Your metabolism is the engine that keeps your body running. It turns calories into fuel. Fire it up and you’ll have more energy. Let your metabolism languish under a lazy lifestyle, and you’ll kill it.
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Here are the 10 most common ways people kill their metabolism.
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Not getting enough sleep
If you’re not getting seven to eight hours of sleep a night, you might be killing your metabolism. Studies show that not getting enough shut-eye can lead to chemical reactions that increase fat storage and make you hungrier.
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Eating before bed
If you snack right before bed, your body won’t deal with the excess calories—it’s busy recovering from the day. Instead, it will slow down your metabolism and save the calories as fat.
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Carbs
Who doesn’t love carbs? They taste great, but they also cause your blood sugar to spike, which in turn increases your fat storage. It’s a chemical thing.
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Not enough protein
Protein is important for building lean muscle mass, which burns fat, but it’s also important for your digestive system. If you’re not eating enough protein, chances are your body isn’t digesting food properly and instead is storing it as fat.
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Sitting still
Sitting around all day—whether in the office or on the couch—puts your metabolism in a near vegetative state. And when that happens, your metabolism shuts down. Get up and move!
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Drinking Alcohol
A cold beer might help you relax, but it stresses out your metabolism. Alcohol is high in calories and sugar, both of which confuse your metabolism and make it shut down.
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Too many processed foods
They’re cheap, tasty and guaranteed to make your metabolism scream “Nomas.”
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Starving yourself to lose a few pounds—and then binging. Starving yourself to lose a few pounds—and then binging again. If this is your eating cycle, your metabolism is wondering what in the world is going on—and going into survival mode, which means it’s storing calories as fat instead of burning them.
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Cycling (and not the good kind)
Hitting the bike for 30 minutes a day is good for your metabolism. “Weight cycling” is not. If your weight goes up and down and up and down, you’re messing with your metabolism.
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Working the night shift
Not only does the graveyard shift mess with your sleep patterns, but it kills your metabolism because you’re probably not eating a balanced diet or getting enough exercise.
About the Author
Jamie Eberle is the Chief Financial Officer of BeLiteWeight, which has helped over 7,000 patients have safe, affordable and successful weight loss surgery over the past eight years. Jamie has had bariatric surgery and knows the ins and outs of the different procedures, including: gastric sleeve surgery, gastric sleeve plication, Lap Band and gastric bypass surgery, among others. BeLiteWeight focuses on each patient’s needs to help them choose the right procedure and get started on the path to a healthier life.
