Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 3: Calculate Your Metabolic Rate
• Method 2 of 3: Slow Down Your Metabolism to Gain Weight
• Method 3 of 3: Slowing Down Your Metabolism in Extreme Situations
• Tips
• Warnings

Metabolism is the rate at which your body gets energy from food. Everyone has their own metabolism and, as a result, a different need for calories. As a rule, the smaller the person and the more physically active he is, the faster his metabolism. However, growing children also have a fairly fast metabolism. In this article, you will learn how you can slow down your metabolism.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Calculate Your Metabolic Rate

1. 1 Determine your resting metabolic rate. You can find an online calculator or use the formulas below:
   • Women: metabolic rate = 655.1 + (9.56 x weight in kg.) + (1.85 x height) - (4.68 x age);
   • Men: metabolic rate = 66.47 + (13.75 x weight) + (5 x height) - (6.76 x age).
2. 2 Calculate your daily calorie requirement using the Harris-Benedict formula. By calculating your metabolic rate, you can find out how many calories you need for a given level of physical activity. Slowing down the metabolism is like "slowing down" the work of the body itself, which reduces the requirements for the amount of calories. Use your metabolic rate in the following equations:
   • If you have a sedentary lifestyle or rarely exercise: so that your weight does not change, you need to get the number of calories in the amount of metabolic rate x 1.2
   • If you exercise 1-3 days a week: so that your weight does not change, you need to get the number of calories in the amount of metabolic rate x 1.375
   • If you exercise 3-5 days a week: so that your weight does not change, you need to get the number of calories in the amount of metabolic rate x 1.55
   • If you exercise 6-7 days a week: so that your weight does not change, you need to get the number of calories in the amount of metabolic rate x 1.724
   • If you are doing intense daily workouts: so that your weight does not change, you need to get the number of calories in the amount of metabolic rate x 1.9

Method 2 of 3: Slow Down Your Metabolism to Gain Weight

1. 1 Understand that a “slow metabolism” does not necessarily help you gain weight. If you want to gain weight, then look for guides on how you can do it without harm to your health, especially since doctors say that metabolic rate is far from the most serious effect on body weight change, unlike:
   • daily amount of calories consumed;
   • the frequency and intensity of exercise;
   • genetics and heredity;
   • drug therapy taken;
   • bad and unhealthy habits.
2. 2 Understand that slowing down your metabolism is far from the healthiest way to gain weight. Slowing down your metabolism can take a lot of unpleasant activities - for example, you will have to eat less and less often. Medically correct weight gain includes:
   • Increased daily calorie intake. You need to eat more than your body can break down in a day.
   • Treating any comorbid conditions that may lead to weight loss, including thyroid disease, diabetes, anorexia, etc.
3. 3 Skip meals. To slow down your metabolism, you need to start eating every other time. Yes, this is not the most useful activity, but, nevertheless, effective. You will start to skip the established meal schedule, and your body will decide that it's time to prepare for a hunger strike! And as a result, it will slow down the metabolism in order to conserve enough energy.
4. 4 Eat fewer calories. The fewer calories the body receives, the more it begins to slow down its metabolism. This is understandable - the fewer calories received, the less energy can be produced.
   • Note: Please note that a lack of calories can lead to the fact that, in order to compensate, the body begins to “burn” muscles and other tissues. If you are already thin, then this is not the best option for you.
5. 5 Sleep. During sleep, the metabolic rate decreases and remains reduced until awakening.
6. 6 Replace simple carbohydrates (sugar) with complex carbohydrates (starch and fiber) if possible. According to many studies, sugars and fruits are digested much faster than complex carbohydrates, and as a result, blood sugar levels rise and fall sharply. Scientists have shown that the complete oxidation of carbohydrates in 6 hours in the case of complex carbohydrates is lower than that of sugars.
   • Sucrose (table sugar) contains sucrose, a complex carbohydrate made up of glucose molecules. Consumption of sucrose leads to more thermogenesis (burning of calories) than consumption of glucose.
   • Choose foods high in fiber - grains and vegetables. Such food significantly reduces thermogenesis six hours after a meal.
7. 7 Include nuts and grains in your diet. Nuts and grains are generally unique products. There is almost no moisture in them, but there are a lot of healthy polyunsaturated fats, not to mention the fact that nuts and grains have the highest caloric density! Polyunsaturated fats found in nuts and grains oxidize much more slowly than monounsaturated fats. There is a lot in nuts and grains and a special amino acid - agyrine, which is used by the body to create nitric oxide, which slows down the metabolism.

Method 3 of 3: Slowing Down Your Metabolism in Extreme Situations

1. 1 Dress warmly. Heat loss is the main head of the body's energy expenditure. If you dress warmly, you can slow down your metabolism. When you are cold, your body raises unbound proteins in your cells, which interferes with the production of ATP, which causes heat instead of energy to be generated from the food you eat.
   • In such a situation, the amount of thyroid hormone also increases, which can serve to produce unbound proteins.Generally speaking, thyroid hormone is the “main regulator of metabolic rate”, representing at least ½ of this value. representing about one-half of the BMR.
2. 2 If you are not alone, then snuggle up to other people. Find the warmest spot you can, or build a shelter if you're outdoors.
3. 3 Lie down. Everything you do burns calories, even picking up sticks or rolling rocks off the road. After exercise, the metabolic rate increases and remains so for a certain time, even if you are already resting. Each kilometer traveled burns about 40 calories, not to mention other causes of increased metabolism. Try to sleep if possible.
4. 4 Don't drink cold water or eat snow. Your body will need energy to heat such water, and this energy could be much more useful to you for other, more important purposes - for example, for hunting.

Tips

• No caffeine! It is a stimulant that makes the heart beat faster and the metabolism accelerates.
• Keep warm, but don't overheat. There should be room under your clothing for air circulation. Overheating will cause you to sweat, your body will burn even more calories, in other words, it will be the same as if you were in the cold.
• Try to relax. Yes, the situation can be frightening, but stress will only exacerbate your situation and burn extra calories. In addition, stress increases levels of adrenaline and thyroxine, two hormones that significantly speed up metabolism. The reaction is like "pan-or-go", you know.
• Remember that the best temperature for conserving energy, not too hot or cold, is usually in the range of 24 to 27 Celsius. It is known that already at 20-22, the body begins to generate additional heat, which begins to speed up metabolism by 2-5%. At a temperature of 28-30 Celsius, a similar acceleration of metabolism is noted. In hot weather, the body does not produce less heat (this is regulated by the thyroid hormone, which the body produces at the same level), but, in fact, produces even more heat, which is caused by energy-consuming processes such as sweating. Reduce volume obligatory thermogenesisto make you feel cooler or conserve energy, the body cannot.
• For hyperthyroidism, potassium iodide (120-300 mg per day) should be taken. At one time, this was the only known chemical treatment for hyperthyroidism. With anti-thyroid medications, such as metamizole or propylthioracil, it may take several weeks to lower thyroid hormone levels. The thyroid gland contains many ready-made hormones that can be released into the blood at any time, even if the production of new hormones is difficult. Metamizole and propylthioracil do not block this mechanism, they only hinder the creation of new hormones. Potassium iodide, in turn, blocks everything and lowers the level of thyroid hormone to the state of “as if the thyroid was removed”, and within only 24 hours. Potassium iodide is able to quickly block the organization of iodide in the thyroid gland, which is why potassium iodide is used to protect the thyroid gland from radioactive damage by the isotope of iodine 131 at all kinds of nuclear facilities.
• Yes, the metabolic rate can be accelerated or slowed down, but everything has its limits. Yes, sleep lowers your metabolism, but only 5-10% more than just resting. Genetics is another important factor that is often overestimated. However, body composition also plays a role - tall and thin people lose heat more easily than stockier people. And those with more muscle mass are stronger and healthier, but also need more food - which is why men need more calories than women. Another factor out of control is age.Metabolism decreases with age, by about 2% in 10 years. This is why seniors require slightly fewer calories. There are also factors that do control metabolism (for example, ion guns), but which continue to be not fully understood by scientists. Another factor affecting metabolic rate is illness and menstrual periods.

Warnings

• If you have reduced your metabolism, but continue to get the same daily calorie intake, then you will gain weight. Given the slow metabolism, your body no longer needs so much food, which will lead to its deposition in the form of fat.