Sleep and Your Metabolism – Part 1

Sleep and Your Metabolism – Part 1

This is a toughy. Most of us don’t have as much control over the amount that we sleep as we should. Work, family, education, housekeeping, and so many other tasks can literally prevent us from getting the amount of sleep that we need.

However, as the experts tell us, getting enough sleep actually improves metabolism. On the other hand, people who are constantly sleep deprived typically find that they have less energy to do regular, daily activities; including digestion.

As a result, sleep-starved people often lower their own metabolism. They simply don’t have the strength to break down food efficiently, particularly carbohydrates.

This is a very difficult issue, because many people can only find time to exercise by borrowing from their rest time.

For example, after a long day of work and dealing with family and home commitments, a person may find that the only time they have to exercise (and thus boost their metabolism) is late at night; say around 9:00 pm, or even later. So what should one do?

Simple Explanation of Metabolism

Simple Explanation of Metabolism

So while we haven’t gone into any medical detail – because we don’t need to or want to – we have covered some key basics about metabolism. In fact, you probably know as much about metabolism now as many so-called experts.

The bottom line is simply that metabolism represents a process – countless processes, in fact – that convert food into energy. When this process creates cells, it’s called anabolism. When this process breaks cells down, it’s called catabolism.

For people trying to lose weight, it’s important to experience catabolism. That is, it’s important convert food into energy that is used to break cells down.

Catabolism is also important because it prevents excess energy (calories) from being stored by the body.

Remember: when the body has too many calories – regardless of what food source those calories came from – it can only do two things. It can desperately try and see if you have any energy needs (like maybe you’re running a marathon at the time).

Or, more often, it will have to store those calories. It has no choice. And unless you have lean muscle that is gobbling up those excess calories, you’ll be adding fat.

Relaxation and Your Metabolism

Relax and Your Metabolism

We briefly noted yoga in the list of Things to Do above, and that brings us to another key influence of your metabolism: stress.

Believe it or not, but experts are now telling us that stress can send unwanted signals to our body; signals that lead to slower metabolism.

Essentially, what happens is that when the body is under constant stress, it releases stress hormones that flood the system.

These stress-related hormones actually tell the body to create larger fat cells in the abdomen. The result can be both increased weight (through increased fat cells), and a slower metabolism.

Obviously, these are two very negative factors in the quest to boost metabolism and lose weight. The last thing that we want is more and bigger fat cells in our abdomen, coupled with a diminished metabolism!

Yet this is, tragically, what happens to many people who experience constant, continuous stress. And, alas, this is many people; especially those of us who have to balance so many competing objectives, such as work, family, and other vital tasks.

So the advice here is indeed to “relax and chill out”, and there are some simple techniques that can, and should, be added to your life.

These include walking more, listening to relaxing music, meditation, yoga, eating non-stimulating foods (e.g. no caffeine, no sugar, and so on), and building a daily regimen that includes periodic time outs where you can re-center yourself and de-stress.

Part 1- What Is Metabolism

Part 1: What is Metabolism?

Some people think that the metabolism is a kind of organ, or a body part, that influences digestion.

Actually, the metabolism isn’t any particular body part.

It’s the process by which the body converts food into energy.

Hence, you’ve likely heard of the phrase metabolic process used synonymously with the term metabolism, because they both mean the same thing.

Metabolism and Weight Loss

Metabolism and Weight Loss

By now, you already have a sense of how metabolism relates to weight loss (catabolic metabolism, or breaking cells down and transforming them into energy).

To understand this process even more clearly, we can introduce a very important player in the weight loss game: the calorie.