What is metabolism and what role does it play in weight loss?

You've probably heard someone close to you claim that they gained a few pounds because they have a slow metabolism. He takes in fewer calories, is more active, but does not and does not get rid of them. So is it possible that a really slow metabolism is to blame? Let's take a look at what metabolism is.

Metabolism describes all the chemical processes that go on inside our bodies, keeping us alive and our organs working properly, for example, it can be breathing, cell renewal and digesting food. These chemical processes require a certain amount of energy intake and thus set a minimum threshold below which your daily intake should not go. At least not in the long run. This minimum limit is also called basal metabolic rate issue​​ (abbreviated as BMR) and simply indicates the number of calories your body needs to survive. BMR can be up to 80% of your total daily requirement and depends on your age and how you eat and how active you are. At the same time, BMR is often taken as a starting point for calculating the required amount of energy intake.

Body structure, age, gender, hormone levels, macronutrient intake, medication use, and genetics all play a role in how fast each of us's metabolism is. For example, muscle cells require more energy than fat cells, so people with more muscle mass (than fat) have a faster metabolism. At the same time, the older we get, the more our bodies tend to gain fat and lose muscle mass. We men also usually have a faster metabolism, because we hold more muscle (and less fat) mass and have heavier bones. All of this is also influenced by our genetic predispositions. And then there's the way we live our lives.

Here we come to the problem of "slow metabolism" as the main culprit of weight loss problems. Unfortunately, there is little evidence to support this theory in most research. On the contrary, another factor appears that may be to blame. And that is the fact that many of us actually have a much larger daily calorie intake than we think. Try to consciously imagine how much you ate today. If you were to write it all down on paper or in some smart application and really count everything (often for "hidden" ingredients such as oils, fruit, flavored/alcoholic drinks, a piece of chocolate or a few cookies - it depends on how you eat - on the first you won't remember a good one at all), so you will probably get a slightly different result.

So here's the thing. Most of the time, the culprit of weight gain is not your slow metabolism, but rather the fact that you take in more energy than you expend in a day. And we are back to the energy balance, which we explained last time.

You should also pay attention to various types of "proven" diets, which will help you lose weight quickly in a record amount of time. It may simply happen that these diets force your body to take energy from muscle stores. And the less muscle mass you have, the slower your metabolism will be. Less muscle mass and a slower metabolism can make it much easier for your body to regain not only the lost kilograms, but also a larger amount of fat cells. Metabolism is definitely not a negligible part of losing weight. But it is rarely the main problem.

In most cases, we don't have much control over our metabolism, so is there anything we can significantly influence to have more control over the appearance and functionality of our body? Definitely! After all, we can influence how many calories we burn daily/weekly/monthly. The more active we are, the more energy we use. Most of the people who could be said to have a faster metabolism are just more active and sedentary in the end than those who claim to have an extremely slow metabolism.

Of course, there are diseases (such as Cushing's syndrome or hypothyroidism) that significantly slow down the metabolism. However, the more common cause of weight gain is a long-term energy surplus. Correct calorie calculations are therefore the basis and a bit more complex fun, which we will definitely get to.