ORIGINALLY POSTED ON CHOPRA.COM
Do you start running on a brand new diet every year only to lose steam after the first couple of weeks? Are you in a constant conversation with your bathroom scale that can either lift or depress how you feel every day?
Your metabolism keeps you active and moving. If it slows down, you’re likely to feel its effects on your sleep, mood, and energy.
There is plenty scientific evidence as to why food culture doesn’t work (or support) For example, studies show that restricting and depriving yourself of what you eat leads to rebellion and in many cases overeating. Especially, the food culture asks us to rely on high levels of willpower rather than creating long-term sustainable habits and behaviors. Additionally, looking at our health through the lens of our metabolism has proven to be much more successful (and more flexible too).
Maybe this year, it’s time to stop trolling for the latest diet trend or diet style that puts you in a box, ditch the bathroom scale, and try something a little different—something sustainable, healthy, and results-driven. Eating to match your metabolism really matches who you are and what your specific cells need to produce energy effectively and efficiently.
WHAT IS METABOLISM?
Your presentation metabolism: the source of your energy, vitality, body composition and health. Studies show The underlying cause of many of the current health problems in the world today is due to a lack of the building blocks that fuel your metabolism. Your metabolism is deeply embedded in your blood sugar, your biochemistry, your cellular oxidative system (how your cells produce energy), your autonomic nervous system, and how you nourish yourself every day—body, mind, and soul.
Explore these five metabolic principles for more energy, deeper sleep, curbed cravings, heightened mood, clear focus, and optimal body composition—and create long-term sustainable changes in your health.
1. METABOLIC INDIVIDUALITY
Studies on metabolic individuality show that over many thousands of years, as humans have evolved in different parts of the world, individuals have developed specific nutritional needs based on many important factors and variables, such as climate, genetic ancestry, environmental stressors, and daily life rhythms. Examples of metabolic individuality include differences in ideal ratios of macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrate).
While one person may thrive on eating a diet high in tropical fruits and fish, another person may feel more nourished on a diet higher in heavier proteins, berries and nuts. These telling pieces of your individuality are needed to understand the differences between personalized ingredients to fuel your energy, vitality and metabolic requirements.
Essentially, what works for you may not work for others. Instead of looking for a one-way approach to health, consider looking yours way. While this may sound more complicated than joining the latest diet trend, with a little time and practice you can learn to be the detective in your body and the ruler of your health.
Try this:
Employment a mindfulness practice, such as meditation, in your life and practice being the witness in your body and in your life.
Watch how different types of food in different proportions affect your mood, energy, sleep and cravings after meals.
Avoid one-way approaches to weight loss that ignore your unique bio-individuality, history and genetic background. In some cases, genetic and/or ancestry testing could be informative and helpful.
2. BALANCE
Creating balance in your body, specifically your blood sugar, is a relief to your metabolism. This can’t happen if your blood sugar is on a roller coaster. Science shows that when insulin, our storage hormone, spikes too high or drops too low, it tells your body to hold on to body fat. In contrast, one study found that suppression of insulin secretion in nondiabetic obese adults was associated with weight loss and reduced body mass.
Try this:
Eat protein, fat and whole carbohydrates at every meal.
Avoid foods with a high glycemic index, especially when eaten alone. Foods with a high glycemic index are foods that quickly turn into sugar in your blood, such as sugar or white flour.
Don’t be afraid to add good fats to every meal—like coconut oil, nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocado, and/or pasture-fed butter—that will keep your blood sugar balanced, your body fuller, and energy more even and consistent.
3. COURT
You’ll know you’re on the right track when you’re full—feeling satisfied without overindulging—after a balanced meal. Your cravings will no longer get the best of you and your energy will be even and steady. Even if you’re known to be an emotional eater, an anxious eater, or a bored eater, you’ll notice improvement with these habits when you know how to eat to fill you up at every meal.
Studies show that the quality of your carbohydrates affects your cravings (especially for sugar). When you eat more processed and refined carbohydrates, they will create more blood sugar imbalance. A study showed that when men eat low glycemic carbs in their whole forms, such as brown rice, sweet potato, steel-cut oats, quinoa, or a sour apple, these carbs stabilized their blood sugar more. This suggests that eating low-glycemic whole carbs will make you feel fuller and cravings start to disappear.
Try this:
Choose whole carbohydrates – whole grains, low-glycemic fruit and starchy vegetables.
Eat regular meals and don’t let yourself get too hungry. When you wait too long between meals, you usually end up becoming “hungry” (a mixture of anger and hunger) and making impulsive choices. Eating regular, balanced meals keeps your blood sugar stable and keeps your metabolism working for you.
Track your desires as they change. An improvement in your cravings indicates an improvement in your metabolism.
4. TREATMENT
When you keep focusing on the number on the scale, instead of healing your metabolism, you are more often than not perpetuating the feeling of deprivation, limitation, hunger and lack of inspiration. Even if you have the willpower to stick with a strict diet, your body needs a strong metabolism to consistently lose weight, feel energized, and be healthy and strong.
Being healthy to lose weight works much more effectively than losing weight to get healthy.
Here are the four main stages your metabolic healing will go through:
Your starting point – your current metabolism.
The healing phase – replenishing your body through nutrition, restoration, balancing insulin and rebuilding your energy and vitality.
Fat burning and metabolic remodeling phase––you start to notice changes in your body disposalenergy, desires, body composition and sleep.
Healed state — you achieve balance in your hormones (starting with insulin). This can translate to weight loss, more sustained energy throughout the day, improved brain chemistry, more satiety, improved sex drive, a better night’s sleep, and more focus and clarity.
Try this:
Cultivate patience as you move through the various metabolic phases of healing at a slow and steady pace.
Recognize your progress as you go. Tracking changes and celebrating your successes (big and small) will continue to inspire your health and healing.
Share your results with others in your life. Sharing the progress you make can lead to greater success on your journey.
5. SUSTAINABILITY
It’s common to start a health and healing journey relying on your willpower to keep you on track. What you may not realize is that your willpower is inconsistent. This variable of how you move through your day changes based on a few key ingredients: stress, sleep quality, and blood sugar.
In his report, “What You Need to Know About Willpower: The Psychological Science of Self-Control,” states the American Psychological Association, “A growing body of research shows that resisting repeated temptations has a psychological cost. Some experts liken willpower to a muscle that can tire from overuse.”
To create a sustainable path to health and healing, you need to turn to something more reliable. Research shows a more reliable approach is a shift toward habit formation and automatic behaviors. While you probably don’t struggle to find time to shower or brush your teeth every day, it’s because these acts of self-care have become automatic.
When behavior becomes automatic, you don’t rely on the anomaly of your willpower. This is true with food, exercise, meditation, sleep routines, and even your inner dialogue.
Try this:
Consider choosing a small new health behavior to add through habit formation and automatic behavior.
Start slow and build your momentum hard and steady.
Set a reasonable time frame to work within (like 30 days) and anchor your new behavior with time and practice.
While this might not be your typical approach to improving your diet, try these tried-and-true steps that heal your metabolism—from the inside out—for a long-lasting and sustainable transformation in your health and beyond.
*Editor’s Note: The information in this article is for educational use only. does not necessarily reflect the views of the Chopra Center Mind-Body Medicine Team. and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition and before beginning any diet, supplement, fitness or other health programs.
