Lately I have been really concerned about my metabolism. I seemed that no matter what I was eating, I was still continuing to gain weight. It really didn’t matter if I was on a diet or not. This is why I felt it’s about time to properly understand things about my metabolism, as it seems to be the main suspect in my weight fluctuations.

Reading a lot of materials related to this made me realize a few things about my past fights with extra pounds. I used to have a normal weight until I was about 35. After a period when I was sick and had to take medical treatments and then anti-depressives I started noticing that I was gaining weight from one day to the other, even if I’ve never been a gourmand. The tests I took showed I’ve also developed problems with thyroidal glands. I’ve tried numerous methods, treatments and natural weight loss diets that I hoped will do wonders for me and that they will make me stop gaining weight. After 2-3 weeks of dieting I would notice I lost very little weight or sometimes not at all. This personal experience proved me that the metabolism can be activated and can be helped to function better, but it can not be changed with a wonder natural weight loss diet in a few days, because our metabolism is in the end something we were born with. At the same time, our metabolism suffers some variations throughout our lives, and it can become more active or lazier…depending on things we are doing. Clearly I’ve done something that made it quite lazy.

In a medical dictionary, I’ve found a definition of metabolism that seemed quite explicit and relevant. They defined it like the multitude of physical and chemical processes in our body, through which substances are produced, maintained or destroyed and energy is distributed to cells. In other words, metabolism includes all the changes that take place in the human body. After reading this, I had to ask myself, can a process that is so complex and involves millions of cells be changed in a matter of days with some natural weight loss programs…when sometimes the “natural” is fading away, because we are given numerous pill alternatives to fight with our extra pounds.

I’ve tried to take the wonder diet that claimed to change my metabolism in 12 days. I was at first impressed by the results they claimed: more than 80% register a natural weight loss after ending the diet. When it was over, I did lose some weight, but then I’ve put everything right back on so fast, that it was clear it hasn’t changed my metabolism, just starved my body. I found out soon after that only 10% of those that were losing weight after finishing the diet continued to lose weight, and that they were mostly in their 20’s when changing the metabolism is easier.

The main idea is that there is no natural weight loss diet that can change instantly metabolism, but some good ones can activate it. This means it becomes aware of changes in alimentation. This is why I immediately gained weight after stopping these diets. My metabolism, remaining the same, was aware that there might come periods with poor alimentation and tried to made deposits. It was simply defending my body against bad times.

A nutritionist told me that all hope is not lost. That metabolism can be changed, after being activated. That natural weight loss diets can contribute in changing the metabolism, but that I will have to take such a non-restrictive diet for the rest of my life. I had to go to a nutritionist to find about all the alimentary delegations in my body. Since I was already having trouble with my glands, I took some herbal supplements to keep that under control. I made my own changing metabolism diet… I gave up on red meat; I only eat it very rarely on remote occasions, and mainly eat a lot of vegetables and fruits and chicken or fish. Also, I am trying to eat non prepared aliments as much as possible. Comes very naturally actually. The only stuff I really can’t give up is soups, but I’ve heard that if they are not made out of fat meat, they are also very beneficial. And let’s not forget that I’m pushed by my family to go and walk the dog…for at least one hour a day. Basically, I’m running, if you had a dog like mine you’d understand why I’m saying this.

I’ve had serious trouble losing weight and keeping it off. Yes, all my life I’ve been fighting with weight problems. And I did manage to regain somewhat of a normal weigh at times, but in a matter of weeks it would all come right back to haunt me. Losing weight and keeping it off was a serious problem, and in the end I’ve started believed that I’m simply unable to do this, that this is not for me. I was pretty ready to give up altogether at the whole dieting stuff, because the end result of all my diets so far was a couple of extra pounds added to the initial weight. So this was from the beginning a lost battle, since I already knew that in the end I will be fatter than initially.

Then, my wife decided to get involved in my failed attempts, knowing that she can indeed provide viable information about things related to diets. She was the one that knew first hand how much trouble I was experiencing losing weight quick and keeping it off…I’ve learnt quite e a few things from her…don’t think she is a nutritionist or something, she is just a woman that usually eats salads and can lecture you for two hours about the bad consequences of red meat consumption…

She explained stuff in a way that demanded attention, so I paid her the attention requested. And it has helped me understand a few things. An essential component of every diet is to improve the metabolic control of every individual. I have to target decreasing the fat weight and keeping the muscular weight at the same time. In fact, the muscular tissues are the ones that dictate the metabolism. Fat people like I was, and also those that are really obese have lots of fat tissues compared to their muscular tissues and this can slow down the metabolism a lot.

Dieting is not a complete quick weight loss task. If I waned to start losing weight and keeping it off I needed to include exercises and even supplements, next to the diet. My wife also said that is not important what weight loss diet I choose, and that she will not force me to eat something I don’t like, but she mentioned that, especially because I am a man, I should target in finding a diet that can keep the muscular tissues intact. Severe diets, that shake the body, will result in a rapid weight loss but this is happening because you are losing muscles and water tissues, but the fat tissues are intact. Those were the exact diets I was trying, and they never worked as expected. So, a plan suited for me would be one that can target the changes between muscles and fat and that can intensify the fat loss and not the muscular loss.

After trying diets, or simply reading about them and turning them down instantly, I decided that a diet that focuses glycemic index or GI diet appears to be a good one. This diet focuses on foods that have a low GI. People that follow this diet will feel full faster at one meal and are completely satisfied with what they eat, and will also have a better overall tolerance at glucoses. Losing weight and keeping it off is done thanks to reducing the fat tissues from the body. This is why I think low GI diets prevent a metabolism change. It’s important to realize that this is not a low carb diet.

Carbs that have a low GI can be consumed. I have eaten various stuff with carbs like fibers, beans, oaks, potatoes and sweet potatoes and most fruits, because they are full of pectin but have a low to moderate GI. I tried the diet with no carbs and didn’t solve much. Just by eliminated the carbs from alimentation you can not say you’ve found an efficient quick weight loss program. If I only reduce the number of calories I will mainly decrease my energy consumption with at least 15%. Out body has no way of knowing that when we reduce the number of calories we actually want to lose weight. This is why it is acting defensively and reduces the metabolic index to try and keep as much food as possible. This is how I finally managed to explain my obvious slowed down metabolism after severe diets, and this is why I’ve had trouble losing weight and keeping it off.

The low GI diet does not focus on calories. The problem with foods that have a high GI is that they can trigger a change in metabolism which will stock proteins, fats and carbs instead of helping burning them. It has been later brought to my attention that the low GI diet can improve insulin resistance and can decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease. Unlike other diets, this can be taken forever, becoming a true lifestyle, as it has happened in my case.

But the thing that truly turned my weight around after starting the low Gi diet is the fact that I started to exercise seriously. Walking or biking, and even dancing or fitness exercises are anyways a must in this diet. In the beginning, I simply started exercising 3 times a week for about 10 minutes, and now, after several months, I do exercises of 30 minutes 5 times a week.

It’s very important to remember that losing weight and keeping it off depends a lot on the way you work your muscles. Muscular tissue can increase metabolism and overcome the boomerang effects of diets.