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Where fitness and outdoors meet. In this space we chat all things hiking, exercise, wellness, adventure, motherhood, and metabolic health from a female perspective! Get ready to learn + be inspired to live your fullest, most adventurous life!
Can you actually boost your metabolism? Here's the truth
Hi, my name is Brady and I'm a long time fitness professional and Midwest girl turned mountain living hiking addict. In combining my knowledge of fitness and passion for hiking, I've helped hundreds of women get lean and strong for the trails. Think of this as your one stop shop for both education and inspiration on all things female wellness, trail talk and adventure. Hiking, female metabolism, motherhood, nutrition, travel and fitness are all topics you'll hear discussed here. If you are outdoorsy and active, looking to level up your health, unlock your potential, and become inspired to live your most vibrant life, you're in the right place. You're listening to the fit for Hiking podcast. What's up you guys? Welcome back to the show. This is your host Brady. So excited for today's conversation because this is like maybe one of the most, um, not taboo, but it's definitely like a buzzword in the fitness and health space right now, especially in social media. And that is boosting your metabolism. I have such a like love hate relationship with this, because there actually is a lot that you can do to optimize your metabolism. But oftentimes when we hear the phrase boost your metabolism, we think that there's like these magical things that we can do, these quick fix type of buttons, we can push, levers we can pull, and they will magically. Skyrocket and boost our metabolism, which is not actually how it works. So today we're going to bust some myths about what doesn't actually boost your metabolism versus what we do have control over, and how we can optimize metabolic health to have a better, higher functioning basal metabolic rate on a day to day basis, aka being able to put fat loss on easy mode, stay lean long term without constantly feeling like you're struggling and fighting against your body. Because I've definitely been there, and I've definitely been the person who has said things like, I just have a slow metabolism. Growing up with my sister, um, she is like one of those very naturally thin people. She just is very skinny and always has been and hasn't really ever exercised or been that person to be super into fitness. And yet I was the one who, like, struggled with big weight fluctuations until I kind of got things figured out in my late 20s. And so I always had that like comparison of, oh my gosh, my sister somehow just won the genetic lottery and she has such a fast metabolism and I have this super sluggish metabolism, when in reality, yes, some of it is genetic, but also there's a lot more to it than that that we are in control of as far as how we're eating, how we're living on a day to day basis and how we are exercising. Okay, so when you hear things like boost your metabolism in seven days or eat this one food to start boosting your metabolism first thing in the morning, those are red flags, okay? You don't want to buy into those things that sound way too good to be true. Because if it sounds way too good to be true, it usually is. You guys okay? It's a marketing tactic. So the truth is, your metabolism can change and it does change. It adapts, but not the way that like TikTok, TikTok and supplement ads are going to claim. So today I want to set expectations for what's real, what's exaggerated, what's nonsense, and what we can actually start doing in the day to day to improve metabolic health. So first off, let's talk about what metabolism actually is. So it's a group of systems in your body that are going to basically produce and manage the energy your body uses to keep you alive. Okay. It's not just a flip that you switch. And it's not this like one standalone thing. It is comprised of all of these different components in our body. Okay. So things that affect it are your hormones that you have going on, your muscle mass, your, um, foods that you're eating, your liver. Okay. So there's a lot of different components to it that are going to all together, make up the rate of your resting metabolic rate. Okay. So it's not a flipping switch. Um, but it is a collection of processes that decides how you use energy, where the energy gets stored. How stable your blood sugar hormones and energy field day to day, and how easy it is to stay lean. Okay. So let's break down the three main components that build your metabolism, that make up what your metabolism looks like. Okay. So first is your BMR. So your basal metabolic rate. This is the energy just used to keep you alive. So breathing. Brain function. Organ function. So that's why people in a coma still need food. They're not moving around, but they still have functioning organs and and some brain function. Right. So you need to have food even if you are laying in bed all day. Next is. And first I do want to note that that makes up 60 to 70% of your daily energy use. Okay. Just to keep you alive. All right. Even if you were bedridden. Um, and the next is physical activity. So this is your neat so your non exercise activity and your fitness. So the calories that you're burning basically the next is your digestion. So the thermic effect of food. So energy needed just to digest your food. And fun fact is that protein has the highest thermic effect of food. Meaning that you are going to burn more calories just digesting your protein. Definitely not the only reason that you protein, but it is a cool little fact. Um, and then the final thing is the hormone and metabolic signaling. So things like insulin cortisol, leptin, estrogen. This is where women's metabolic health often gets complicated. And we see struggles. And it's not because of laziness but rather because of biology and signals that your body is sent by how we are living. So chronic restriction and things like that. Okay. So all of those different things make up how many calories in a day you need to eat and how many you're burning. Okay. That's kind of the simplest way to break it down. So metabolic health is more about stable blood sugar, consistent energy, being able to stay lean more easily. Normal hunger cues, good sleep, regular cycles as a reproductive age woman strength, resiliency, recovery. It's not just about weight loss okay. All of those things are going to be signs of a thriving metabolism. So let's talk about the slow metabolism myth. Is a slow metabolism actually to blame when we struggle to see results or see body composition changes? The science shows guys that it's not really to blame, because our metabolism doesn't slow down due to anything other than our own choices until age 60. Okay, so right off the bat, let's just throw out that excuse of I just have a crap metabolism, okay? Because oftentimes that's all it is, is it's just an excuse. It's something that I used to totally live by. And I told myself that story, and it was a limiting belief that kept me stuck for many years. Okay. So put that aside and know that you actually do have control over quite a bit. And that's really empowering. So now it's just a matter of what are you going to change to improve metabolic health and also just actually hone in on the daily things that you need to be doing to see the results that you say you want. Okay, so why most adults aren't just having a crash out of their metabolism or, you know, in their 30s, things aren't just actually slowing down. In reality, if we are honest with ourselves, it's just that we're extremely sedentary. If you think about like, okay, I have a three, almost four year old, she literally never stops moving unless she is asleep. She is all over the place moving all day long. Think about how much more active we used to be when we were kids versus as adults, where we're sitting at our laptop all day, or sitting on the couch, scrolling on our phone, or watching Netflix or in a car like we are largely sedentary, especially in the United States. If you don't live somewhere where you have to walk everywhere, we're sedentary. Okay, so that is a big reason why we think it's our metabolism. It's actually that we're crazy sedentary compared to how we used to be when we were young. And we thought, oh, I just have a high metabolism. Well, yeah. But also you're moving a ton more so your metabolism has higher needs. Not supporting liver health over time. Right. Your liver starts to become more sluggish, which we will get into later. We're balancing blood sugar throughout the day. You're chronically stressed, you're chronically dieting or really inconsistent with your intake. So either you're under eating or you're overeating. Um, you're inconsistent or just straight up not doing anything for strength training or building muscle, not getting good sleep. This is what slows down the metabolism. Okay. Not age. It has nothing to do with age. It's more so the choices that we are making as we age. Okay. So can you boost it? What doesn't work is things like fat burning supplements, metabolism boosting teas and drinks that you might see online. Eating spicy food. Eating a magic number of meals throughout the day. Not eating after 8 p.m.. Special fat burning workout. Things like that. Okay. None of that is actually going to do anything for your metabolism. All right. So let's talk about what actually can improve metabolic health. Okay. What actual science tells us. One is blood sugar balance. This is something that often gets overlooked. So this is very foundational. Blood sugar instability is one of the biggest drivers of cravings fatigue. I'm just feeling exhausted or broken. Hormonal chaos. And what helps is eating regular meals, not fasting through stress. Not just living off of coffee with sugar in it. Also pairing protein with fiber and fat at meals. Oftentimes in our society, people are grabbing things on the go. It's very fat and carb dominant. You're not getting enough fiber, you're not getting enough protein, or you're just getting straight up carbs and sugar, which is going to give you a big blood sugar spike and then a crash. Okay, so how you layer your meals matters. Also not starting with a carb or sugar, but rather starting with your protein and fiber and finishing with the more carb sugar items that will spike blood sugar. That's going to help even out that spike. So even just how you are, um, planning your meal out as far as what you're eating first, okay, not just starting the day with coffee only and no protein and just knowing that cards are not the enemy, it's how you are layering them into your meals. Okay, so those are things that you can focus on on a day to day basis that actually will help you balance your blood sugar. You don't need to be doing anything crazy. It's mostly about what you're eating throughout the day not relying on sugar, carbs, and coffee, and actually getting enough protein and fiber at every single meal. Okay. Number two. That one's a quick one. Pretty easy. Um, number two is building muscle. So you are not just doing this, not just doing your workouts for a calorie burn, but you're actually trying to build enough muscle that your metabolism has to adapt and increase to keep that muscle alive. So muscle is like your other organs, right? You need calories to keep your other organs alive, like we talked about for the coma example, right? Same goes for muscle. The more muscle you have, the more calories your body needs just to keep it functioning and alive within your body. So that right there goes to show that you need more muscle if you want to have a higher basal metabolic rate, and muscle doesn't just burn calories at rest, it also does improve insulin sensitivity, which goes back to our blood sugar point. It stabilizes blood sugar, supports estrogen metabolism, protects metabolic rate during aging, and protects your bone density. There's so much benefit to strength training. Okay. And as a woman, it's important to know that you're not going to bulk accidentally. You're not going to just blow up and get super big from strength training a couple times a week. Um, your diet is going to absolutely be the thing that determines how bulky you look. It's not your muscle mass. Okay. Muscle gain is slow and hard earned. You really only need to be strength training, like 2 to 4 times a week. And you don't need to destroy yourself in the gym to have an effective training session. You don't need to be sweating from head to toe exhausted, feeling like you're going to puke. Okay. That actually is not a great training strategy for women. Number three is eating enough consistently. Chronic under eating is one of the fastest ways that you can down regulate your metabolism, lose muscle, disrupt your hormones, and increase stress hormones. Okay, so that's why I talk about this so much. Whether you're doing it knowingly or unknowingly, unknowingly, you don't want to be under eating all the time. Okay. Especially protein. Protein helps because it supports muscle repair. It keeps your blood sugar steady. It increases satiety. So it's not all just about the fat burning, right? Number four reducing chronic stress. Yes, this matters big time when it comes to your metabolism. So high cortisol is going to raise blood sugar, increase fat storage suppress thyroid activity and worsen insulin resistance. Okay. So you can't out discipline a stressed out nervous system. If your body is constantly in fight or flight, you are going to struggle with constant inflammation and your metabolism is not going to be in great shape. It's going to affect all of these other different systems. Okay, so here are some metabolically supportive stress reduction things that you can do actually prioritizing good sleep. A lot of this stuff is not exciting. It's boring. It's basic but it's actually the most effective right. Like getting good sleep. And this is easier said than done. But setting yourself up for success with a good nighttime routine, having some boundaries around like, okay, I'm not just going to let it become 1 a.m. and realize that I'm still on the couch watching Netflix, right? Have a set bedtime, have a turn off time of your devices, things like that. Realistic trading volume. So you're not trying to work out six seven times a week and be doing crazy amounts of cardio, things like that. I used to do that and trust me, it does not work and it will not give you your dream body rest days without guilt and then not dieting during high stress seasons. This is kind of an interesting one, because that's not one that you would think of. But a lot of women add fuel to the fire, so to speak, with their stress by being chronically underfed and doing tons of cardio, which is high stress, while they're already high stress with like a crazy career or a very volatile relationship that they're not happy with or, you know, a crazy, stressful commute or just like all of these things. Maybe you're a mom to young kids and your nervous system is already, um, like, on hyperdrive all the time. That's how I feel, right? So I'm not going to add fuel to the fire by also under eating and also doing high stress cardio every single time I work out. Okay. Um, number five is no longer chronic dieting. Okay. So it kind of goes along with eating enough. But the whole chronic dieting thing, so constantly being in a phase of restriction, repeated cycles of this teaches your body that energy is scarce, muscle is expendable, and stress is constant. Okay? Your body's constantly picking up signals from what you are doing and it's going to adapt accordingly. So it adapts by lowering your energy output, increasing hunger hormones, and becoming more efficient aka your metabolism slows down. It can survive off of less calories. It's not broken, but it's protecting you because it thinks that you are not in a great safe space. Okay. So stop with the chronic diets, please. This is why I am, like so much an advocate in mountain metabolic coaching of not doing anything crazy or restrictive, and we get amazing results for our ladies without having to do that. Because your body doesn't feel like it's constantly in fight or flight anymore. This is why so many of our clients start eating more slowly over time, working out less, and they're leaner and getting toned and finally seen results where they weren't before. Okay, um, okay. Our next one is liver support. Okay. I mentioned this before and you were probably like, I don't even know what to do with that information. Okay, so why does the liver matter for your basal metabolic rate? Your liver is basically your metabolic commander center okay. So it can affect up to 15% of your basal metabolic rate. That's a lot. So if your liver function is sluggish then your metabolism is going to slow down as well. So it converts T4 to T3. Thyroid hormone directly affects your BMR, regulates blood sugar, processes your estrogen and other hormones, handles fat metabolism, and manages inflammation and nutrient storage. It has a lot of tasks. Okay, so if the liver is overwhelmed or unsupported, your BMR can downshift as a protective response. So how do we actually support our liver in our day to day practice, including carbs regularly, not just on cheat days? A lot of women I know, including myself, have like very much restricted carbs. And we just like, kind of do that without even thinking about it, because we've always been taught that we shouldn't eat carbs, which is crazy because as a woman, our liver and hormones will thank us for eating carbs. And I'm not just saying that the super highly processed ones, but eating complex carbohydrates and good for you carbs, low glycemic carbohydrates every single day should be a non-negotiable for sure. Pairing carbs with protein and fat again, how we're pairing our meals will oftentimes affect blood sugar balance. How we're feeling more than, you know, um, having carbs being like this detriment. No. We just need to make sure we're pairing them with, um, proper fiber and protein as well, avoiding training hard in a fasted state all the time. Eating enough protein. In general, this is going to detoxify hormones, repair tissue, support enzyme production, reducing your alcohol content. Um, so the frequency, quantity and recovery time matter for your liver health. If you are constantly binging alcohol every weekend, your liver is not going to be grateful for that. Okay, so just something to be aware of and start to be introspective about making sure that you are hydrating, drinking enough water to flush out your liver, and sweating. So you actually do need to get some of that out. There is some validity to the whole like sweating out toxins thing, because if you don't sweat out things or get them out of your body somehow through like bowel movements or sweat, then you will have an excess amount of, um, hormones that your body is filtering through your liver and they're going to still be in your body. Okay. So it's not everything, but sweating does help. And so it doesn't have to be through your workouts. But sweating via sauna is also a great option. Um, and like I mentioned, bowel movements. So if you're not having regular daily bowel movements, then you probably are backing up your liver a little bit. So it's very important to get to the root of any sort of digestion or gut issues that are hindering you from having a daily bowel movement. And then a couple different key nutrients that help with liver support are things like B vitamins, um, for energy metabolism, choline for fat metabolism and estrogen clearance, magnesium for blood sugar and stress, zinc and selenium for thyroid and immune support. And these are things that you can get through your daily foods or added supplemental support to. Them. So what does metabolic repair look like? Consistency over intensity, patience, strength and nourishment. Trusting that your body isn't the enemy. Really, truly focusing on, um, stress relief tactics in your day to day life and possibly doing a bit of a metabolic reboot phase with a coach who knows what they're doing, um, to bring calories back up to a healthy place. If you are now at a baseline that is crazy low, and this is something that we do within Mountain metabolic coaching. So, especially for women, we need to understand that you don't necessarily need a boosted or faster metabolism. You need a supported, nourished, and hormonally safe one. That is when your hormone health and your metabolic health will be optimized. Okay, so metabolic health improves when a body feels fed, strong, rested and safe. And I know that that's not like the sexy, fun answer of like, oh, you just need to do these few little things. There you go. Now all of this has to come together. It's a full lifestyle change. And that's why lifestyle change, habit change over time beats out these quick fixes every single time. And that's why on calls with women who are interested in coaching, I say straight up like we are not a quick fix. If you're looking for a quick fix or like a quick little cleanse or something like, that's not us, but we will help you in the long term, actually get results and be able to maintain them by supporting your overall lifestyle, your mindset, and metabolic health. While we're working on your physique goals and performance goals. So I hope that this has been kind of a helpful run through of what your metabolism is, what doesn't work, and what does work for actually improving metabolic health. And if this is something that you're wanting to get serious about this year and you're overwhelmed on where to start and how to practice all of this in your day to day life and actually get the results you want, then you're not alone. This is. It can be overwhelming, right? Especially if you already have so much going on in your life. And this is why people hire coaches to take out the guesswork, to give them a plan that fits into their life and makes it easy to stay consistent and supports you mentally when life gets crazy, because it always will. There will always be hiccups, and having that accountability makes such a difference. So if you feel like that would be helpful for you in this season, and you're ready to get serious about this and get some awesome results, you can check out the application link in the show notes to apply for our coaching program, or you can message us at the Fit Underscore for Hiking Instagram page. And you can just say coaching or ready. Okay. And that will let me know that you're interested in learning more about what we do with mountain metabolic coaching. All right. Thank you so much for tuning in, you guys. If this was helpful, leave us a rating and review that really helps out small podcasts like this. You can also share it to your socials or pass it on to a friend if you think that they would like it. Um, we really appreciate any support that you can offer. Um, I love getting to do this and connecting with you guys, so send me a message. We'd love to hear if you're enjoying the show. Um, thanks for being here today, and I will chat with you in the next episode. Thanks for tuning into this episode of the fit for hiking podcast. As always, I hope it leaves you feeling inspired and informed on how to take your health and adventure into your own hands. For more content like this. Be sure to follow along with my daily posts at Ponytail Underscore. On a trail that's ponytail underscore on a trail. You can also stay up to date on my new episodes being released at Fit Underscore for hiking, and find more free resources at ponytail on Etrailer.com. Happy and healthy trails.