Metabolism.  We like to blame it for our lack of results and use it as our scapegoat and our excuse to explain our lack fitness progress.   We always want it to work harder, faster, better, but how can it work hard when we don’t give it what it needs to perform its best?

People like to sell books and programs by telling you they can teach you how to “change” your metabolism- like you can swap it out for a new one.  Change your metabolism, you can’t, but improve it? You can.

It’s not about what kind of metabolism you have, its how well your metabolism is functioning. When your metabolism is working it’s best, you burn maximum calories, maximum fat, have stable consistent energy and improved mood.  And guess what? If your metabolism isn’t functioning efficiently, aside from a medical condition (which aren’t as prevalent as people like the claim) it’s your fault.

So how do you gain control of your metabolism?  There is a little analogy I like to use, called the Furnace Analogy:

Your metabolism is like the fire in the furnace of a train. Just as a furnace burns coal for fuel to power the train, your metabolism burns food/calories to fuel your body for exercise, moving, breathing, bodily functions, etc. To get the most power from that furnace, you must consistently add fuel to the fire to keep it burning bright and hot. If you don’t put fuel in the furnace, the fire will die out, and the train will stop moving. Then if you come back hours later and shovel coal into the unlit furnace, the coal will pile up, storing for future use.

Along the same lines, if you dump more and more coal onto the fire before it has a chance to burn what you have already added, the extra coal will smother that fire and begin to pile up. Too little or too much fuel has the same effect on the fire- it dies.

Think of your metabolism as the furnace and food as the coal.  If you don’t eat for hours at a time, your metabolism slows down and next time you eat, your body stores the energy instead of burns it.  A slow metabolism causes your body to store food as fuel for later use.

To keep your metabolism revved to fuel your body like a speeding freight train, you must consistently feed it a steady stream of healthy food. Consistent, small meals and snacks throughout the day will keep your metabolism running its best by never letting your fire die down, and never signaling your body to store fuel.

You cannot “change” your metabolism, but you can definitely make it run more efficiently, which will help you relax a bit every once in a while.  That way, if you do happen to dump a wheelbarrow full of coal, or a plate of nachos, into your belly, your metabolism fire will be burning brightly enough to burn it right up like nothing ever happened.