The Power of Your Metabolism - Slow Metabolism

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Chapter: A Huge Problem

THE EVER SO FAMOUS “SLOW METABOLISM”

LThe statistics don’t lie. The great majority of the population is overweight and one in every four people is already obese. The biggest problem is that the trend is clear: the situation keeps worsening year after year.

It is calculated that at any time of the year, more than 30% of the population is doing some type of diet, exercise program or effort to lower or control their weight. However, we are losing the battle; the statistics show that the population keeps getting fatter with every year that goes by. Since weight problems and obesity bring about other health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, these health conditions are also increasing as well.

Many people that have tried several of the many different popular diets have already given up because they observed that they made the effort but saw very poor results. Others get depressed when they see how a family member or friend who is thin eats everything that they themselves can’t eat and yet continues being thin, even though they eat candy, chocolate, and ice cream every day.

It is something illogical because for some mysterious reason it seems like some of us get fat “just from looking at food”. This phenomenon is called the “slow metabolism”. The term “slow metabolism” has gotten popular at such a level that just about any person that sees that he or she gains weight easily or that has great difficulty in losing weight uses it to describe their condition even though they might not be able to explain what the word “metabolism” means. For the population “slow metabolism” means eat a little and gain a lot.

If we look at the national statistics of weight problems and obesity we have to conclude that it is obvious that the number of people that experience the infamous “slow metabolism” is rising. Now the only thing left to understand is which factors are those that decrease our metabolism and turn it into a “slow metabolism”. Then we could not only avoid a “slow metabolism”, but also recover our metabolism and bring it to an optimal point of health and energy.

This reminds me of not too long ago when I spoke with a very pretty young woman that was holding a beautiful baby in her arms. She told me about her great difficulty in losing weight. She explained to me that before having her baby she could eat anything and always maintained her figure. She showed me photos of a time when she used to wear a slender size 4 and with tears in her eyes she told me “now I’m a size 10 and nothing looks good on me”. Her anguish was obvious. Then she said, “I have a slow metabolism”. I also remember a diabetic man who was at least 60 pounds overweight who told me “I was one of those skinny people who ate like a horse and never got fat.” This formerly skinny guy who is now severely overweight complained of having a “slow metabolism”.

What are the factors that decrease the metabolism and turn it into a slow metabolism? We’ll find out further on in the book. The most important thing is to notice the solutions. In other words, what we can do to recover the most out of our metabolism.

After having worked with more than 20,000 people to help them recover their metabolism, I can tell you in advance that there are various factors that lower your metabolism. The agile metabolism that almost all of us are born with can suffer damage if we don’t take care of it. Once it has suffered damage it could then become what we call a “slow metabolism”. Not all of the damage to the metabolism is recoverable, but a good part of it is. In other words, if we can’t recover 100% of the metabolism from when we were younger, we can recover a substantial part by applying the right knowledge. So, there is hope for everyone of any age. I’ve seen a 72 year old woman apply the right guidelines to increase her metabolism and she successfully went from an enormous size 22 to an elegant size 10. Her family couldn’t believe it; the woman, who before could only walk with the help of a cane, today walks 1 mile 3 times a week without any help, while being full of energy and enthusiasm.

Of course there are various “experts” who insist on the fixed and wrong idea that the only reason that people are overweight or obese is because they consume too many calories. Generally they stick to the simplistic idea that nutrition is the only aspect that must be improved in order to successfully lose weight and feel good. There are people who certainly can have good intentions, but surely don’t have the capacity of observing the multiple factors that affect the metabolism of a person. At times the need of some of our health professionals “to be correct” overpowers their own curiosity and common sense. In my case, I was a victim of my own obesity and I couldn’t have the luxury of closing myself off to this idea that just by going hungry and “counting calories” I could lose weight. My mental health and self-esteem were at play with this subject of the metabolism. Most people only think of a diet when they want to lose weight. The idea that nutrition is the only or main area to improve when one wants to lose weight is a limited one. It is true that the diet you use is a very important factor indeed. But the diet has to do only with food and food could be called the body’s fuel. In this sense food is to a body like gasoline is to your car. On the other hand the metabolism, which is what converts food (the body’s fuel) into energy, is more like your car’s motor. Having a “slow metabolism” is like having problems in your car’s motor and that can’t be solved solely by improving the fuel (diet). To solve the problem of a “slow metabolism”, you have to understand the metabolism (the motor). This is why so many people fail in their diets; they don’t understand how the metabolism works and thus ignore it.

Having a “slow metabolism” doesn’t have to be a life-sentence. Your metabolism, for the most part, can be recovered if you stop doing the things that decrease it and start doing the things that increase it.