How to Restore your Metabolism
Do you have low energy or hit that 3pm slump on the reg?
Are you dealing with PMS or other period problems?
Have digestive issues that no diet seems to fix long term?
What about weight struggles?
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, you likely have a sluggish metabolism.
In this article you will learn:
Why metabolism is about so much more than weight
Signs of a sluggish metabolism
How your nutrition and lifestyle choices impact your metabolism
Essentials for healing your metabolism
Signs your metabolism is improving
Metabolism Explained
The word metabolism is often associated with body weight regulation, and it does impact that. But metabolism is really about how well your cells are able to produce and use energy from the food you eat. We need energy for everything! Breathing, thinking, moving, digesting, detoxing, ovulating, and healing all require a LOT of energy.
When energy isn't available, you feel it. Every system of the body is connected, and this is why your energy levels, hormones, and digestive health are so tightly connected to your metabolic health.
Unfortunately, so many of the things you’re told to do in the name of health can actually wreck your metabolism. We're encouraged to eat less, cut carbs, exercise harder, drink a gallon of water every day... these things are often very stressful on the body and can leave you nutritionally and physically depleted. As a result, your metabolism adapts to these stressors by conserving energy. This is when you will start to see symptoms.
Signs of a sluggish metabolism
always feeling cold
poor appetite (especially upon waking)
feeling tired after eating
stubborn weight loss
feeling tired or energy crashes throughout the day
hair loss or poor regrowth
brittle nails
acne or poor skin health
PMS, irregular periods, heavy flow
often feeling down in the dumps, easily irritated, or anxious
gas, bloating, heartburn, or constipation
troubles falling asleep or staying asleep
not feeling rested when you wake in the mornings
needing caffeine to get through your day
low body temperature or slow pulse
Common reasons for a sluggish metabolism
Not eating enough to meet the energy demands of your body
Can you get by on 1400 calories a day? Sure, but you’re a grown woman and need more than that to really thrive. Calories = energy, so you can’t expect to be making enough energy when you don’t have enough energy coming in to fuel your metabolism. I recommend using a TDEE calculator to estimate your daily needs. If you find you’re consistently in a calorie deficit it IS impacting your metabolism.
High levels of emotional or physical stress and spending most of your day in “fight or flight” mode
Some stress is good for us and there are things we cannot control, but our modern lifestyles tend to overflow our stress bucket. Packed schedules, lack of sleep, trendy diets, too much caffeine, and constant exposure to screens are a few examples. Your body responds to all forms of stress the exact same way — stress hormones like cortisol go up. High cortisol will decrease thyroid hormone, leading to a slower metabolism.
Skipping meals or relying on ultra-processed foods, meal replacement shakes, or supplements as your primary source of nutrition
Skipping breakfast or any other meal is another type of stressor as it usually ends in low blood sugar. Low blood sugar leads to high cortisol. Many women do this purposely with intermittent fasting, but I also see many busy women unintentionally skipping meals or forgetting to eat.
Fewer meals also means less nutrients to fuel your metabolism. Relying on ultra-processed food, meal replacement shakes or bars, or supplementation to get you by isn’t helpful either. These things typically contain additives that can be hard on your digestive system, along with synthetic nutrients that can throw off your mineral balance.
Eating certain foods that are hard to digest in excess because they are seen as “healthier”
It doesn’t matter how healthy something is if you can’t even break it down— if you cannot digest your food well then you’re not getting many nutrients from it, Raw vegetables and uncooked leafy greens are harder to digest, especially if your gut health is already not great due to high stress or gut imbalances. So while a kale salad might seem like the healthiest option, it’s really not if it makes you super bloated and causes you to feel miserable.
Attempting weight loss in quick, unsustainable ways, over and over
Yo-yo dieting and quick fix attempts at weight loss are hard on the adrenals and thyroid, and will lower your metabolism to conserve energy as the body attempts to adapt to such a drastic change. If you have a history of these approaches and still want to lose weight, you may have some repair work to do first. Doing the work to heal your metabolism will make it easier to lose without these extremes and more sustainable in the long run.
Fixing a slow metabolism
The good news is that your metabolism is not set in stone! By incorporating the right nutrition and lifestyle strategies you can begin to restore your body to a place where it is making and using energy efficiently.
Avoid undereating and dieting extremes. Are you eating enough? Use an online calculator like the one above to estimate your daily needs and track your intake for a few days to see where you fall. If you are consistently below your maintenance needs, begin by increasing your intake by 50 calories/day for a week. Then go up by another 50 calories/day the following week. For example, if you typically eat 1200 calories/day you will increase to 1250 for week 1, 1300 calories for week 2, 1350 for week 3, etc. Continue to do this until you are at your maintenance calories and stay there for a bit.
Eat adequate protein and nutrient-dense foods. Nutrients run the body! Aim for a minimum of 25 grams of protein per meal. Here are some examples of foods that are high in minerals, vitamins, & amino acids and easy for the body to digest and extract the nutrients from.
Stay off the blood sugar roller coaster. The best way to do this is to start your day with a high protein breakfast and eat every 3-4 hours. If you’re experiencing hanger or irritability between meals, this is often a sign that blood sugar has dropped. Remember that low blood sugar = high cortisol, and high cortisol blunts metabolism.
Balance your minerals. Minerals drive the metabolism. A lack of minerals in the diet + stress = mineral imbalances. You need to replete! I recommend starting with adding sea salt to foods and including potassium-rich foods like fruit, coconut water, or aloe vera juice.
Address your stress. Identify the stressors in your life, minimize what you can, and find things that help you to manage the rest. Stress has a BIG effect on the health of your cells, will deplete you of essential minerals, and over time will impact your thyroid. Find ways to reduce emotional and mental stress like journaling, meditation, spending time in nature, breathwork, setting boundaries, and asking for help where needed.
Examine your exercise routine. More exercise is not always better. Oftentimes what is needed is to scale back on intense cardio-type workouts and instead focus more on strength training to build muscle (which increases your metabolic rate), walking, and NEAT movement. NEAT is any movement throughout your day that is not dedicated exercise (things like housework, taking the stairs, playing with your kids, or parking further away).
Support sleep and circadian rhythm. 7-9 hours of high quality sleep is ideal to help improve insulin sensitivity and reduce stress hormones. Natural light exposure first thing in the morning and throughout the day will help to regulate your circadian rhythm, which means better sleep at night. Magnesium glycinate can be a wonderful sleep aid, and since most of us are deficient in magnesium due to high stress loads and decreased content in foods, supplementation is something I often recommend.
Optimize your gut health. A lot of this comes back to what you’re eating and how you’re eating, but you may also need some additional digestive support or need to address any underlying imbalances. The bacteria in your gut plays an important role in metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and hormone balance.
Signs your metabolism is improving
As your metabolism improves you will begin to notice many symptom improvements. You may not have connected many of these things to your metabolism, but remember that a healthy metabolism is really about good energy production—when your cells have energy, your body can do what it’s designed to do.
✅Sleep improves - you fall asleep more easily, are able to stay asleep all night, and wake up feeling rested
✅Steady energy - the afternoon slump is gone and you’re not relying on caffeine to get you through your day
✅Hair is healthy, nails are strong, and your skin is clear
✅Waking body temperature is >97.8 and waking pulse is 75-85
✅Minimal PMS, regular ovulation, and easy-peasy periods
✅Strong hunger cues and feel satisfied & energized after eating a meal
✅Daily soft, formed bowel movements and minimal gas & bloating
✅Feeling content, hopeful, and handle stress without a lot of overwhelm
I purposely didn’t mention weight on this list, because it really is not a great indicator of a healthy metabolism. As your metabolism improves, does it become easier to lose or maintain weight without restrictive dieting? Yep. But you can be underweight and have a sluggish metabolism, and you could be carrying extra weight yet your metabolism is strong.
There are so many other markers of health that deserve your attention and should be celebrated apart from the scale:
🔥improved sleep
🔥more energy
🔥better periods
🔥clearer skin
🔥healthier hair
🔥smooth digestion
🔥more stable moods
As your metabolism improves and your cells begin to make more energy they will produce more heat, increasing your body temperature. This is why tracking your waking temperatures each morning can be an easy way to monitor your progress over time. This is a much better strategy than relying on the scale!
Want a way to monitor your progress and symptom improvement? Download this free Metabolism Assessment.
Need more personalized support?
If you need more 1:1 support to heal your metabolism click HERE to schedule a free 30 minute introductory call to learn more about my services.
To a happy metabolism!
Kate Netz, RDN, LD
Functional Dietitian
All information in this post is for educational purposes only and does not replace medical advice or diagnosis.
