What is Metabolism?

Do “calories” really count? Well, yes they do, but they’re not the only thing that matters when it comes to how much you weigh and how much energy you have.  In other words it’s all about your metabolism.

In a nutshell metabolism is how you take in oxygen and food and use them for energy, heat, and storage.  But what’s really more important is how fast your metabolism works i.e. your “metabolic rate”.  And you may or may not have heard of RMR and TDEE, which are ways to measure your metabolic rate.

But, what you may really want to know is what affects your metabolic rate, and how can you use that to your advantage.  Of course it’s not just about how much you eat but also your hormones, body composition, and even what you eat counts!

This word “metabolism” is thrown around a lot these days. You know that if yours is too slow you might gain weight.  But what exactly does this all mean?

Well technically “metabolism” is the word to describe all of the biochemical reactions in your body.  It’s how you take in nutrients and oxygen and use them to fuel everything you do.

Your body has an incredible ability to grow, heal, and generally stay alive.  And without this amazing biochemistry you would not be possible.

Metabolism includes how the cells in your body:

• Allow activities you can control (e.g. physical activity etc.).
• Allow activities you can’t control (e.g. heart beat, wound healing, processing of nutrients & toxins, etc.).
• Allow storage of excess energy for later.

So when you put all of these processes together into your metabolism you can imagine that these processes can work too quickly, too slowly, or just right.

Which brings us to the “metabolic rate”.

Metabolic rate

This is how fast your metabolism works and is measured in calories (yup, those calories!).

The calories you eat can go to one of three places:

• Work (i.e. exercise and other activity).
• Heat (i.e. from all those biochemical reactions).
• Storage (i.e. extra leftover “unburned” calories stored as fat).

As you can imagine the more calories you burn as work or creating heat the easier it is to lose weight and keep it off because there will be fewer “leftover” calories to store for later.

There are a couple of different ways to measure metabolic rate.  One is the “resting metabolic rate” (RMR) which is how much energy your body uses when you’re not being physically active.

The other is the “total daily energy expenditure” (TDEE) which measures both the resting metabolic rate as well as the energy used for “work” (e.g. exercise) throughout a 24-hour period.

What affects your metabolic rate?

In a nutshell: a lot!

The first thing you may think of is your thyroid.  This gland at the front of your throat releases hormones to tell your body to “speed up” your metabolism.  Of course, the more thyroid hormone there is the faster things will work and the more calories you’ll burn.

But that’s not the only thing that affects your metabolic rate.

How big you are counts too! Larger people have higher metabolic rates; but your body composition is crucial!

As you can imagine muscles that actively move and do work need more energy than fat does.  So the more lean muscle mass you have the more energy your body will burn and the higher your metabolic rate will be.  Even when you’re not working out.

This is exactly why weight training is often recommended as a part of a weight loss program.  Because you want muscles to be burning those calories for you.

The thing is, when people lose weight their metabolic rate often slows down which you don’t want to happen.  So you definitely want to offset that with more muscle mass.

Aerobic exercise also temporarily increases your metabolic rate.  Your muscles are burning fuel to move so they’re doing “work”.

The type of food you eat also affects your metabolic rate! Your body actually burns calories to absorb, digest, and metabolise your food.  This is called the “thermic effect of food” (TEF). You can use it to your advantage when you understand how your body metabolises foods differently.  Fats, for example increase your TEF by 0-3%; carbs increase it by 5-10%, and protein increases it by 15-30%.  By trading some of your fat or carbs for lean protein you can slightly increase your metabolic rate. Another bonus of protein is that your muscles need it to grow.  By working them out and feeding them what they need they will help you to lose weight and keep it off.

And don’t forget the mind-body connection.  There is plenty of research that shows the influence that things like stress and sleep have on the metabolic rate.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to metabolism and how so many different things can work to increase (or decrease) your metabolic rate.

Recipe (Lean Protein): Lemon Herb Roasted Chicken Breasts

Serves 4

Ingredients:
– 2 lemons, sliced
– 1 tablespoon rosemary
– 1 tablespoon thyme
– 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
– 4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
– dash salt & pepper
– 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive old

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425F or 225C.  Layer ½ of the lemon slices on the bottom of a baking dish.  Sprinkle with ½ of the herbs and ½ of the sliced garlic.
Place the chicken breasts on top and sprinkle salt & pepper.  Place remaining lemon, herbs and garlic on top of the chicken.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Cover with a lid or foil.
Bake for 45 minutes until chicken is cooked through.  If you want the chicken to be a bit more “roasty” then remove the lid/foil and broil for another few minutes (watching carefully not to burn it).

Serve & enjoy!

Tip: You can add a leftover sliced chicken breast to your salad for lunch the next day!

 

References:

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-energy-balance
https://authoritynutrition.com/10-ways-to-boost-metabolism/

In fact, at the end, I’m going to share one simple recipe you can make in under five minutes that incorporates all of these foods.

Get your copy of the FREE guide:
5 Foods that will help boost Your Energy Levels and Lose Weight Naturally.

HERE

 

So what’s the big deal with a green smoothie anyway. You might ask!

A green moothie a day can change your health – your weight, your energy and your skin! All for the better of course.

Drinking a green smoothie is very popular in our house, even the 10-year-old gets involved in the creations. It’s a great on-the-go healthy food. I take it with when I know I’m not going to be able to get a healthy meal and my husband takes one to work, so I can be sure he’s eating something healthy while at work.

When I’m drink a smoothie I know I’m ticking a lot of health and nutrition boxes because they are so loaded with goodness (and they taste great too)!

Yes, if you haven’t tried them then give them a go. I was sceptical until I did. You can even make them taste like desserts without compromising on the health benefits. Chocolate flavoured green smoothie? Yes!

So you may be wondering why these green sometimes can do you any good and how on earth they can actually transform your health.

I’ve put together my nutritional and naturopathic know-how and personal experience in this blog post on why one green smoothie a day can change your life

#1. Up-level Your Energy

The dreaded afternoon slump and flagging energy levels can be boosted by supplying your body with vitamins and minerals that you may be deficient in. When we give our body what it needs to function optimally then it can release the energy we need. No car can run without the correct fuel.

If your diet isn’t that good i.e. loaded wih sugar and processed foods then this could be a huge contributing factor to your feeling fatigued, sluggish and blah.

By replacing these with natural goodness you’re much more likely to have long-lasting energy! Not a short-term spike followed by an exhausting crash like you might experience from a sugary food.

Green smoothies will provide your body with essential nutrients as well as hydration to help you look and feel better than you have in years!

Most green smoothies are made with large amounts of green leafy vegetables, providing trace minerals, you’ll feel a noticeable boost to your energy level almost right away.

#2. Weight loss

Smoothies offer you hydration, you will feel full plus you can start to eliminate any vitamin deficiencies.

A smoothie, is different to juicing as you retain all of that valuable plant fibre which is such an essential part of healthy digestion, rather than throwing it all away. Smoothies are whole foods and fibre is cleansing, and they can keep you full.

If you want to lose weight you can replace a meal (or two) with a green smoothie. They can be filling, delicious meal replacements that are a nourishing food helping you lose weight- fast. More details on exactly how to do this if you download your Lean + Green 7 Day Smoothie Recipes.

Replacing one meal each day with a smoothie is an easy way to lower daily calorie intake. It also increase your consumption of fruits and vegetables while boosting your water and fibre intake – all great things for weight loss.

Drinking Green Smoothies is the easiest way I know to detox, and if you continue to drink them you will continue to feel good every day.

Your green smoothie can keep you fill helping you resist the urge to snack or binge on unhealthy foods – and as a result you get the added bonus of unexpected weight loss!

High in nutrients and filling fibre and low in calories (although I don’t believe in ever count calories when you eat whole, nutrient-dense foods), green smoothies are definitely your best weight loss friend.

#3. Fresh, Youthful, Glowing Skin

Dark leafy greens, a key ingredient in a healthy smoothie – i.e. spinach, kale, parsley –  are naturally high in antioxidants. They are packed with plant chemicals such as kaempferol, carotenoids, lutein, zeaxanthin and quercetin. Antioxidants keep us healthy and protect our cells from damage caused by free radicals. A green smoothie, will feed your skin so you look vibrant, healthy, with a completely natural glow.

#4. Anti-inflammatory & Immune Boosting

Processed foods are high in saturated fats and sugars, and linked to inflammation, cancer, obesity, and a whole range of chronic diseases, veggies like leafy greens are brimming with goodness.

Veggies are rich in anti-inflammatory compounds that protect the body against inflammation and help keep the body healthy.

Plus, your immune system will thank you because it will have more of the nutrients you body needs to resist pesky contagious bugs.

#5. Less hungry

If you’re hungry an hour after your porridge or get that mid-afternoon sugar craving, then a green smoothie can solve that problem for you.

The recipes I create are FULL of protein, good oils and fats, fibre from the spinach and fruit  – a winning combination when it comes to hunger as it curbs any blood sugar

#6. A Natural Multi Vitamin & Mineral

Smoothies have a powerful blend of minerals like the iron, calcium and magnesium found in green leafy veg. The vitamin C also found in the smoothie will help you utilise and absorb iron – so you get more nutritional bang for your buck than any pill.

You get a lot more of the nutrients from the blending as the outer cell walls of the greens and fruits are broken down, making the valuable nutrients more readily available and easier for your body to absorb.

All the vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other goodies are easily assimilated and utilised by your body.

So you’ll get maximum benefit and faster absorption! Add a healthy oil or fat to your green smoothie and you’ll boost micronutrient absorption even further.

#7. Super nutritious

Veggies are extremely nutrient dense. When you drink a green smoothie, you consume the nutrients from the veggies intact. We eat most of our vegetables cooked but many vitamins are easily destroyed or lost by cooking. A green smoothie made of raw vegetables has lost none of it’s nutritional value.

#8. Eat more veggies

Green smoothies are an easy way of increasing your intake of veggies – allowing you to get a greater dose of vegetable nutrition than you’d usually manage to eat in a day.

With only one green smoothie you can hit 5 recommended daily servings and you can load them with the type of veggies that you don’t eat enough of – dark leafy greens, such as kale and spinach.

#9. Speedy + Portable

A smoothie can literally save you hours in meal or snack prep. You literally chuck everything in your blender, blend and drink. All in under 5 minutes flat with little fuss. Pour it into a container and take with you on-the-go.

#10. 100% natural

No powders with additives they’re made with all natural, whole food.

You don’t need protein or green powders – all you need is some spinach, oil, fruit and some liquid. If you do need extra protein then you can add a natural source like – pea or hemp protein powder.

Family friendly too!

Kids can enjoy my green smoothie challenges especially if you get them involved with the making of them. I started my son off by making them taste like a dessert, we adde raw chocolate + banana + spinach and once my son realised how good they tasted he started creating his own.

Now I wanted you to get your FREE guide and recipes for the Lean + Green 7 Day Green Smoothie Challenge, it’s my gift to you, get your copy now so you can start to reap the benefits.

Your body will thank you as you start to lose a few pounds, increase your energy levels and get that youthful glow again.

Download Your FREE Guide HERE it’s a great introduction to how to drink green smoothies or if you’re looking for new ideas then this Guide has 13 delicious, nutritious recipes for you to try.