Metabolism: The Role of Nutrition

Many people think they have a broken metabolism, or their metabolism isn't working quite right. And a lot of that can be due to your nutrition and making sure that you're eating an adequate amount of food. You shouldn't constantly be dieting and cutting calories. So when you think about dieting, and wanting to lose weight, you want to ensure you are using nutrition periodization which is like having seasons of dieting. There will be times where you're cutting or reducing your calories. There will be times when you're eating at maintenance to give your body a break from dieting. And then there should be times where you're eating in a surplus, which is great if you want to try to build muscle, because you can't build muscle without extra calories.

So it's super important to also ensure that you're eating above your BMR - Basal Metabolic Rate. That's the amount of calories that takes just for your body to function on a daily basis, not including exercise or additional movement throughout the day. That would be your Total Daily Energy Expenditure or TDEE. That amount of calories includes everything, exercise, non-exercise movement, the thermic effective of food, sleep calories, etc. Ideally, you're eating at that TDEE rate for a good portion of the year. You want to make sure you get enough calories so your body doesn't feel like it's starving.

So when it comes to nutrition and your metabolism, eating enough is critical. To ensure you're getting an adequate amount of nutrition, figure out your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). A great way to do that is to go to www.tdeecalculator.net. Plug in your information, to get those numbers. If you need additional help, send me a message at www.allisonjacksonfitness.com.