If you have been wondering how to reset your metabolism, this post will give you the answers you have been looking for. I will explain why and how your metabolism matters. Furthermore, we will discuss resetting your metabolism naturally and set point for weight loss.
Why Does Your Metabolism Matter?
Did you ever notice that some people seem able to eat anything they want and remain slim, while others gain weight just by looking at food? Your metabolism, or your metabolic rate, is important in how much energy (or calories) your body needs to maintain its basic functions.
How Your Body Burns Calories
Your body burns calories in several ways:
- While performing basic functions at rest: That’s your resting metabolic rate.
- While performing daily activities. Your activity level will impact how much energy your body needs.
- When exercising. Exercise will increase your energy need during and after your workouts.
Your metabolic rate is largely genetic but not completely outside your control. Let me share how you can change and reset your metabolism.
How to Reset Your Metabolism to Lose Weight
How to reset your metabolism in the context of this post means how to help your body do what it’s supposed to do efficiently. Some simple lifestyle practices will help you improve your overall health and lose weight by resetting and/or increasing your metabolism:
- Fasting: It’s not a secret that I am a huge fan of fasting. Whether you practice intermittent fasting or start with a 5-day modified fast or 10-day modified fast, fasting can be the key to making you feel better and getting rid of stubborn weight. My post How to Decide Which Intermittent Fasting Method Is Best for You will help you decide how to get started.
- A good night’s sleep: Sleep is connected to various hormonal and metabolic processes. You must strive to get 7-8 hours of sleep each night.
- Drinking cold water: Believe it or not, drinking about half a liter of water increases your resting metabolic rate by 10-30% for about an hour.
- Exercise: Exercise burns calories during and after. It increases your lean mass, which also helps burn more calories. Building muscle mass is super important to increase your metabolism as well.
- Avoid processed foods: Did you know we absorb more energy from processed foods than whole foods? Whether it’s fats or carbs, it doesn’t matter. You will gain more calories from these foods. Moreover, you will want to eat more of it.
- Replacing carbs with healthy fats and a moderate amount of protein: Most women do better with 100-150g of carbs each day. A calorie is not a calorie. Foods have different thermal effects, and digesting food cost energy. Protein takes the most energy to digest, then carbs, then fat. However, I still recommend you consume fewer carbs and more fats because fats help keep you satiated. Some of you might want to consume fewer carbs and more protein. You can find out your optimal macronutrient ratio by temporarily keeping track of your food intake using a tool like My Fitness Pal or Cronometer.
Here’s what a typical day looks like for me:
Some people will also recommend you drink coffee and/or green tea to increase your metabolism. I am a big fan of both because they help minimize hunger when fasting but use caution. Not all of us do well with caffeine. Please read my post 7 Most Effective Ways to Curb Hunger Cravings When Fasting, for more info.
How to Reset Your Metabolism After Starvation Mode
If you are taking how to reset your metabolism, you may be thinking that you have caused it to slow down by going on too many “diets.” Unless you are new to the weight loss world, you probably have heard of what we call “starvation mode.” When you consume fewer calories than your resting metabolic rate requires for an extended period, your body starts reducing the number of calories it needs. It’s a natural response to long-term calorie restriction. Here’s how you can mitigate starvation mode:
- Find your basal metabolic rate using an online calculator, and make sure you don’t exceed 200-300 calories below that.
- Build muscle mass: Strength training and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) are two of the best ways to maintain a healthy metabolism.
- Cycle through times of eating and fasting: The best way to not reach a weight loss plateau through continuous calorie restriction is by changing things. Intermittent fasting, particularly alternate-day fasting, is an effective approach—intermittent fasting has increased your metabolic rate.
It’s important to realize that your body needing less energy as you lose weight is natural. You have less weight, and many of your organs function more optimally. Once you reach your goal weight, don’t expect that you will be able to start eating as much as you were before. It’s just not realistic.
How to Change Your Metabolism Set Point
Many women find that their body seems to want to be in a certain weight range. They do all the “right” things, yet the weight won’t budge. When they finally slowly lose a few pounds with great difficulty, they gain the weight back within a week if they a little bit eat more. This weight range is called your set point.
Are You Stuck at a Metabolism Set Point?
Wondering how to reset your metabolism is sometimes a different way of asking how to change your metabolism set point. I used to think I had a metabolism set point when it was an eating style set point. I had certain eating habits, and I couldn’t change them. I would try various “diets” but didn’t stick to any of them as I would gravitate back towards my old eating style. Most women underestimate what it takes to lose weight and how fast they can drop unwanted pounds.
How to Reset Your Metabolism Naturally
Learning to reset your metabolism naturally or change your set point is about rediscovering your hunger cues and naturally decreasing your appetite. For weight loss to be sustainable and lasting, it cannot depend on willpower alone. The best way that I have found to restore my trust in my hunger cues and feel amazing without having to eat every 3 hours while gaining freedom from my food cravings is to become fat-adapted. You may have heard of this concept before, but it is usually addressed in the keto diet context. The keto diet can be useful to kickstart the process. However, it isn’t my definition of food freedom!
Reduce Your Appetite and Overcome Food Cravings
The key to natural and sustainable weight loss is achieving ketosis through fasting. Biohacking will enable oui to reduce your appetite and naturally overcome your food cravings.
That’s why I created a Weight Loss Transformation program that uses the keto diet, or a modified fast, as a tool to become fat-adapted and then focuses on finding g the right intermittent fasting window to biohack your weight loss so that you don’t have to rely on willpower to stick to your new lifestyle as you lose weight and sustain your results after achieving your goal weight.
My Weight Loss Transformation program is multimedia with video lessons, PDF files, meal plans, checklists, etc. I put together everything you need in a step-by-step protocol you can follow to achieve your goal weight and enjoy optimal health.
How Long Does It Take to Reset Your Metabolism
If the truth is that how to reset your metabolism is about resetting your eating style, then how long will it take? It depends! Every person is unique! As a general rule, the more weight you lose, the faster it will be at first. Then, as you approach your goal weight, weight loss will slow down. It took me two years to lose 30 pounds after 40. Please read about my success story.
Why You Need to Stop Worrying About Slowing Down Your Metabolism
I understand that you enjoy eating. I do too! Weight loss is a lot harder when you have to deprive yourself constantly. However, you must understand that your mindset is important to the process. Having a slower metabolism isn’t a disease. It has been shown to help slow down aging, and those with a slower metabolism tend to age better.
Cutting down your calories by 5-15% can slow your metabolism by up to 25%. It’s your body’s normal response to protect itself. This slowdown from continuous calorie restriction may last up to 7 years, but we don’t know for sure. To avoid this slowdown, again, you may opt for intermittent fasting. Remember that a slower metabolism has advantages, and calorie restriction has many health benefits.
How to Reset Your Metabolism Video
In Summary
When it comes to learning how to reset your metabolism, it’s pretty simple: stay active, eat whole foods, drink enough water, eat fewer carbs, and, most of all, experiment with fasting. However, understand that when you weigh less, you need less energy. It’s just natural! Don’t expect to go back to eating as much as before. You will gain the weight back if you do! That’s why creating a new eating style is integral to the process. You don’t need to rely on willpower alone. You can take advantage of your body’s natural appetite-suppressing state, ketosis, while still enjoying carbs. That is the power of intermittent fasting! Learn to take advantage of it! I am here to accompany you on this journey.
Enjoy the journey, savor your food, and learn to improve your mindset about not needing to eat as much.
