I know, I have talked about this many, many times, but it keeps coming up. I have lost count of how many times women have asked me about boosting their metabolism. Specifically, what can they take for their metabolism?

I get it. We are bombarded with so many messages about how to lose weight. Lose weight in 20 days, eat this to boost your metabolism, take this pill, wrap your belly, spin around in a circle 180 times, lol, so forth and so on. The other day a friend tagged me in a Weight Loss post about the boiled egg diet. Check it out here. 

A very, very unsustainable diet. She asked me how legit the diet is. First, I'm like it's Voodoo Quackery! Next, my response was sure you, could lose weight on it. The keyword here is "weight" - water weight that is. In which, you will gain it all back once you finish the two-week diet, plus some if you can even sustain it. The diet appears to be 1000 calories or less - kill me now if I had to follow this diet.

Which brings me to how do you really boost your metabolism? Forget everything that you have heard, especially if it's tied to a pill.

First, you won't be boosting your metabolism while trying to diet. Our metabolisms actually slow down when we are dieting - extreme dieting specifically. The metabolism slows down because that's what the body was designed to do, whether you're trying to lose weight or actually in a famine. Our bodies could care less if you are trying to lose fat - it doesn't know the difference, it's meant to survive.

Now don't get me wrong, a caloric deficit is needed to achieve weight loss, but not an extreme one, or the newest diet on the market. You can achieve fat loss with or without counting. You can change/manage your portion sizes and create a caloric deficit without counting and calculating.

The metabolism thrives on being well fed. Eating food does provide a thermic effect and protein provides the most thermogenic effect of the macronutrients (protein, carbs, and fats) - it takes a lot of work to break down protein, that's why it's Queen! It's not about the number of meals or meal frequency. That's personal preference. Eating more meals to stoke the metabolism is a myth.

The thing that is gonna keep your metabolism thriving throughout life is, drum roll, please... Muscle. Muscle equals Metabolism.

Muscle is metabolically active; therefore, you will burn more calories at rest even when you're not training.

So, how do you get muscle? You Lift the Things, otherwise known as Strength Training. Strength Training will help you either build muscle or maintain it. If you are trying to lose fat while in a caloric deficit - expending energy, you will lose fat while preserving muscle. This is so so important so that your metabolism doesn't take as much as of it hit.

Eating protein will boost your metabolism as I said earlier. It preserves muscle and keeps you fuller longer, and it burns more calories during digestion. I encourage the ladies that I work with to eat plenty of protein - eat it with every meal!

One more thing to add is that movement is great for our bodies as well, not just our lift sessions but moving in general!

Pills, potions, wraps, the latest Dr. Oz voodoo quackery supplement is not the key to boosting your metabolism.

Lastly, as we age, muscle declines, therefore, your metabolism slows down. You have probably noticed that it has slowed down - gaining weight easier, can't eat as much, feeling weaker, lethargic, etc.

The way to combat or reverse muscle from wasting away is to lift the things, eat well, move often, walk daily, and sleep well!

Also, here's a Facebook Live that I did, diving deeper into the metabolism. Check it out here; you'll find it very beneficial!

Thank you for reading and allowing me to take up residence in your inbox. Don't forget to sign up for the Booty Building Consistency Challenge; the Challenge kicks off on June 11th! Sign up here!

Any questions or comments hit reply to this email and let's chat it up!

Have an amazing week Strong Frand!

In Strength,

Xo

Candace