As registered dietitians and personal trainers for over 15 years, we’ve seen the critical role metabolism plays in weight loss, belly fat and overall health. The first book we wrote was dedicated to metabolism and the various ways to speed it up, because we saw what science has shown: an efficient metabolism means a leaner, stronger, healthier and more functional body in every way – with less fat. However, we also noticed that there were also habits that slowed the metabolism, and created belly fat.
Increasing your metabolism means boosting energy and preventing weight gain that usually comes with age due to lifestyle and hormonal changes, as well as loss of lean muscle tissue that naturally occurs with age (if you don’t work to prevent it). However, although many of us believe we are making the best choices for our optimal health, sometimes even seemingly harmless habits can slow down our metabolism while building up belly fat. We see this all the time with new clients coming to us trying to get results.
From food and exercise choices to lifestyle patterns, you may be surprised to find that some of the things you may be doing may be negatively affecting your waistline.
Here are 5 habits that slow your metabolism and create belly fat:
1. It’s going vegan.
While there are many benefits to eating a plant-based diet, if you simply try to avoid animal protein without thinking carefully about how you’ll consume enough plant-based protein to replace it, it’s easy to miss out on the metabolism-boosting protein and get the most portion your calories from pasta, cereal and other grains. Research on energy expenditure it consistently shows that if you make this mistake and eat a high-carb diet compared to a high-protein, lower-carb diet, it will slow down your metabolism. It’s no wonder some people gain weight when they go vegan.
About a year ago, we had a recent college graduate come in to see us after gaining weight after going on a vegan diet. He complained that he had no muscle tone, even after constant exercise. Although she ate plenty of nutrient-dense, healthy foods like steel-cut oats and berries for breakfast and a bowl of brown rice and vegetables for lunch, she got almost no protein.
Eating too little protein can lead to bad habits that slow down the metabolism
Adequate protein would help her feel satisfied, but instead, she would starve herself by afternoon and eat a large bag of pretzels and often not feel satisfied at dinner and eat a large bowl of pasta. Sometimes, she’d end the night with fruit and a pint of vegan dairy-free ice cream. We helped her readjust her diet and get more protein. we had her add at least 20 grams of protein to each meal, which was all her body needed (and we had her try protein snacks like edamame, which became her favorite).
This made a huge difference. she did not starve until afternoon or dinner and could control the portions of the food she ate. She also began to see more muscle tone throughout her body, starting with her legs, which made her happy. She is finally seeing results from her exercise. Despite being vegan, she’s still very diligent about getting enough protein at every meal and admits that weight loss and muscle tone are driving factors in her motivation.
2. Prioritizing yoga and stretching.
While these exercises are important for keeping your muscles and joints young and supple, if you neglect strength training, you’re missing a big piece of the metabolism/weight loss puzzle. Women lose up to 8% of lean muscle tissue per decade after age 30 (and usually replace it with fat!) if they don’t strength train. It’s lean muscle mass that burns more calories than fat, even when we sleep, and day after day, that can make a difference.
If you’re afraid of getting bulky, keep in mind that women don’t put on much mass since they don’t have the same levels of muscle-building hormones as men. Our female clients usually blow us away and love how their bodies look after they start strength training—they’re leaner, firmer, and more toned! And we know personally, it makes a huge difference for us too.
3. Eating salads for main meals.
While eating leafy greens is one of the best things you can do for your health, if you make a salad with a sprinkle of protein like a spoonful of beans, cheese, or an egg, you’ll be skimping on the protein. you need to support your lean muscle tissue, so you may lose the lean muscle tissue that regulates metabolism. In our experience, most women benefit from around 20 grams of protein per meal. And many of our female customers need a lot more than that.
Add a source of protein to your salad to avoid belly fat. If you’re out at a salad bar, be careful and add a protein source like grilled chicken breast or turkey breast, tofu, shrimp, or enough seeds and beans. A spoonful of beans that they give you at most on salad bars won’t cut it—you’ll get closer to 8-10 grams of protein. Be careful how you eat your greens and salads! Replacing main meals with them is one of the habits that slows down the metabolism!
4. Doing a “detox” cleanse.
Now and again, this can be okay for some women and can be very beneficial for many men. But there’s a delicate hormonal balance when it comes to women, and if you’re hoping to jump-start weight loss by doing a juice “detox,” you might want to reconsider and check with your functional doctor or registered dietitian.
After a day or two, you may start using your muscle tissue for fuel and you may notice that you don’t feel as good. Your body will reduce the amount of calories it expends as a protective mechanism to prevent starvation, so your metabolism will kick into gear. This metabolic slowdown is very similar to what happens when you follow a diet that is below 1200 calories for an extended period of time. We see our clients who have done this in the past require even deeper metabolic restoration and hormonal “reset” than others.
5. Spending too much time on social media before bed.
Not only are you staying up later and cutting into precious sleep time, but blue light negatively affects sleep quality by interfering with melatonin production and disrupting the circadian rhythm. A study showed that continued sleep restriction combined with circadian rhythm disruption slowed resting metabolic rate by 8%.
This is something we see with our clients (and family members!) all too often. A big thing we see is waking up in the middle of the night and looking at your phone when you can’t sleep. This is disruptive when it comes to the circadian rhythm, as blue light activates the brain and makes it very difficult to go back to sleep. Also, as blue light wakes you up and stimulates you, it triggers the production of the stress hormone cortisol (also known as the belly fat hormone) and the release of ghrelin, the hunger hormone.
Get ready to swap out these metabolism-slowing, belly-fat-creating habits for better options. Keep reading!
Karen’s success story
This was the case with our client, Karen. He was 42 years old when he came to us. She was struggling to lose 15 pounds and said she was exhausted all the time. Karen initially didn’t understand what was causing her weight gain and blamed it on her older age, but we quickly followed some of her lifestyle habits and learned that she would sleep a few hours. Then her husband or her dog would wake her up and she couldn’t go back to sleep, so she’d start scrolling on her phone, either online shopping or social media.
She had finally put the phone down and gone back to sleep for a few hours, but she would wake up completely exhausted, even though she had been in bed for 9 hours. She also said she would crave sugar or caffeine throughout the day for a pick-me-up, and many times a day she was too tired to have the willpower to turn down cake, cookies, donuts, or anything else she had. whim for. We immediately had Karen sleep with a blindfold and make a pact with herself not to look at her phone.
The Results
She admitted that the first three nights were a bit of a challenge, but after that, knowing she couldn’t look at her phone, she fell asleep much faster and woke up feeling much more rested. So much so that she no longer craved caffeine and sugar, and if she did, she was rested enough to make a rational decision and choose a healthier option that fueled her weight loss.
Once she made this and a few other dietary changes that we made easy for her to change her lifestyle and that we helped her find, after 12 weeks she lost 15 pounds! Once she achieved that goal, she realized she wanted to lose an additional 3 pounds. She continued with her previous habits and we helped her make a few additional changes to her morning routine, and the last three pounds fell off—and stayed off! Congratulations Karen!
If you want personal attention and guidance like Karen did, we’re here to help. just fill out the form here!
