because they’re not eating enough consistently.
Skinny guys who say that they eat a lot typically make one or more of the following mistakes:
- They don’t track calories. Most skinny guys don’t have a very big appetite and stop eating the moment they feel full. If you’re trying to gain weight and you’re simply gauging the amount of food you eat by “hunger” and “how you feel” then you’re not going to make much progress. I suggest all aspiring skinny guys to track their calories. Start by adding 500 calories to your maintenance calories and scale appropriately depending on whether your gain or lose weight.
- They eat big on occasion, meaning they’ll eat a ridiculous amount of food a couple times per week (and tell everybody they eat a ton and can’t gain weight), probably on weekends but then they’ll go right back to eating like a bird during the week. If you want to grow, you need to eat big consistently.
Some skinny guys really do have fast metabolisms, but that’s not the reason they can’t gain weight. Instead, most skinny guys lack appetite, have no idea on what it truly means to eat a lot, or don’t even make the effort track their calories.
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And if you guys could spread the word and ‘LIKE’ and share this post on Facebook, that would be awesome 🙂
Yes, I’m asking for a shameless ‘LIKE’ but it’s easy and it’ll (maybe) shut up that annoying friend you have that always complains about their metabolism.
What do you guys think? Drop a comment below with the most ridiculous metabolism myths you’ve heard.
I stopped reading after the comment you made of people using their metabolism as an excuse. I wanted to leave a comment because some of us actually do have issues with our metabolism and NO we are not lazy as you suggest in your article. I track every morsel I eat and weight train 6x per week. I still don’t lose weight. I figured it was my metabolism …and guess what, it was! I had a bad thyroid and was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I had my thyroid removed and it’s even that much more difficult to drop the pounds. I eat like a competive bodybuilder, but I don’t look like one. I think your article is more of “bro science” than actual science. I hope those reading it do actual research and not base their “fitness knowledge” on this article.
I’m sorry about your condition. But fact is, the majority of people don’t suffer from thyroid cancer and are overweight simply because they are eating too much. If you suspect something, definitely check with a doctor.
Keith is right. Yeah there are people with PCOS, Thyroid cancer, etc. that make it very difficult to lose weight. But this article isn’t trying to say people with conditions are lazy. People want to be offended at anything nowadays and its ridiculous. Stop looking for every flaw and see the article for what it is, a guide to healthier living. And I have seen slow metabolism used as an excuse a ton. Fact is if someone eats take out 7-10 times a week and drinks soda like water then they are gonna have a problem. I feel bad because some people are just uneducated about diet but the “I have a slow metabolism” is a total excuse. I have a slow metabolism, but so what, I just gotta work harder to lose weight. You can make excuses or get results, but not both.
Thank you Keith. Good info here. I was paranoid about “eating too little” certain days because I would accidentally not eat enough… It happens. Good to know I’m not screwing my metabolism like everyone seems to lecture me about. I would love that study if you still know where to find it.
Thank you.
Good points, Leeann.
I dont think your comment is making the point you think it is. You didn’t have a “bad metabolism” you had a serious health problem. Most people trying to lose weight don’t have thyroid cancers.
I must agree with Diana. For a long time I had been beating myself up and was very annoyed that despite generally eating less (and better quality) than a lot of other people, my weight just didn’t seem to shift, even after further reducing my intake. Turned out my insulin level was very high, meaning that the fat was being stored, regardless. I was scared to fast in order to achieve weight loss because in the past after fasting I gained twice as much weight as I lost (in a fraction of the time it took to lose it).
After learning about insulin I have cut out almost all carbs and I exercise more but the weight loss has stagnated. I plan to start periodically fasting to force my insulin level down so that I can continue to lose weight.
This is fantastic news if this is entirely accurate. Not to question the author but, as stated in the post, a lot of people have filled my head with a lot of the bad info described here.
The link to the smart cardio routine doesn’t work, unfortunately.
Thanks again for the great news!
sorry i think clay isn’t selling that program anymore.
Well, this post makes me feel better. Considering that what you’ve written is true, it seems that the power to be healthy falls on us. People like to place blame on anything to justify themselves so that they don’t feel ashamed about the fact that they don’t want to change their behaviors. Good post!
people will move mountains to find something/someone to blame, as long as it’s not themselves.
This is awesome!! I’m in the gym 6 days a week and live off spinach and chicken to the point where all I want is a huge plate of pasta. Every trainer I’ve had has starved me (and I mean starve, anywhere from 620 calories to 1000 a day) and we haven’t seen results. I’m stuck at 160, have been for a year now. I’m so tired of it. So I said eff it to paying trainers who just make it worse and I’m slowly adding calories. I work too fkking hard to not see any results and now I get why. I need to EAT! At least now I have mean self control and I won’t binge eat twinkies while trying to get better.
You have a very dumb trainer, good thing you ditched them.
Sounds like your “trainer” or “trainers” have absolutely no idea how to calculate a cutting diet. Being in such a calorie deficit for so long increases the risk of ruining your metabolism. I’m so tired of seeing so called educated trainers screw people over.
Unfortunately there’s pretty much zero barrier to entry for becoming a “trainer.”
Umm about the slow metabolism thing and how u can’t lose wait from it…. All I gotta say is I tried following a vegan diet by eating nothing but fruits and vegetables and doing a severe amount of cardio for a month and my weight was still the same -_-
That is a really bad plan.
Has anyone tried that water diet? Or that lemonade cleanse diet? That ‘supposedly’ boosts your metabolism…or not.
Complete bullshit.
Science disagrees on the metabolism issue. Studies have shown conclusively that long term dieting creates a deranged metabolic state where people who have engaged in long term calorie restriction burn 400-900 less calories per day than their non dieting counterparts. This is a long term adaptation and even 6 years after they stop dieting the metabolisms are still drastically lowered.
I agree wholeheartedly most people eat junk and cast blame – but metabolic adaptation is very real.
This is an interesting read http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/6-years-after-the-biggest-loser-metabolism-is-slower-and-weight-is-back-up/
The biggest loser is an absolute fuck up of a show. Not a fair example to represent the majority of the population.
This should have been a response to the original article but not to this comment. The comment does not talk about metabolic adaptation rather it says anyone can lose weight and that is a fact. Even those with a slow metabolism can lose weight.
With a little research you can find out there are many natural ways to boost your metabolism with foods and herbs and also by increasing your activity levels.
See no way in the world if you work out hard for 3 hours a day will you still put on fat unless you eat that much more than you worked even with a low metabolism.
The mainstream scientific academia is hijacked by BIG PHARMA and they work hard at twisting studies(yes Metabolism adaption is very real and the study is scientific but the lie is that “You can’t do anything about it”) so you give up hope and go for liposuction and/or lap band surgery!!
Even Lap band surgery is “scientifically approved” even though people have died of it. But you look at the logic. A person will have to give up their job and be under care for a month(if they don’t want to die) and what exactly it is. they but a f#$# band on your stomach so you can’t eat more.
why not just put a person in a hospital and dont give them food.
I think a cheaper and safer option would be to have a concierge who will follow you all day for 3 months and see you stick to your diet and also offer counselling help and motivation> Not only would that be cheaper but it will be a solution to a problem that is lack of self control.
Don’t take these “scientific articles” so seriously.
Just try to figure this out. This same scientific community has come up with orthorexia that is they have turned “trying” to eat healthy as mental disorder!! yeah but people eating unhealthy willingly knowing very well that they are going to die in the long run is NOT A MENTAL DISORDER!!
There are places like heart attack grill where people go and even get a heart attack there but that is not crazy!! Somehow trying to eat healthy is crazy. (and they search for a strawman or maybe make someone appear that crazy to justify that people can actually be mental trying to be healty)
Anyone can lose weight. Anyone who says otherwise is full of it. Yes, it will be easier for some to lose weight than others, but if you aren’t losing weight, it’s because you have the wrong approach.
Stay away from processed factory food. If it comes in a box, carton, can, or wrapper, don’t eat it. It will take days of healthy eating for your body to go through processed junk food withdrawal (you will feel it and probably be cranky while it’s happening). After that, stay away from junk food. Don’t mix it in with your real, natural food. You can’t really overdue it with vegetables (even avocados)! If you’re hungry,eat vegetables as much as you want.
Spend less time on the couch watching the idiot box and more time doing activities. If you feel that you must get on a treadmill or elliptical machine etc in order to exercise, you are going to soon get bored with exercising. Running, walking, swimming, and other activities are fun and can be good for you. In my opinion, bike riding for hours on scenic trails is one of the most enjoyable things to do in life, and it’s great exercise.
The biggest thing where most people fail is in not having patience. Don’t worry about losing weight as much as just desire to be healthy. In order to be healthy (which can involve losing excess weight) it can take months or a year+. Many people give up with a healthy eating change after two weeks or so because they haven’t lost enough/much weight.
I have lost over 50 pounds, and it was all done via the approach I discussed above. It took about 6 months for me to lose the weight. I feel great, and my blood numbers (cholesterol, triglycerides, etc) have improved tremendously. For decades I ate a lot of factory food. Now, just the thought of eating proceseed factory food makes me cringe.
I am a 20 year old male who has hypothyroidism, now i do agree that fat fucks who think they eat healthy and say they cant lose weight because of slow metabolism when really they eat a gallon of ice cream a day are simply retarded, however, I disagree that nobody has a slow metabolism. I for sure have a slow metabolism and its much harder to lose weight because of it, but its still possibly, ive managed to lose 20 pounds of fat but getting down to 10 percent body fat (losing 7 more pounds) requires me to eat around 1800 calories 40 percent protein 25 percent fat and 35 percent carbs, of course thats before workout calories so usually eat around 2100-2300 calories. Thats a small amount of carbs and if i didnt have hypothyroid i could probably eat 45 to 50 percent carbs and get down to 10 percent body fat. So i guess my point is that the writers right that no one has an excuse not to be losing weight, but for some its definitely harder. Sorry about the rant but just really wanted share my story.
I have a sneaking suspicion that if you eat much of low carb veggies especially spinach, kale, broccoli and other greens in the goitrinans department, it may be having impact on your thyroid. It was a case with me. I eat like i was when i was a teen and i got my teen weight back. Anyway, sure people are different but at times they have a similar skeleton to share..
Patrick
Thats a big lie… Like with soy they have identified the thyroid suppressing substance/chemical…but with cruciferous veggies NO…Infact all the isolated substances tested from cruciferous vegetables actually had immense health benefits and in studies on those substances they did not show any thyroid impact.
So that leaves only one logical explanation which the mainstream does not want to accept for obvious reasons. Since all these veggies are really healthy to the point if you ate them regularly you may hardly fall sick. They just never bothered to mention these issues.
The only explanation is pesticides. Yes most of the cruciferous vegetables especially broccoli Kale all not only can hold a lot of pesticide due to their structure they are sprayed more as their structure makes it easy for pests to hide in.
And almost all pesticides adversely affect the thyroid and in small doses.
So do the research go through studies and you will find that they have jut not found the substance that causes the it, yes in some studies they speculate it might be..this or that….but what you have to keep in mind is that the study clearly mentioned that this is just a guess(you have the understand the language they use) and that the current study did not confirm this. Also there are other studies that prove these same substances in these veggies actually can cure cancer while showing no other side effects in those studies.
This comment is more for women than men as I am unsure how hormones affect men… short story… around 25 years of age I starred to gain weight though I had not changed my workout routine or what/how I ate… at first I assumed it was the whole metabolism slows after college thing or that even though I workout hard the same as my college routine when I played soccer that not having actual scrimmages made the difference … So I counted calories based on the weight I wanted to be, cut out the occasional processed food I did eat, got rid of all alcohol, and increased workouts to 6 days a week from 4… minimal results and to boot my hair was starting to thin and acne started to show up again like I was 15… it was not thyroid but that does run in my family… 5 years later and 40 lbs heavier my obgyn solved the issue with a blood test… my hormones were so out of balance it was scary, I actually had a few blood clots from the extreme amount of estrogen (I have a small blood disorder) and complete lack of progesterone in my system… now at 32 after having my progesterone increased through diet and meds and decreasing estrogen inducing foods my weight is back to normal my hair is thick and my acne is gone… so like Keith said if you are seriously doing the work and eating correctly and it does not work then something is wrong because exercise and eating correctly should do the trick… again this is not anywhere near a majority of the population it’s just a suggestion for those who have actually done the work not for lazies looking for excuses … thanks
I would be very interested to know what types of foods that you changed to influnece your hormones. I have started eating more like when i was a kid and am actually getting toned. I eat cereal instead of salad (esp no more kale and broccoli), pasta instead of potatoes, and actually more junk (even pizza and cookies at times) instead of all this health crazy stuff (thus my examples) and just be sure my calories are in check. I also get very little exercise. Crazy huh? I am not kidding.. Please mention examples of foods, i woupd l9ve know the food changes to cause what made hormones shift in you. My girlfriend cannot believe why i am able to do this and is a little closed to my opinion.
Patrick
I agree! We are eating too much these days – and to make it MUCH worse we are eating MODERN ‘food’
Totally synthetic poison. What is margarine these days -it’s basically silicone! What the hell is a ‘pringle’!? All poidons are messing with our hormones and metabolism!
Wouldn’t say poison, but yeah, people are just eating too much in general.
i do not agree with the fast metabolism part of this because i ate 5000 calories a day for a month and put on 1 pound
What’s the context?
– did you legitimately track?
– did you accurately track?
– Age?
– activity levels?
Awesome, bare bones down to earth no silliness article, just how I like it, all these fitness people online are scaring people in an attempt to get them to spend money on their products.
If you want to loose weight, do some training and have a genuine truthful calorie deficit, boom, done
Boom!
I know this article has been around for a while now, but I loved it! I am so tired of seeing promotions on social media for “revving up metabolism”, like what the hell does that even mean!? You’re body is just going to function in a way that preserves itself, it doesn’t give a fuck if you’re drinking green tea or not lol. I really appreciate your writing style and wish there were more fitness blogs like yours out there! We all just need to eat pure food and lift weights and be sexy! hahahaha
Haha thanks amy.