The Basics
If you read the post in the Influencer series ‘Can I Look Like Them? The Influencer Paradigm-Metabolism’ you’ll know what a large role Resting Metabolic Rate plays in our Total Daily Energy Expenditure. If you haven’t read it yet click on the link and check it out.
If you don’t want to do that here is a really quick breakdown. When I was younger my fitness journey revolved around wanting to look like other people. I thought if I ate and trained like they did I could look like them. It took me a long, long.. long time and a lot of education to realize this wasn’t true.
It took learning a lot of nuance. Usually, when we talk about metabolism we are talking about the amount of energy our body uses in a day and how much we can eat and maintain our ideal body weight/ composition. How much energy our body uses each day is called our Total Daily Energy Expenditure- known as our TDEE.
There are a few aspects that contribute to our TDEE. RMR (resting metabolic rate), TEF (Thermic Effect of Food), NEAT (Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and Exercise.
This post is all about our RMR and how we can increase it. RMR is the energy we need to keep essential functions of the body going at rest- for instance, if you are a little hungover and spend the entire day in bed and don’t move or do too much thinking (which has been very tempting today). When I first got into fitness RMR was fascinating to me; I always thought the less I ate the better. Learning that my body needed energy (calories) just to survive helped to start shifting my relationship with food. I also really liked the idea of burning more calories even when sleeping. I mean who doesn’t like burning more energy while sleeping!?
In this post I’m going to give you 5 ways to increase your RMR so you can function, feel, and look your best.
1. Stress Management
Cortisol is an important part of the body’s function when it is released acutely (for short periods of time) and at the appropriate times. However, high levels of chronic stress can have negative impacts on metabolism. Chronic stress keeps the hormone cortisol high and continually released. This chronic release of cortisol is thought to affect weight by a few different factors. Some of those are muscle breakdown, effects on cravings and food choices, and the storage of glucose as triglycerides, particularly around the abdomen.
Stress management will lessen the catabolic effect of cortisol allowing the body to repair and build hormones needed for good health. Build and maintain muscle mass, and allow for proper digestion and nutrient absorption
There are a few ways to manage stress- One of my favorite ways is to have meditation and breathing practice. There are a lot of excellent breathing and meditation techniques on youtube. An easy meditation practice to try is sitting in silence and trying to clear the mind by focusing on your breath.
Some other ways to manage stress are to build a good support system, have some sort of in-person connection each day, practice work-life balance, and speak to a therapist or mental health professional.
2. Sleep
I’ve been an advocate of intentional sleep routines and sleep training as adults. Sleep has been a missing link in a lot of health and fitness routines. Sleep affects all aspects of our health from our hearts to our brains. It also has a notable effect on metabolism and weight gain. When we sleep our body repairs and chronic poor sleep can inhibit hormone production and can lower your metabolic rate and decrease general physical activity.
Learning how to set your circadian rhythm is the best way to get a good night’s sleep and having a consistent and intentional sleep routine and schedule is an important aspect.
If you want to learn a science and habit-based way to set your circadian rhythm click here.
Most people need around 8 hours of sleep per night. Women tend to need a little more sleep, around 9 hours. Knowing when you have to wake up and how much sleep your body needs will help set the timing of your routine.
Your sleep schedule should be the same almost every day, this means weekends too (I know it sucks but it’s so good for our bodies, moods, and metabolisms). Having a consistent wake-up time will help set your circadian rhythm and keep you functioning at your best. Wake-up times should be within half an hour, for instance, if you usually wake up around 6:30 each day the latest you should wake up is 7.
For the start of a good sleep routine have an electronics curfew. After a certain time of night, you don’t use any more electronics- no TV, no phone, no iPod, no Kindle, etc.
Here is a watered-down example of my sleep routine:
My screen curfew is 9 o’clock- 9 all electronics are off; I take a 5-minute hot shower, brush my teeth, do my skincare routine, lotion, etc. I light a bunch of candles and turn off the lights. I’ll stretch for 15-20 minutes then journal for 10 minutes. Once I’m in bed I’ll read, meditate, or color. My eyes are closed and I’m asleep by a little after 10 and I’m up between 6:40-7:10.
For more on the importance of sleep and on setting a pre-sleep ritual check out the ‘Sleep Like a Beauty: Building a Nighttime Routine’ post.
3. Lift Heavy Weights
For some reason, I have some fight back when I recommend lifting heavy weights to women. They are afraid of getting “bulky” or “looking manly.” Where it came from I don’t really know, but ladies listen up. YOU WILL NOT GET BULKY. Women have vastly different hormonal profiles than men do. We have less testosterone which plays a large role in muscle development.
Large amounts of muscle are also really hard to build. I have never… ever in all my years as an athlete or in my years in the fitness industry ever seen anyone that gained a lot of muscle by accident. It is extremely difficult to do, especially naturally.
Okay, now my little rant is over…
Lifting heavy weights will help you burn more energy at rest because muscle is more metabolically active than fat. It takes more energy to maintain muscle tissue. And while adding muscle mass does make a small difference in your RMR. It is the physical act of lifting heavy weights that makes such a big difference in your metabolism. This type of anaerobic exercise has been shown to be a very important aspect of human health. It helps the body’s efficiency at making hormones, circulating blood, oxygen, and nutrients. All of these make a very big difference in metabolic rate both in terms of body composition and in the classic sense of all chemical processes that take place in a living organism.
4. Drink ‘Lots of Water
I’m going to make this one short and sweet. Drinking water is really important and something most people aren’t very good at (talking to me here). There is a lot of discussion over how much is too much but to be honest this always seemed a little crazy to me. Most people barely drink any water all throughout the day. Focusing on drinking too much water is missing the forest for the trees to me.
The danger of drinking too much water comes from something called hyponatremia. A condition where your body doesn’t have enough sodium to function properly. In a healthy adult, it would take 20-28 liters of water a day to cause hyponatremia (for reference a gallon is 3.8 liters).
Water makes up around 60% of our body and our body works on electrical impulses. Everything in our body begins with an electrical impulse which is why being properly hydrated is so important. Electricity and electrical impulses are conducted quicker through the water. Being dehydrated means our body can’t function at its optimal potential. Everything gets slower including our resting metabolic rate. Drinking enough water helps in every aspect of health. Start with the 8×8 rule (8 ounces of water 8 times throughout the day) and adjust from there. If you get thirsty, exercise a lot, or live in a very dry area start increasing your water intake.
If you want a more in-depth look at the effects of water and some tips and tricks on drinking more water check out the article ‘The Mirstcale Drink: Water’
5. Eat Your Protein/ Rainbow
In the last post, we talked about how TEF (Thermo Effect of Food) affects energy output (how many calories are burned). Protein has a really complicated structure so it takes more energy for your body to break it down to its smallest unit (amino acids), so when you eat more protein your body uses more energy/calories to break it down.
Protein is also important for making enzymes. Enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions in the body. Not having enough enzymes can slow metabolic functions.
Even though this is a post about increasing RMR I wanted to say protein is so much more than just a macronutrient that helps you burn more calories. When you think of protein what do you think of?
For most people, protein means building muscle, bodybuilding, and anabolic windows – at least that is what I used to think. But when you think of protein do you think of functioning hormones? Do you think of a strong immune system or strong bones? Do you think of smooth skin and thick hair?
Protein is so much more than just building muscle and burning calories. Amino acids are used for almost everything.
Eat the Rainbow
Some of you may have heard this expression before some may not have. I didn’t hear it until my mid-twenties and thought it was a Skittles ad and was so confused why all these health coaches kept telling me to eat more candy.
But now I know that ‘eating a rainbow’ just means getting all the different colors of fruits and vegetables into your body each day. There are a few color categories: red, orange/yellow, green, white/brown, and blue/purple.
This will help your metabolism by making sure that your body is getting all of the vitamins and minerals it needs to function properly and regulating hormones that play large roles in metabolic function. More than that getting all the vitamins and minerals in plays a huge role in overall health by making sure your body has everything it needs to function properly. Vitamins and minerals play a role in everything the body does from building and regulating hormones to allowing you to think and move your body.
I hope these help! Check back in for more ways to improve your health, mindset, and lifestyle!
