How Metabolism Affects Your Weight

This month here with me is going to be all about METABOLISM - because, for us ladies, it's a BIG deal! Did you know that our period and changing weekly hormones actually has a small, but SIGNIFICANT influence on our metabolism, meaning that during different times of our cycle, we actually do require more calories (hence the hunger before our period starts)!

‍‍‍Metabolism is the chemical procedure carried out by the body when it converts the food you eat (or the fat that your body has stored) into energy.

Even if you are lying very still, the body requires an energy source to keep all its involuntary functions going. Every process in the body, including thinking, will burn calories. It is a small cost but in biological terms, it counts. 

This is particularly true during sleep when the body is making all of the repairs and replacing cells that have become too damaged or weak to go on.

During these rest periods, the food or fat your body has collected is converted into its most basic parts to be used to nourish the body and build new cells.

When we consume more calories than our body needs to complete these basic functions, we store it as fat for future use.

This means that if you're not getting good quality sleep every single night, your metabolism is going to slow down significantly and leave you feeling sluggish, hungry, gaining weight, and unhappy.

Because our Thyroid hormones and metabolism are so closely interrelated, it also means that you're more likely to have thyroid hormone imbalances and this can cause problems with your period too! You may end up with irregular cycles, PMS mood swings, heavy bleeding, more acne and bloating, and more.

During the different weeks of our periods, our metabolism changes and looks a little something like this:

Week 1 (active bleeding): slowing metabolism means we don't need to eat as many calories to meet these basic needs
Week 2: slowest metabolism means we need the least amount of calories to feel great
Week 3: speeding up metabolism during ovulation - our appetite may start to increase during this time
Week 4: fastest metabolism in the week before your period - we'll be hungry all of the time!

But there are some simple ways to manage these fluctuations from month to month!

1) Prioritize your sleep! If you're needing some help, check out these 15 Ideas to Better Sleep!

2) Eat these 5 Foods to Boost Your Metabolism Naturally to keep your metabolism revved up even when you're not working!

3) Learn how to Cycle Syncing for Hormonal Bliss!