Weight Loss With Slow Metabolism? You Need To Read This.
The debates around weight loss with slow metabolism are quite rampant on and off social media. In fact, I have often heard many women claiming that they somehow broke their metabolisms from dieting and that they cannot lose weight as a result of it. Others think that they were just born with slow metabolisms, and this set the trend of their weight.
After all, if you have ever come across a woman who seems to eat everything and anything without ever gaining weight, and yet you gain weight despite following what you think is a balanced diet, it is easy to think that you have a slow metabolism. And if we are being honest, this can leave you feeling like the world is a tad unfair and that you are completely helpless when it comes to weight loss.
But do you really have a slow metabolism? And if so, can you enjoy weight loss with slow metabolism? This guide looks into the current research on this to help you figure out if you are as backed into a corner as you might think you are.
If you would like to watch the video I made on this, you can use the link below:
Understanding Weight Loss with Slow Metabolism.
Many women are so convinced that they have a slow metabolism that they often do not even try to embark on weight loss journeys because they think they will fail. But is that the case? Well, to really understand why this is the case, we have to get into the basics before looking into why this belief exists and what the science really says.
Just What is Metabolism?
There are many conversations that delve into weight loss with slow metabolism, but they barely get into what metabolism really is. As such, women find themselves engaging in different exercises and eating different foods to speed up their metabolisms, yet they are not even sure what metabolism is. So, what is it?
Metabolism refers to the chemical processes that take place in our bodies to turn food into energy, and thus, they play a vital role in keeping the body active and alive. Usually, it is broken down into two parts. The first is catabolism, which breaks down molecules to make energy, and the other is anabolism, whose role is to make new cells and tissues. In the fitness industry, you find that people often look at metabolism in terms of function, though, as follows:
Basal metabolic rate (BMR) refers to the chemical processes that go into powering basic functions in our bodies, such as breathing, cell repair, and so on. It averages 60% to 75% of your total daily energy expenditure.
Thermic effect of food (TEF) accounts for the energy used in processes such as chewing, digesting, and storing the food that you eat, and it averages 10% of your total energy usage.
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) ties into the energy used to fuel activities outside dedicated workouts, such as cleaning the house, taking walks, and fidgeting. For many people, it averages 10% to 20% of the total daily energy expenditure. However, it is important to note that it varies from person to person based on habits, and thus it can be altered based on lifestyle choices.
Exercise activity thermogenesis (EAT) refers to the energy burned during dedicated workouts such as weightlifting and running. Surprisingly, EAT accounts for about 5% to 10% of the total daily energy expenditure for most people, despite the overall emphasis on exercise in weight loss and fitness circles. But like with NEAT, it varies between people such that some people have higher EAT than others.
All these factors put together determine your metabolism, and you will see why this matters when discussing weight loss with slow metabolism.
Why Do Women Think They Have Slow Metabolism?
As a society, we love to bucket women into three biological types. The first category has the generally lean women who seem to eat anything and stay small. They are considered to have a fast metabolism. The second category features the typical woman. She has an average body fat percentage, is able to eat a lot, but still seems to think about her food choices, and her weight remains pretty stable. Metabolically speaking, people think that such women have an average metabolism.
And then we have the third category, which is full of women who have a slow metabolism. These are the people who feel that regardless of what diet they try, they are unable to lose weight, and they think that the issue lies in their biology, with some blaming their genetics.
But while we may have accepted these metabolic categories, science has quite a different take. In fact, recent studies have found that our metabolism is not all that different from one person to another. And researchers have figured this out by running tests where they have put people of the exact same body size into metabolic chambers to measure their resting metabolic rates, which are the calories that people burn just to stay alive.
To be clear, resting metabolic rate (RMR) is typically 5% to 20% higher than BMR because it also includes resting movements such as changing posture and sitting up. And during testing, scientists typically require participants to sleep overnight and fast for 12 hours before BMR measurements, yet RMR requirements are often more relaxed.
Their findings have highlighted that the gap between people with fast and slow metabolism is so narrow that it averages 200 to 300 calories. And if we were to put this into percentages, it would mean that the variations between 68% of the population are a meager 5% to 8%. And if we extend this to 96% of the population, then the variations fall between 10% and 16%.
What does this mean? If we were to consider 68% of the population (the majority of people) and assume that the average basal metabolic rate was 2,000 calories, then most people would fall between 1,840 and 2,160 calories a day. And if we expanded this to 96% of the population, then people would fall between 1,680 and 2,320 calories a day. Again, compared to the average person, that is a difference of between 200 and 300 calories from person to person. It is not enough to explain why some people would struggle with weight loss with slow metabolism.
NEAT and Weight Loss with Slow Metabolism.
Seeing as studies have found that our resting metabolic rates are not all that different, why are some women said to have fast metabolism? Why is it that some people can eat whatever they want without gaining weight? Well, the answer takes us back to the pillars of metabolism, and our focus here is on NEAT, aka non-exercise activity thermogenesis.
As stated earlier, NEAT accounts for the energy that you burn when you are not resting, eating, or engaging in dedicated workouts. Examples of NEAT activities include:
Fidgeting.
Pacing while on the phone.
Taking the stairs.
Cleaning the house.
These are continuous activities that you probably engage in without thinking about them, as they do not seem to take up much energy. But they do!
In fact, studies have shown that NEAT alone accounts for a much larger percentage of our TDEE compared to EAT. Yet, many people hit the gym and assume that they have done all they need to do for weight management, but this is just a fraction of their energy burn. Studies have even shown that without EAT, people can still lose weight and enjoy good health if they increase their NEAT.
Studies have also shown that NEAT is so highly variable that some people burn thousands of calories each day through this movement alone. Examples include people who take care of young children, dog walkers, people who work on farms, and people who are just generally active. That is why it is quite possible to come across people who seem to eat almost anything, yet stay lean. You would be right to say that their metabolism was fast, but if you did not account for their high NEAT, then you would have missed a big part of the picture.
Sedentary Lifestyles and Slow Metabolism.
The truth is that in this modern age, many people lead very sedentary lives. They take the elevator, park closest to the store, spend most of their time seated, and generally do not move much. And studies have shown as much. One such report showed that in the US, 25% of people were physically inactive outside their work, such that if they were not working, they were not doing anything to stay active. The World Health Organization also released a report in 2024, citing that 31% of adults were not meeting the recommended levels of physical activity.
This sedentary nature is especially prevalent when women engage in very aggressive calorie deficits. In these states, their bodies go through significant metabolic adaptation, which results in intense fatigue, irritability, and a decreased drive to expend energy. As such, women find themselves slowing down in various ways, such as sitting more, changing their postures, turning down activities, etc. Without knowing it, they lower their energy expenditure, and this takes a toll on their calorie deficits and thus hurts their weight loss efforts.
Therefore, when women say that their metabolism has slowed down, the case is usually that they themselves have reduced their non-exercise activity thermogenesis. And in so doing, they have likely ended up eating in a surplus, which has resulted in weight gain over time.
Can You Enjoy Weight Loss with Slow Metabolism?
We have seen that metabolism comprises various factors, including BMR, EAT, TEF, and NEAT. And while it is possible to adjust the first three, the truth is that it is much easier to alter your NEAT. For example, while you can increase your EAT by hitting the gym, there is only so much exercise you can do before burning out, and yet this would account for a small percentage of your TDEE. In the same way, while eating complex carbs and a diet rich in protein can increase your TEF, there is a limit to this.
But with NEAT, you have way more room because there are so many ways to stay active during the day. They include taking short walks, playing with your pets or children, taking the stairs, and so on. By burning calories here and there, you set yourself up for a much higher burn at the end of the day.
Am I saying that EAT has no role in weight loss with slow metabolism? Not at all. I am just reiterating the same thing that studies have found – EAT is more effective when coupled with NEAT.
Besides NEAT, What Else Can You Do?
Moving more comes with many perks. But is NEAT the only way to ensure you enjoy weight loss with slow metabolism? Not at all. Here are two other tools that are highly effective in this journey.
Build more muscle. Muscle is metabolically active, such that it takes energy just to maintain it. Therefore, when you build even a small amount of lean muscle, you permanently increase your daily baseline burn, and this helps you maintain your weight much more easily. Besides, it increases your functional strength, and that comes with a wide range of advantages.
Get enough sleep and manage your stressors. You have likely heard quite a lot about hormones and their impact on weight. It is not rumor-mongering for the most part. When you are chronically stressed and exhausted, your body pumps out cortisol, which makes you sluggish, lowers your natural daily movement, and triggers intense cravings. So, if you can get better sleep and find healthy ways to manage your stressors, you can keep these negative effects at bay.
Embrace slight to moderate calorie deficits. Your body naturally adapts to calorie deficits by finding ways to lower your NEAT. And if you undertake an aggressive cut, it responds with symptoms such as high levels of fatigue and low moods, all of which play a part in reducing your ability and willingness to move more. To prevent this from happening, set a slight to moderate calorie deficit as this will allow your body to respond to the gradual changes without undergoing high levels of stress.
Your daily habits have the power to influence your metabolism. So, yes, you can achieve weight loss with slow metabolism by changing the way you go about life. Even if you have hypothyroidism, which naturally reduces your metabolism, you can use the same strategies shared in this guide to increase your baseline and start losing weight.
Get Better in 90.
Believing that you have a slow metabolism can make you feel like weight loss is not achievable in your case. However, the truth is that your metabolism can change under the right conditions. And once you stop fighting it with extreme diets and start working with its natural signals, everything changes.
If you would like to learn more about how you can achieve weight loss with slow metabolism, I invite you to check out my Better in 90 program, which was designed to help women lose weight and keep it off using sustainable approaches. You can also reach me using the form below to arrange a virtual consultation with me.
