9 Habits That Slow Down Your Metabolism and Lead to Weight Gain

We often focus so much on burning calories through exercise and special workouts that we forget how amazing our own body is and how it’s entirely capable of burning calories on its own! In fact, it’s very efficient at it as long as you help it. Every little cell in the body plays a particular role when it comes to your metabolism — the process of turning food into energy. The faster your metabolism is, the more calories your body burns.

We at Bright Side care about our readers and want to share this information so that you can stay healthy and happy.

1. A weird eating schedule

Studies show that a random eating schedule may lead to weight gain. Your body simply doesn’t know when it gets a chance to get more food and it tries to slow everything down, just in case. Solution: find what eating regime suits you best and stick to it.

2. Lack of sleep

It’s not a surprise that people who don’t get enough sleep don’t have much energy, meaning they would use fewer calories throughout the day. Solution: although it’s not always that easy, find a way to get enough sleep. Try using special apps or try drinking herbal tea before bedtime.

3. Not eating enough

If you cut down on the calories too much, your body goes into starvation mode and slows down the metabolism rate trying to hold onto fuel as much as possible. Watching your calorie intake is critical if you want to lose weight but don’t go too far. Dieticians advise cutting back approximately 200 kcal for healthy weight loss.

4. Sitting for too long

If you spend most of your day behind your desk, you should be aware that sitting for a long time can affect your metabolism. Many studies have proven this and many companies actually encourage their staff to do a few stretches and simple movements every 30 minutes.

5. Jet lag

All of us have an internal clock and if it’s interrupted frequently, the whole body suffers, especially the metabolism.

6. Not getting enough calcium

Getting enough calcium is extremely important when it comes to regulating your metabolism. If you don’t like milk or are lactose intolerant, it’s not a problem as there are lots of food that are high in calcium and you can definitely find something you like.

7. Dehydration

Every process in our body depends on water. If you are dehydrated, nothing will work well. A study found that drinking water (about 17 oz) may increase your metabolic rate by up to 30%.

8. Lack of protein

9. Lack of resistance training

Resistance training increases muscle mass and having a higher amount of fat-free mass can significantly increase the number of calories you burn while resting. Doing even minimal amounts of resistance training can make a noticeable difference.

Do you know of anything else that can be added to this list? Tell about it in the comments below and share this article with your friends and family.