Just stop with using your metabolism as an excuse for your weight. Please just stop it already unless you actually have a diagnosed problem that truly causes your metabolism to have a direct impact on your weight.  This is something that you cannot just assume to be your problem without a physicians diagnosis. There are many people who also have a “slow” metabolism – me being one of them – but still are capable of managing their weight,

This may anger you, but you are not too heavy because your metabolism is too slow.

Your weight problem is because you eat too many calories for your daily needs.

What happens when we eat?

The foods which we consume each day are chemically complex. When we eat, our food has to be broken down in the body into simpler chemical forms which we know to be nutrients we require for good health. Included with these nutrients we need, foods of today also contain other chemical ingredients that we simply do not need, as well as some that are actually harmful to our health. When you eat these foods that contain added sugars, unhealthy fats, too much sodium, and preservatives, it is the food that you are consuming that is causing you to be over-weight, especially when they are high in calories and low in nutritional value. Your metabolism has nothing to do with what, and how much of these foods you are putting into your body.

When we eat, the nutrients that have been broken down are then taken in through your intestinal walls and then transported by the blood to your cells. Nutrients provide energy and the correct building materials to maintain your health and life. The processes involved are digestion, absorption, and metabolism. Anything that is not a quality nutrient is garbage that has a negative impact on your health and weight, especially when you consume too much as we are wont to do.

So, what exactly is metabolism?

Once you have had a meal, and it has been broken down to its final stage, the process of metabolism begins. The process involves all the chemical changes that nutrients undergo from the time they are absorbed until they become a part of the body, or excreted from the body. Metabolism is the conversion of digested nutrients into components for energy, or the building materials we know as protein.

The basic units of metabolism are:

• Glucose from carbohydrates
• Glycerol from fat
• Fatty acids from fat
• Amino acids from protein

Metabolism occurs in two simultaneous stages which are catabolism and anabolism.  Anabolism is the use of energy and involves all the chemical reactions that nutrients undergo in the construction, or building up body chemicals and tissues such as blood, enzymes, and hormones. Catabolism releases energy and involves the reactions in which various compounds are used to do the body’s work, to produce heat, or to be stored for later use.

The energy from carbohydrates, fats, and protein for the body’s cells, comes from their conversion to glucose, which combines oxygen in a series of chemical reactions that form carbon dioxide, water, and cellular energy. The energy is used for body functions, and the carbon dioxide and water are waste products that are carried out of the body by the bloodstream.

And what happens to some of that extra energy?

It gets stored as fat in your body. You have control over how much of, and what you eat. When you eat too much, excess energy gets stored as body fat. It is not that your metabolism is slow as much as it is that you are over-loading it!

Moving on…

Carbohydrates are the ideal source of glucose simply because carbs are made up  mostly from glucose. Starches and sugar are easily converted to glucose. Simple carbs dump too rapidly into your blood-stream which causes spikes in your blood-sugar and insulin. When you choose to eat foods high in simple carbs and you become over-weight, it is not your metabolism causing the weight problem, it is the foods you are putting into your mouth.

Instead of filling up on simple carbs, we recommend that you consume complex carbohydrates which are processed more slowly, which makes them far superior for constant energy than what your get from simple carbohydrates.

What about the fats that we eat?

When  our body metabolizes fat, the glycerol component donates only 5% of it’s structure to glucose. Fat lend itself to storage more readily than it does to energy. Since our brains and nervous system both thrive on glucose for nutrition, fat becomes an inefficient energy source no matter what keto advocates might have to say.

When we eat too much fat for the liver to handle, the remainder of it is stored throughout our body in the type of fat that we often attempt to diet off. However, fats are an important component in the functioning of a healthy body and sufficient amounts are essential. The caveat is that we often eat more fat than we need and the result is we put ourselves at risk for many degenerative diseases.

Where does protein come into play?

When our body needs to grow, or needs to be regenerated, it turns to the metabolism of protein to provide the materials which are amino acids. Protein can be a fairly decent source of glucose when we have not consumed enough carbs, but fueling the body’s energy needs should be secondary to their main role. Sufficient amounts of carbohydrates and protein are necessary to achieve optimal health. Again, you control how much you eat, and when you eat too much, you are going to become over-weight.

Your weight problem is because of your appetite, not your metabolism!

Again, I want to emphasize that there are a few people who do have legitimate medically diagnosed issues with their metabolisms, if this is you, this article really does not pertain to you. Your issues are between you and your physician.

For the rest of you who do not have a medically diagnosed metabolism problem, the process of metabolism requires that extensive systems of enzymes be maintained to facilitate the thousands of different chemical reactions that must be performed, and also to regulate the rate at which these reactions occur. The presence of protein, vitamins, and minerals is essential for these enzymes to optimally perform their functions.

Again, your metabolism is not the problem as much as it is your appetite when it comes to obesity.  Yes, a slow metabolism means your body burns calories slower than someone with a faster metabolism, which means that there is a higher potential that your body is going to store more fat. However, the solution to this problem is to eat whole, healthy foods that provide all of your nutritional needs while fueling your body on fewer calories. Your metabolism is not driving you to your nearby fast food drive through, nor is it loading your shopping cart with cookies and Little Debbie cakes.

You can’t blame a sluggish metabolism for weight gain. The reality is that metabolism often plays a minor role and the greatest factors are poor diet and inactivity.