When it comes to the goal of losing weight, we often hear the phrase: no pain = no gain. And in reality, this has very little to do with weight loss and more to do with building strength. In both cases, the most important aspect of our body’s biology is nixed from the conversation: metabolism.
Training your metabolism for weight loss is not the same as how you might train your body to run a triathlon, not at all. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, due to one important factor: the body’s stress response. If we are training for a triathlon – or any big fitness goal – we are continuously pushing our body to do more. We are stressing our system so that it will “become stronger” and we’ll be able to “push more,” “do more,” go further”. This effort may pay off handsomely when it comes to our strength level, and even our triathlon time, but it does not pay off well when it comes to training our metabolism for weight loss.
It may seem counter-intuitive to think that our metabolism is not supported by extreme exercise, because: doesn’t more exercise mean more calorie burning?Well, yes and no:
Yes, because when we exercise we promote calorie burning.
No, because when we stress our body, we shift our body out of its most efficient calorie burning mode
It works like this: We have two aspects to our nervous system — the Sympathetic and the Parasympathetic. Our sympathetic nervous system is our fight and flight response. We kick into sympathetic nervous system activation when we are experiencing stress of any kind. “Any kind” being an important distinction, because even though we may not feel like your triathlon is a “stress” – because it’s experienced by us as fun – our body still perceives the physical demands as a stressor and moves into a survival mode. Our blood flow moves out to our extremities – our arms, legs and head – and away from our internal organs. That means that our digestion is not optimally nourished – which translates to less nutrient absorption and decreased metabolism – and therefore, less weight loss. The key to supporting our metabolism and training it for weight loss, is to shift out of sympathetic nervous system activation, and into parasympathetic nervous system activation.
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Our parasympathetic nervous system is activated when we are relaxed. Relaxation allows our stress hormones – cortisol and adrenalin – to return to normal levels – which, in turn, optimizes our digestion. The parasympathetic nervous system activation is also called “rest and digest mode,” because it is in this state that our body can truly rest, heal, digest and lose weight. We have the ability to power-up our metabolism by inviting our body into this rest and digest mode. We can do this even if we are in stressful situations, by turning to these 3 simple, yet powerful techniques:
Breathe:
Take 10 slow, deep breaths
Slow down:
Stop rushing and eat slower
Be in the moment:
Pay attention and appreciate the details of the present moment – versus the past or future.
Training your metabolism for weight loss is actually about training yourself NOT to live in a state of fight and flight. If we are aiming for weight loss, we actually want to train our body to be able to relax. Using relaxation as a path to weight loss is obviously counter-culture to a society that prides itself on striving and pushing. Yet, stepping off the stress treadmill – figuratively and literally – is what will truly help you feel more comfortable and happy in your body.
Warm Regards,
© Institute For The Psychology of Eating, All Rights Reserved, 2014
Training Your Metabolism for Weight-loss
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