Many people who “can’t” lose weight blame their metabolism—but they’re secretly eating cheat meals or missing workouts. Others stick to their diets and exercise plans meticulously—then cut more calories or stay at the gym longer when they don’t see results. Whether you’re the former, the latter, or somewhere in between, you may not know just how much your metabolism affects your weight. Worse, damage to it may be causing those other symptoms that seem completely unrelated.

Maybe It’s Metabolic Damage 

Weight loss seems very formulaic for the most part: calories in vs. calories out ultimately determines if you lose or gain. Add in some exercise, and you’re good to go. But metabolism, the interaction of hormones and organ systems that store and burn fat, is estimated to be responsible for between 60–70 percent of your fat-burning capability. Clearly, a problem with your metabolism is going to affect your weight, no matter what you eat or how much you hit the treadmill.

If you’re a nutrition nut who’s clocked more hours in the gym than you’d care to admit yet you’re still not seeing results, you may have metabolic damage—the most severe form of weight-loss resistance. This hormonal disorder involves the nervous system (brain), endocrine system (thyroid, adrenals, and sex hormones), and immune system, and can cause bothersome symptoms, including fatigue, irregular menstrual cycles, upset stomach, bloating with meals, low sex drive, and more.

Who Gets Metabolic Damage?

The tricky thing about metabolic damage is that it can happen TO you or BY you.

Chronic dieters and over-exercisers risk causing metabolic damage 

If you’re a chronic dieter and/or exerciser, you may have caused metabolic damage.
If you’re a yo-yo dieter, or you’re regularly doing long-duration cardio exercise while on a super-low-calorie or low-carb diet, you may have missed the warning sign of metabolic damage—metabolic adaptation. In the face of what it sees as a life-or-death situation, your body initiates a stress response that mobilizes your energy stores, effectively shutting down your fat-burning ability and muscle gains. The longer you live with metabolic adaptation, the worse health effects you’re likely to endure.

Take participants of “The Biggest Loser” televised weight-loss competition, for example. Several years ago, researchers studied the body composition and resting metabolic rate changes in 14 of the show’s competitors who were classified with class III obesity. They found tthose with the greatest weight loss at the end of the competition experienced the greatest slowing of resting metabolic rate, and those who maintained the weight loss after six years also wound up with a slower metabolism. These observations show definitively that metabolic adaptation is a very real response to extreme dieting and exercise.

If you have an undiagnosed/untreated metabolic condition that spreads, metabolic damage may have happened to you.
Imagine your metabolism is an orchestra playing a song. If the flutes are off key or out of time, the other instruments will likely wander off as well. The result? Everybody’s out of whack, and it’s a terrible song. This is how metabolic damage can develop as well. Because metabolism is an intricate system of organs communicating together, an undiagnosed health condition (say, low T3 syndrome) can negatively affect all other systems, shutting down your metabolism.

There are warning signs before you reach metabolic damage, but you must be in tune with your body to recognize them.

The Warning Signs of Metabolic Damage

Adrenal Fatigue and Low Cortisol Levels – As metabolic damage begins, your adrenal glands get stressed, produce an over-abundance of cortisol. Once cortisol levels have been elevated for quite some time they fall to dangerously low levels, causing adrenal fatigue.

Low Thyroid Levels – Drops in T4 and T3 (the body’s major fat-burning hormone) can directly (or indirectly) result in a slow metabolism, fatigue, and/or low energy levels. In fact, the common clinical disorder, low T3 syndrome, is often seen with metabolic damage.

Low Testosterone – Low testosterone levels are common in men and women (except those with PCOS) with metabolic damage. If you’re suffering from metabolic adaptation or damage, your adrenal glands get pushed to their limit, creating a stress response that shuts down the production of testosterone.

Imbalanced Progesterone to Estrogen Ratio – When stress is out of control, your body will steal valuable resources to make stress hormones (including cortisol) instead of healthy thyroid and sex hormones, causing low or high estrogen levels, and most commonly low progesterone.

Low Leptin/Leptin Resistance – When you restrict our calories, your metabolism compensates by decreasing our metabolic rate with leptin, the fat-locating hormone. When leptin is high, metabolism is high; when it’s low, our metabolism rate plummets, often creating leptin resistance (or “blind fat”).

Immune System Overdrive – In a stressed state, your immune system gets overly excitable and attacks things it shouldn’t, such as ingested food and the body’s own organs. This contributes to food sensitivities, autoimmune diseases, and sensitivity to chemicals and the environment.

How You Miss the Signs…And What to Do If You See Them Now

It’s easy to miss the warning signs of metabolic damage when conventional medical providers aren’t looking for them. More often than not, they’re solely looking and testing for diseases they can treat with medication or surgery. This leaves you (and millions of other Americans) in the medical black hole—living with hidden metabolic disorders that spread and worsen over time.

If you suspect you have a metabolic disorder, we have some good news. Twin Cities Metabolism has the tests, answers, and solutions waiting for you. Contact us for a consultation to discuss your symptoms, get the proper testing, determine if you have a metabolism problem, and ultimately have the help you need.

Ready to take charge of your health? We have the tests and customized nutrition programs you need. Get in touch.

“Oh, I’ve just always been tired during the workday.”

“You know me, I’m always cold.”

“I’ve never had much of an appetite, yet I still can’t lose weight.”

Are you one to make definitive statements like these about yourself? When you’re always feeling a certain way, it’s easy to think, “Well, that’s just me.” But is it really you—or could it be something deeper?

The truth is, you don’t necessarily have to go through life feeling fatigued, shivering, or battling the bulge. You don’t have to accept that you’re never hungry, and you shouldn’t have to wonder why your weight is going up. Many of the symptoms you’re experiencing, especially if you’re struggling with weight loss, can stem from a metabolism problem. Fortunately, there are tangible signs to look out for.

Keep an eye out for signs and symptoms of a metabolism disorder.

8 Signs You May Have a Metabolism Problem

#1. Weight gain or loss
If you can’t remember a time when you weren’t on a diet or you can’t gain a pound no matter how much food you pack in, your metabolism may be to blame. The stress that an underlying metabolism disorder places on your body eventually causes your metabolism to shut down. Once that happens, normal hormone activity suffers, weight loss and gain become difficult, and other symptoms ensue.

#2.  Fatigue
Your body is like a car—it needs fuel to operate. If you have a metabolism disorder, you may have a lot of stored fat (aka fuel), and if your body isn’t using that fat for energy, you’ll go nowhere fast.

#3. Feeling cold
If you can’t go anywhere without bringing a sweater or you sleep with a space heater and two comforters year-round, you may have to check in with your metabolism. Metabolic adaptation can push your adrenal glands to their limit, creating a stress response that downregulates your hormones, and drops your tolerance for cold temps.

#4. Loss of sex drive/interest
Who would think metabolism could affect whether you’re “in the mood?” Unfortunately, when sex hormone output is low and you’re under 40, metabolic adaptation is usually in full swing.

If you can barely make it through a workout, your metabolism may be to blame.

#5. Low stamina
You start the workday bright-eyed and bushy-tailed but need tape to keep your eyes open by lunch. Or you start your exercise workout like a beast, but eventually pick up lighter weights because you burn out too quickly. If this sounds like you, a metabolism disorder may be affecting how your body burns calories for energy.

#6. Lack of hunger
You just slept for nine hours. You should be ravenous when you wake up, right? If you have a slow metabolism, you may be able to go even longer without feeling hungry. If you’re alert and awake, you shouldn’t go longer than four hours without eating something. If you can, it’s a sure sign that your metabolism is slow. (And if you’re eating less and still not losing weight, that’s just another sign!)

#7. GI issues
Dealing with constipation, loose stools, and food sensitivity? Metabolism problems can start in the gut with gastrointestinal issues like leaky gut syndrome or microbe problems, and often lead to food intolerance as time goes on.

#8. 100% effort, zero progress
You’re sticking to your exercise and nutritional plan with absolute precision. You’re measuring your body fat and muscle mass consistently. You’re doing everything right, but your body fat is going up and/or your muscle mass is going down. A metabolism disorder may be sabotaging you.

“Yep, that sounds exactly like me!”

If you relate to any of the above signs, it may be time to visit a metabolism doctor to see what’s going on. With thorough testing, a diagnosis, and treatment, you may be able to start eating that ice cream you gave up because it made you gassy or power through that hour-long boot camp class like you used to.

Ready to take charge of your metabolism? We’re ready to help. Get in touch.

Sandy has been on some form of diet for what seems like her whole life. They called her “big boned” in her youth, but it was just a kinder way of saying overweight. As she entered her teen and adult years, Sandy became both a chronic dieter and a yo-yo dieter – both unsuccessfully. The more she cut her calories or carbs, the more her body refused to drop a size – or reflect the waistline she wanted.

Across four states, Danielle is working toward her dream figure, too. She wants to achieve it with exercise – always looking to improve muscle tone and stay lean. You’ll catch her at the gym 2-3 hours per day engaged in long-duration cardio sessions, high-intensity interval training, and power weight lifting. What you won’t see Danielle doing is breaking for lunch or eating a protein bar. This over-exerciser is eating all wrong and wonders why her body never seems to change.

So, why aren’t these ladies seeing results from their clearly proactive efforts? A low-calorie diet and vigorous exercise help you lose weight, right? Not necessarily. Enter metabolic adaptation.

What Happens When Metabolism Adapts?

Source: Ryan McGuire, via Gratisography

Sandy’s mantra of “eat less, weigh less” isn’t working for her because she’s in starvation mode. And the same goes for Danielle and her “eat less, exercise more” regime. Sure, they may have lost a little (or even a lot of) fat, but their bodies cannot sustain this for too long. If you have a calorie deficit and/or are over-exercising, your metabolism has adapted so well that you’re no longer able to lose fat.

When weight loss slows down, people like Sandy and Danielle eat less and/or push harder in their exercise routines, forcing metabolism to slow…exponentially. Our bodies are constantly working to maintain homeostasis, which means rapid increases and decreases in consumed calories can cause issues. When we restrict our calories, our metabolism attempts to close the gap by decreasing our metabolic rate with leptin, the metabolism-regulating hormone. When leptin is high, metabolism is high; when it’s low, our metabolism rate plummets. This explains why a diet may work well for a month or so, and then less so as our bodies work toward homeostasis.

The impact of under-eating and over-exercising:

• Metabolism-regulating hormones begin to down-regulate
• Thyroid and leptin decrease to create homeostasis in the body
• Muscle tissue starts to break down as it becomes an energy source
• Metabolism slows
• Reduction of calories burned in a day
• Can cause weight gain

Stress is a Culprit

The human body is amazing at adapting under stress, and when you’re an under-eater and/or over-exerciser, that’s bad news. In order to respond to a threatening situation, a stress response mobilizes the body’s energy stores, effectively shutting down your fat-burning ability and muscle gains. It’s been seen in the scientific study of rats, in which chronic, stress-linked weight gain occurs despite less food intake, suggesting that metabolic adaptations occur during stress, increasing caloric efficiency.

Other fascinating research comes from Robert Sapolsky, a Stanford neuroscientist, who has been trying to understand why humans and their primate cousins get more stress-related diseases than any other member of the animal kingdom. Each year, he and his team follow troops of Kenyan baboons, gathering behavioral and physiological data on individual members, including blood samples, tissue biopsies, and electrocardiograms. His research finds that stress hormones are “brilliantly adapted” to help us mobilize energy, increase blood pressure, and turn off everything that’s not essential to surviving, such as digestion, growth, and reproduction. Thus, the metabolic adaptation and the ensuing stress response have created Sandy and Danielle’s situation.

How to Fix a Slow Metabolism and Prevent Metabolic Damage

Sandy and Danielle aren’t alone in the weight-loss, muscle-gain struggle. And like them, if you don’t take a stark look at your nutrition and exercise habits, and take the appropriate action, metabolic adaptation can turn into metabolic damage. This is a much more serious hormonal disorder involving the nervous system, endocrine system, and immune system.

The good news? Metabolic damage is preventable! If you suspect you might be struggling with the effects of metabolic adaptation, there are real tests, clear answers, and concrete solutions to get you back on track. And at Twin Cities Metabolism, we can produce these for you – quickly. If you’d like to fix your metabolism with hormone and metabolism testing, contact our metabolism doctor today to learn more at 651-636-0055.

Stay tuned to learn more about Metabolic Damage in our next blog.