Where Did My Metabolism Go?

Maybe your favorite jeans feel a little tighter than the last time you put them on. Perhaps the numbers on your bathroom scale have crept slightly higher recently. You aren't eating any more than usual, so what's going on?

As we age, our metabolisms start to slow, particularly in our 30s. Although time and heredity make a difference, how fast your body burns energy is also influenced by your lifestyle. You can't change your genes, but you can do a few things to keep your metabolism in the best possible shape. Here's how: 

1. Thinking of skipping breakfast? Think again! If you eat within an hour of getting up, your metabolism wakes up too and gets ready to do more work. If you wait too long to eat, you are already behind the eight ball. Since our bodies are in a fasting state overnight (unless you've been at an all-night party) your metabolism is at its lowest level when you wake up. 

Kick-start your day with at least 20-30 grams of protein, like two hard boiled eggs and a banana, or some Greek yogurt and sliced almonds. Besides a higher metabolic rate, eating enough protein evens out your blood sugar for the rest of the day. This extra bonus keeps you from eating the morning donuts, afternoon cookies or hitting up the vending machine late in the day. 

2. Get up and get going! Exercise most days in the morning. If you are not a morning person and the thought of exercise first thing in the day is unthinkable, exercise anytime that will work. However, a morning workout boosts your metabolism for the reminder of the day. In addition, those who exercise in the morning are more likely to stick with their programs as a schedule change is less likely first thing in the morning than later in the day. Incorporate consistent exercise 4-5 times a week for best results. 

3. Don't go more than four hours without food. This may seem like a no-brainer, but I cannot tell you how many clients I see going hours without food. Eating regular meals throughout the day not only keeps your metabolism strong, but also helps prevent overeating in general. Going long periods of time without food sets you up for overeating or binging. 

4. Get your ZZZs. Getting rest keeps your stress levels down by keeping away the stress hormone called cortisol. Increased levels of cortisol can increase the hormone insulin that stores fat. 

Going to bed on time helps you get consistent sleep, which means you will be ready for breakfast and a workout before you're off to work. 

If you are skimping on sleep, the two hormones that control appetite -- ghrelin (which grows your appetite) and leptin (which lowers your appetite) -- get out of whack. This keeps your body in a hungry, stressed state which indirectly affects your metabolic rate. 

Following these steps can keep your metabolism healthy and strong. Becoming older does not mean you have to let nature takes it course. A little positive interference goes a long way!

Protein and Breakfast?

“But what about my cereal? “  “I love my Danish and coffee.”

“It’s almost Anti-American not to have cereal or pastry for breakfast, isn’t it?”

What are the facts?  We are the most insulin resistant in the morning due to sleeping for 6-8 hours.  As the day progresses we’re moving around, increasing activity and getting on with the day.  This activity makes insulin more efficient and ready to work.

Eating an average bowl of cereal with milk contains approximately 60-70 grams of carbohydrate or 4-5 slices worth of bread.  How can that be a good start to your day?  Or how about a 60-gram carbohydrate bagel worth 4 slices of bread?

Studies show eating a strong protein breakfast within an hour of waking up can increase your metabolic rate, lower insulin resistance and stabilize your blood sugar for the rest of the day.  Sounds like a good trade-off to me.

How does that break down – what are some examples of a high protein breakfast? 

1. 2-3 eggs with veggies, an ounce of cheese (about 20-25 grams of protein) and sliced fruit or tomatoes on the side
2. 1 cup of plain Greek Yogurt (about 20 grams of protein) with 2-3 tablespoons of raw nuts and your choice of fruit
3. 1 cup of cottage cheese (30 grams of protein) with fruit and 2-3 tablespoons of nuts
4. Smoothie with protein powder, milk/yogurt, and fruit

Most of the above breakfast options are easy, portable, high in protein and contain approximately 15-30 grams of carbohydrate which is a reasonable amount for your am insulin to handle.

If you’ve been to Europe or abroad they eat a little cheese, yogurt, an egg, some fruit and maybe a croissant but it is not the core of the breakfast.

What happens if you eat a high protein breakfast?  It results in a more even blood sugar and appetite for the remainder of the day with less chance of binging, grasping for food or candy at the office; increased energy and less chance of weight gain.  In addition, it can improve your sleep and increase your sense of health and well being.

Sound too good to be true?  Try a 30-day experiment of having a high protein breakfast and get back to me.  You might complain about missing cereal but you won’t complain about the benefits you’re experiencing.

Sleep Eating?

Are you someone who rarely wants to eat in the morning?  Do you eat most of your calories after dinner or wake up at night to eat?  You may be suffering from Night Eating Syndrome (NES).

NES is defined as someone who eats at least a third of their total calories after dinner and wakes up at least 2-3 times per week at night to eat.  This disorder is rarely spoken about by health care professionals or patients due to embarrassment or lack of knowledge.  Many individuals with NES are overweight due to night eating and sometimes are not even aware of what they ate.

NES is usually triggered by a stressful period of life event such as a divorce, death of a loved one or loss of a job. It is thought to have a genetic component as well.  It can be difficult to treat and there is no clear cut therapy for change.

What can you do if you think you have NES?  Various treatments exist but here are some simple things to start off with:

• Even if you are not hungry, eat at least 3 meals a day starting with breakfast.  Normalizing your meals and making yourself eat in the morning can help with regulating your body to start to eat at normal times
• Increase physical activity and exercise.  Exercise not only helps to increase your metabolism but can also regulate the circuits in your body to want to eat at regular times
• Keep a food and sleep diary.  This can help both you and your health care professional in sorting through how to best help solve the problem
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and medications such as Zoloft (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)) can be helpful bridges in getting you to where you want to be with your lifestyle

NES can be treated successfully.  Admitting to yourself and your health care professional that you may have NES is the first step towards recovery and healing to get you on the path towards change.  Changing this disorder can change your waistline and your life.

Shrink your Waist with Sleep and Protein

 “I’m hungry Mother, I really am,” said the little puppy Rolly on 101 Dalmatians.

I often hear “I’m always hungry; I don’t feel full after a meal; I still want something after I eat but I can’t put my finger on it.”

Appetite is affected by both physiological and psychological issues.  Since the psychological may be a whole research paper in itself let’s stick to the physiological things you can do to keep your appetite normal and healthy.

Two hormones affecting appetite are Leptin and Ghrelin.  An easy way to remember them is leptin lowers your appetite and ghrelin grows your appetite.  When they are in sync your appetite is in line with your metabolism.  Things that can throw them off are lack of sleep and imbalances in the diet.

If your sleep is compromised it affects your hunger levels.  Eve Van Cauter at the University of Chicago has done 25 years of research on how hormones affect sleep.  Her research shows that when you are sleep deprived your leptin levels are 18% lower and your Ghrelin levels are 28 percent higher.

Her subjects also reported they were much hungrier than usual and craved salty, sweet food when they lacked sleep.  Think of late night pizza and nachos when you stayed up too long.  Craving salty, sweet food and increasing leptin and lowering ghrelin are the perfect combination for weight gain.

Appetite can also be thrown off by the wrong combination of carbohydrate, protein and fat.  David Cummings, M.D. at the University School of Medicine in Seattle found that protein was the best suppressor of appetite.  Fats seemed to have a neutral affect.

Carbohydrates initially lowered the appetite, but then rebounded later with a vengeance.  I still remember my days of eating a “healthy” bowl of cereal for breakfast only to be famished 2 hours later – unaware that it was due to a lack of protein at the most important meal of the day.

Good sources of protein include:

• lean meats, poultry, fish
• eggs
• plain yogurt, cottage cheese, hard cheeses
• nuts/seeds and nut butters

Take home message?  Getting your rest and making sure you eat some sort of protein at each meal and snack will keep your appetite even keeled.  So maybe a good idea is to eat your protein and get some rest with Rolly.  What have you got to lose…besides weight?

This piece is part of Prevention not Prescriptions

Preventing Diabetes?

What would you do to prevent blindness, going on dialysis or having the nerves in your hands and feet in constant pain?  Many of us would do most anything to prevent those things, but those same individuals may not realize that simple lifestyle management may help those things never come to fruition.

As we discussed yesterday, one in three individuals is at a high risk of becoming diabetic.  However, even with diabetes in your history here are 3 simple things you can do to prevent diabetes and avoid ever going on medication.

1.  Exercise 30 minutes per day.  The Landmark study done on those with pre-diabetes looked at 3 separate groups – one group was the control group which means no intervention was given.  The second group was put on Metformin, a drug that both prevents and treats diabetes.  The third group was given a small amount of guidance regarding diet and lifestyle and exercised 30 minutes per day.

The results showed there was no change in group one.  Group two had lowered their risk of diabetes by 30 percent.  Group 3 lowered their risk of diabetes by 58 percent.

Walking just half an hour per day can lower diabetes risk by 58%?  Absolutely!  How does that work?  Even a moderate walk can make your insulin work better by 50 percent for the rest of the day.  This decrease only works for about 24 hours so near daily exercise is essential.

2.  Sleep at least 7-8 hours per night.  Multiple studies in the last 5 years have shown that lack of sleep lowers insulin sensitivity.  These sleep studies revealed that individuals who slept less than 7 hours per night had morning blood sugars in the diabetic range in those without diabetes.  When the subjects returned to over 7 hours of sleep per night their blood sugars became normalized.

3.  Eat protein at each meal with non-processed forms of carbohydrate.  I could talk about this one all day long and it is explained at length in my new book A Recipe for Life.  If you eat some sort of protein at each meal and snack such as lean meat, poultry, fish, nuts/seeds, low fat plain yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. and balance it with fruits, vegetables, and some healthy form of fat such as avocado or olive oil it will greatly assist in keeping your blood sugars normalized.  This type of eating requires shopping on the perimeter of the grocery store.

Walk a half hour per day, sleep 7.5 hours per night and eat a healthy balanced diet versus go on medications or have terrible health consequences in later years?  Sounds like a slam dunk to me – remember it’s prevention not prescription.