Getting To Know Your Metabolism
We often feel a huge sense of powerlessness when it comes to our metabolisms. We think we’ve been cursed by the gods to have slow metabolic function and will have to battle the bulge until our dying day. But in fact, a properly functioning metabolism is neither slow nor quick. It is the mighty balancer. And modern day lifestyles just might be the culprit in throwing your metabolism out of whack.
The metabolism is the process by which the body converts calories into energy. Under normal circumstances, the sum of our parts constantly stabilizes weight, appetite, and energy levels for metabolic balance. But the body wasn’t necessarily built to deal with modern stresses, fake foods and sedentary lifestyles, such as those eight plus hours spent in front of a screen each day.
The first step is making the ideological shift in your mind from a desire to increase, speed or boost your metabolism to a desire towards rediscovering the inherent intelligence of your body, and instead seeking balance. Think of it as returning to your natural state by making some lifestyle shifts, throwbacks if you will.
According to Mark Hyman, M.D., author of UltraMetabolism, whole foods contain messages that “tell your body what to do with calories.” But all these processed foods we are surrounded by contain chemically-derived ingredients that our bodies simply cannot understand. They are speaking a foreign language! Calories laden with artificial flavors and sweeteners could be called “blank” calories, void of messages, and in response, the metabolism becomes disturbed, leaving us tired, hungry and hanging onto those lbs. We were created to ingest natural foods, and your metabolism just might be begging you to return to your ancestral roots. Even if you think you’re a healthy eater, check out Are You Buying Junk Food Disguised as Health Food.
Think about other ways our lifestyles have taken us out of balance. We not only consume mostly processed food, but we spend copious amounts of time worrying, thinking, obsessing and we spend hour upon hour sitting down. Consider how you can make shifts. Is it realistic for you to divide up all that sedentary time with spurts of exercise, like a ten minute walk for every hour spent sitting? Also, use yoga and meditation to clear your mind. Clearly, your cluttered thoughts are taking their toll. A whole mind, body and soul will surely bring your metabolism home.
image: Shannon Kringen
