9 Ways to “Fix A Broken Metabolism” (Part 1)
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Have you ever wondered why maintaining your weight feels effortless for some but like a constant battle for others? The secret often lies in metabolism.
In this episode of Embrace Your Real, we’re diving into the fascinating world of metabolism. I’ll be breaking down what metabolism is, common misconceptions about having a "broken metabolism," and 4 proven strategies to give your metabolism a much-needed boost. Whether you want to shed a few pounds, maintain your current weight, or simply feel more energetic, this episode is packed with essential tips for revving up your body's engine.
What I discuss:
Eat thermogenic foods
Eat more protein
Resistance training
Get more movement throughout your day
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Hey there, beautiful human you're listening to Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter, a podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I get you a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned. If you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get it. Let's go. [00:00:28][21.0]
[00:00:28] Hello and welcome back to another episode on the Embrace Your Real podcast. Have you ever wondered why some people seem to like effortlessly maintain their weight while others struggle? Even if you're following, like, similar diets or similar exercise routines? I'm here to talk to you today about metabolism, because that's really where the answer lies. And metabolism is a super complex process by which your body converts food and drink into energy. And and it plays a crucial role in determining how effectively you're burning calories and maintaining the body that you want. So my question to you is, how do you feel about your metabolism right now? Like, is it working for you or is it working against you? So many women that I talk to and then I've worked with in the last decade, they feel like their metabolism is working against them. And so that's why in today's episode, I kind of just want to dive into the science behind metabolism and kind of explore nine proven strategies that can give your body's engine a boost. So whether you are looking to lose a few pounds, you're wanting to maintain your current weight, or you're simply just wanting to be more energetic throughout the day and understanding like the inner workings of your metabolism, this two part series is going to be for you. So in today's episode, we're going to be talking about four ways to fix a broken Metabolism. [00:01:45][76.6]
[00:01:45] And then in part two, which will be next week, we will do the remainder of those five ways to fix a broken metabolism. So that is what today's episode is going to be about. I guarantee you're probably going to want to take some notes, or at the very least, save this episode so that you can go back to refer to it. Because like I said, we're really going to dive into kind of the science behind the metabolism, and just learning the inner workings of your body is one of the most crucial things, in my opinion, that you can do just in terms of wanting to educate yourself more and just being more aware and being more keen of things. And this is also how you can kind of step away from believing the lie or believing the myth of, you know, everything's just working against me and my metabolism is never going to be able to recoup or repair any of that. And that's just not the truth. And so I want to arm you with as much knowledge, as much education as possible, because like I always say on this podcast, education and knowledge is empowerment. I feel like when you are educated, you feel more empowered in that decision or you feel more empowered in that specific area. And when you're more empowered, you're likely to make more consistent decisions and you're able to just feel more, like I said, empowered, which will lead you down this road of likely staying more consistent with something because you feel confident in that area. But before we dive in, I want to share this review that comes from Mrs. LJ, 83. She gave a five star review and said, enlightening and thought provoking. I just listened to your latest episode about macro diet not being a fad and found it so interesting. [00:03:19][93.4]
[00:03:20] It's something I want to go now and find more about and see if it can help me with my health. Love all these episodes. Julie. Thank you so much for all the wisdom you share. Sending love from Northern Ireland. I love that so much. Oh, I want to visit Ireland one day. I've heard it's so beautiful and so green, so I'm curious if that is what it really looks like in real life. Based on my experience when we did like the Oregon Coast road trip last summer, I did not think that it would actually look like the pictures, like it was one of those things where I was getting ready to be disappointed. And I can tell you like driving down the one and being on the Oregon coast for three weeks. It was absolutely breathtaking. And I there were some parts where it reminded me of Ireland, like it was so green and just so beautiful. And so that's kind of how I envision Ireland. But anyways, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to send in that review. I genuinely appreciate all of your guys's reviews so much. They help the podcast, not only other people finding out the podcast, but also people who kind of stumble upon it and they are looking, you know, to see if this podcast is for them. It just helps people kind of know ahead of time how the episodes are helping, and then it also helps our team know how each episode or podcast in general is helping you, so that we can continue to deliver the absolute best content for you. So thank you, thank you, thank you. Okay, so before we dive into kind of how to boost your metabolism, I kind of want to explain something very important about your metabolism. [00:04:46][86.8]
[00:04:47] So your metabolism essentially is the process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy. So even when you're at rest, your body needs energy for essential functions like breathing, circulating blood, repairing cells. And this is your basal metabolic rate. So if you ever see BMR in capital letters, that just stands for a basal metabolic rate. But many people oftentimes feel like they have a broken metabolism, like they believe that despite their best efforts, their body just refuses to cooperate with their fitness goals. But what often seems like a broken metabolism is usually the result of just common mistakes or misunderstanding of how the metabolism actually works, and more often than not, a broken metabolism. And that's just simply a myth. Like, what's likely happening is that lifestyle factors are actually influencing how effectively and efficiently your body is using energy, and your metabolism itself is not broken, it just needs some shifts into getting it revving again. So here's a few things that people believe that their metabolism is broken. I kind of want to dive into those things and just educate you more. Again, arm you with the knowledge so that you can feel confident in this area. Just keep this in mind that their body adapts. In fact, your body is incredibly adaptable and so if you're constantly consuming few calories, your metabolism may slow down to conserve energy. This is just natural survival mechanism that God created our bodies to do. It's not a sign of a broken metabolism. Muscle mass actually plays a significant role in the metabolic rate. And so if you've lost muscle due to aging or inactivity, your metabolism might be slower in that season of life. Building the body that you want is about balancing the energy you take in with the energy that you expend. [00:06:29][101.9]
[00:06:30] So if you're not seeing results, it might be due to an imbalance, not an actual metabolic defect. So now let's kind of dive into the nine ways to fix a broken metabolism. Number one eat thermogenic foods. Okay, so I know what you're thinking. You might have have heard thermogenic before. If you've tuned into the podcast, you likely have heard it at one point, but if not, you're like, okay, what the heck are thermogenic foods? So thermogenic foods are essentially foods that can temporarily boost your metabolism through a process called thermogenesis. Technically speaking, thermogenesis refers to the production of heat in the body, which requires energy expenditure. But when it comes to food, thermogenic foods are those that cause your body to burn more calories during digestion, and this is due to essentially the thermic effect of food, which is also referred to as the t.f, which is basically just the amount of energy that your body uses to digest, absorb, store, and transport nutrients in food. So simply put, thermogenic foods burn calories during digestion and therefore they help to rev your metabolism. So when you consume certain compounds found in thermogenic foods, they actually tell your body to produce more heat. And that is actually what increases the metabolic rate for a short period of time. Post you eating it. So in the digestion period, some of these foods include the apple cider vinegar, protein, ginger, black pepper, green tea Greek yogurt, oatmeal, vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, coconut oil, berries, dark chocolate, and so many other foods. So that is just kind of again, are you not saying these foods are superior? Just saying that having a balance of these foods in your daily intake can really help with that. Number two, eat more protein. [00:08:16][106.2]
[00:08:17] So like we discussed, protein actually has a higher thermic effect on other food, which is the TEF that I talked about earlier. Compared to carbohydrates and fats. This essentially just means that your body expends more energy, aka it burns more calories to digest, absorb, and metabolize that protein in your body. So in fact, studies have shown that to for protein is about 20 to 30% versus 5 to 10% for carbs and 0 to 3% for fats. Again, this doesn't mean that protein is superior to carbohydrates and fats, and there are so many other things that carbohydrates and fats individually do in terms of and benefit in terms of your body, your hormones, all those things. So it's really important that you're eating all of these things in a balanced approach. But protein itself has a higher TEF. This means that if you're eating essentially 100 calories of protein, you're going to burn 20 to 30 calories during the digestion. Therefore, you technically only 870 calories. Now, I don't love looking at it like that because I don't want to look at food like, oh, well, I'm, you know, I'm going to eat this because it's technically only 70 calories. Just knowing that protein itself. And when you're eating an adequate amount of protein that your body needs to function optimally, your body, it has a higher TF. So your body's going to naturally, you know, burn 20 to 30% of that more in the protein. The second side to eating more protein for boosting metabolism is that protein is actually important for building and preserving lean muscle mass. So when you are strength training, when you're consistent in your dumbbell workouts, the working muscles experience these microscopic tears, which I've talked about in so many past episodes. [00:09:58][101.4]
[00:09:59] But eating enough protein actually provides the amino acids that your muscles need to repair and rebuild during the recovery process. So what does this have to do with your metabolism? Well, having more lean muscle mass is so beneficial because muscle is metabolically more active than fat tissue, meaning that it burns more calories at rest. So at rest, estimates suggest muscle burns anywhere between 4.5 to 7 calories per pound of body weight daily, whereas fat only burns. It's 2 to 3 calories per pound. So a pound of muscle burns roughly 2 to 4 times more calories than the pound of fat at rest. So, for example, if a person weighs, you know, 140 pounds and they have 30% muscle, their muscle would burn 300 calories by doing absolutely nothing all day long. And lastly, protein has a higher satiation value versus carbs and fat. So essentially this just means that the feeling of fullness after eating protein rich foods can actually help you to control your appetite, prevent you from overeating, overindulging, and a higher protein intake when working towards the body that you want can actually help to prevent lean muscle mass loss and a higher protein intake when working towards building the body that you want can help to prevent lean muscle mass loss that commonly occurs during caloric deficit. So essentially, preserving muscle mass keeps your metabolism higher compared to just losing a mixture of muscle and fat. When in that body fat loss mode. So if you are like, okay, that all sounds great, but I have absolutely no idea how much I need in terms of protein, carbs and fats or just in terms of protein. I have a solution for you. It's called the macro counting made simple online academy. [00:11:45][105.9]
[00:11:45] Inside this academy, you're not only going to get your customized macros calculated by us after you fill out an extensive questionnaire form. It's kind of where you're at and what your goals are. But we also give you a simple step by step guide for moving through the four different phases of macro counting, which I've talked about on this podcast a bunch. How important it is to be phasing through the different cycles of macro counting, not just staying in a body fat loss, not just staying in a muscle building phase, but the benefits of reverse diet, the benefits of maintenance and all those things. So I will go ahead and link that in the show notes that you can easily go check that out, or you can simply go to macro counting made simple.com. Again that's macro counting meat simple.com. But if you feel like your metabolism is stagnant and needs a boost, and you just want to educate yourself on how to properly fuel your body, that is going to be so beneficial for you. So again, macro counting made simple.com. Or you can go to the show notes linked below. Number three you know if you've listened to any length of time or if you've been following me on any social media platforms, you know, I'm a huge believer in resistance training aka dumbbell workouts, weight training, however you like to call it, resistance training paired with protein is the most effective way to build lean muscle mass, plain and simple. And again, when you have more lean muscle mass, your body burns more calories at rest. And when your body does that, that means you have a more effective metabolism, a faster metabolism, for lack of a better turn. But why is this? This is due to the muscle being denser and containing more mitochondria, aka the powerhouse of cells where your energy is produced. [00:13:20][94.9]
[00:13:20] So by gaining lean muscle mass through resistance training, you increase the amount of metabolically active tissue in your body. And this raises your metabolic rate, your RMR. So if you ever see RMR in capital letters, that just basically means your resting metabolic rate, which is essentially the number of calories that your body burns at rest just to sustain basic functions like breathing, circulating blood, repairing cells, etc.. And like I said in point number two, studies show that for every pound of muscle gain you burn and approximate 6 to 7 extra calories per day at rest. And while this might seem small, it can add up over time, especially if you continue to progressively overload your muscles and gain more lean muscle mass through your consistent training program. Lastly, resistance training sessions can also create this afterburn effect, where your body continues burning extra calories for up to 38 hours post-workout due to repairing muscle damage and restoring oxygen levels. This bump in metabolism further contributes to the overall higher calorie expenditure. So while cardio burns more calories during the duration of your workout, so if you're doing a hit style, you're doing, you know, strictly cardio, whether it's running or cycling, those are likely burning more calories during the duration of your workout. But with resistance training, resistance training will help you burn more calories around the clock. So post-workout, you are still burning more calories for up to 38 hours post-workout. So if you want to boost your metabolism, if you want to increase that lean muscle. I do have a program. It's called the movement with Julie app, and it's five brand new workouts every single day that I give you Monday through Friday programed for you. There's 30 minute and 60 minute variations. [00:15:07][106.8]
[00:15:08] So depending on your time constraints, these workouts are for you. Honestly, all you genuinely need to do minimum three workouts a week, 30 minutes each session. You are going to see results when you pair that with properly fueling your body. And if you don't know how to do that, the macro can be made simple. Online academy. So both of those. Programs paired together are going to give you not only a boost in terms of making sure that your body is optimally processing food, but you are burning calories around the clock. So if you want to learn more about either the movement with Julia app or the Macro Academy in Simple Online Academy, again, I will link both of those in the show notes that you can easily go check those out. And lastly, number four get more movement throughout the day. So order your body with movement. If you've been following me for any length of time, you know I love talking about moving your body outside of the gym. Whether that's cleaning your house, wandering through target, you know, going shopping, playing with your kids, walking your dog, you name it. Movement is movement. And the more non exercise movement that you get in, the more you'll start to jump start your metabolism right. This refers to the non exercise activity thermogenesis. Say that three times rise the non exercise activity thermogenesis which is also called neat. So NCERT if you ever see that in capitals that just stands for non exercise activity thermogenesis which essentially is the calories you're burning throughout the entire day through these non exercise movements and activities. Again this includes like walking around, fidgeting, doing chores, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, just generally being more active in your day to day life. [00:16:46][97.9]
[00:16:46] This does not mean doing double workouts. When I talk about neat, people say, oh, so you're telling me to do two to a day, essentially, right? Like cardio and workouts or two different workouts. One in the morning, one at night? That is not what I'm talking about. Neat. When I say knee eat, that is things that don't get your heart rate up or make you sweat. It's just that daily movement. So by increasing your knee, by moving more frequently throughout the day, rather than being sedentary for long periods of time, this can significantly contribute to your overall energy expenditure and metabolism. So the more that you move, the more calories your body has to burn to fuel that activity, right? So by making super simple changes like using a standing desk, I will forever be a fan of standing desks with walking pads. I just feel like if you have a computer desk job where you are, you know, sitting for long periods of time at a computer, I cannot recommend getting a 2 to $300 walking pad and a one $200 stand up desk. It will forever change your productivity, your energy throughout your day, and just overall make you feel so much better. But that is very, very helpful. Taking walks. You know, a walking break every hour, even if it's for a five minutes like walk that adds up over time. Doing household chores, fidgeting more just means essentially you are just increasing your daily calorie burn compared to just remaining completely stationary throughout the day. Meat accounts for a large portion of total daily energy expenditure. So by combining that with structured exercise, a.k.a. resistance training, if you're following my program with Julie app, the dumbbell workouts or somebody else's program while doing that, increasing your need through spontaneous daily movement that is going to create a multiplier effect for overall boosting your metabolism. [00:18:38][111.8]
[00:18:39] And the beauty of NI is that it accumulates throughout these micro movements and activities that are super easy, super seamless to incorporate in your regular routine without requiring, you know, dedicated workout time. Additionally, than what you're already doing. Small steps to being more active daily that can make a huge difference over time. So there you have it. That's part one on boosting your metabolism. Let me quickly recap what we talked about in today's episode. So number one, I mentioned having a balanced approach in your daily intake and really prioritizing those thermogenic foods. Not that they're magic foods, but having those foods can be very beneficial within your daily intake. Number two, making sure that you're eating enough protein. I know protein is so hard for so many people to reach. I have a few episodes that I did a couple of months ago on Sneaky Ways to Increase your Protein intake, so you can go check those out in the archives. If you just scroll back, you'll see so many episodes on that. And that series in particular I think will be very helpful for you. Number three Resistance train. So get those dumbbell workouts in, pick up those weights, start lifting them. It doesn't have to be five six days a week. Start with three workouts per week 30 minute workouts. Those are going to be sufficient paired with eating enough protein fueling your body optimally. And then lastly, number four, get more movement throughout your day. So be sure to tune in to part two. Like I mentioned, this is a two part series that I will be talking about. The remainder Five Ways to Boost Your Metabolism next week. And also if you are interested or want to learn more about the Macro Academy, it's Macro Counting Made Simple Online Academy or the movement with Julie Community, where it's the five dumbbell workouts every single week that I give you straight. [00:20:17][98.6]
[00:20:18] Sent to your phone on Saturdays 12 p.m. out in standard time and you can either log the 60 minute, the 30 minute video demos for every single movement. And these workouts are fun. They're challenging their time effective, time efficient, and I really think that you'll love them. So I will link both of those programs in the show notes below so that you can easily go check those out. But that is all that I have for today's episode. I hope that you found this helpful. I would love to hear your moments, so be sure to screenshot this. You can post it up on your Instagram story. Be sure to tag me Julie a lie better and embrace your real account. We love connecting with you guys and also be sure to tune in next week for part two of the Nine Ways to Fix a Broken Metabolism. I love you so much. I mean it, and I'll talk to you in the next one. [00:21:08][50.0]
[00:21:28] All right, sister, that's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you're not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie A Ledbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle for that daily post workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world, and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace it real because you're worth it. [00:32:36]