Metabolic Effect

My friend Megan gave me the book The Metabolic Effect Diet a few months ago, and it has been really eye-opening.  Ever since I had my RMR (resting metabolic rate) tested a little over a year ago and was told I have a pretty low RMR (I burn only 1,302 calories at rest per day), I have considered myself metabolically damaged.  I need to figure out how to speed up my metabolism and still burn fat and lose weight without doing any more damage (which is what traditional restriction of calories does).  

Besides reading the book, I've been reading articles on their website.  The style of the writers is open, friendly, and real.  I also "liked" their Facebook page, and I've found that to be the most helpful.  Once or twice in my daily newsfeed are reminders from the Metabolic Effect people to keep being my own metabolic detective and find out what works for me.  

The basic premise of the Metabolic Effect (ME) diet is this: traditional calorie in/calorie out weight management approaches do not necessarily encourage fat loss, though they may lead to weight loss (usually in the form of breaking down muscle).  Instead, we should be approaching fat burning and muscle building from a hormonal perspective based on our individual metabolic type.  People who restrict calories alone, without determining which foods are right for their metabolic type first, often spend hours burning calories doing moderate intensity exercise while at the same time restricting calories severely, thus creating a muscle breakdown and a metabolic slow-down that can be permanent (and can also lead to almost irresistable cravings for the exact foods that will lead to fat gain!).  The ME people encourage lean proteins, low-sugar fruits, and lots of low-starch veggies...common sense, right?  These foods create a hormonal response that helps you burn fat instead of muscle.  They also encourage short duration, high intensity exercise (think HIIT and weight-lifting instead of 45 minutes on the elliptical machine!) that makes you work in your anaerobic zone and build muscle, paired with 30-60 minutes of low-intensity, aerobic exercise (i.e., WALKING briskly) per day.  This is almost exactly what I was told to do when I had my EMA (Exercise Metabolic Assessment) done last year!!!

The ME people also stress the importance of getting enough sleep.  In both the book and in the Facebook posts, they will ask you, what is more important to you: watching your TV shows or getting enough sleep?  Here is a Facebook post from yesterday: 

"I can improve your mood, burn fat, and slow the aging process. I also lower leptin, 

insulin, and cortisol levels while also elevating hormones such as HGH and testosterone. 

Think of me like a hormonal reset button for your body. I may not have any calories, 

but I can greatly impact your fat loss efforts and your over all health.  What am I?"

The answer, of course, was sleep!!



This is my favorite article on the ME website.  Excerpts like this one speak the truth:

"Too often people simply say “i am eating right” and they don’t realize this simple fact: if you are not getting results then you are not eating right.  If you are not getting results in fat loss, then no matter how good you are eating, it is not good enough for you and you are going to have to take it to the next level. This is just the way it is. Your metabolic formula is different from everyone else and you need to stop being the dieter and start being the fat loss detective. We all need to look at ourselves and realize while we may be comfortable with our current diet practices and be convinced it is enough, it simply may not be.  The point of your nutrition practices where you start seeing losses in belly fat is the point where you start seeing results NOT the place you are comfortable with. "

I'm still (as always) having a hard time totally adopting this lifestyle because, with what I've done to my metabolism with all the past calorie restriction and eating the wrong foods for me, it really is going to be a tough road!  I have to take it hour by hour sometimes, and sometimes, I lose the fight to my cravings.  I still feel like I'm just eating too much, and not necessarily too much of the right foods for me.  However, the good thing about the Metabolic Effect lifestyle is that it is a meal by meal approach - if you fall off the wagon for one meal, then you just make the right choices the next one.  You haven't totally ruined anything (which is how I always felt when I was restricting my calories and went over even by 50!).