A decreased metabolic rate can make it difficult to lose weight. Why?

One of the most difficult parts of the diet is maintaining the ideal body weight that has been reached. Not infrequently, after losing for a few weeks, weight can come back up quickly. The cause could be from a slower metabolic rate with weight loss.

Why is that and how to avoid it?

Why does losing weight slow down the metabolic rate?

Certain types of strict diets, especially those that emphasize reducing calorie intake and drastic weight loss, can lower the body's metabolic rate. Metabolism itself is the body's process of processing incoming nutrients into energy sources.

When experiencing weight loss, the body is forced to break down the energy reserves contained in the muscles so that muscle mass decreases and body weight decreases. Body weight is related to metabolic rate. Due to decreased body weight, the metabolic rate becomes slower.

In addition, the body will also implement self-protection mechanisms when experiencing massive weight loss. One way is to convey hunger signals from the brain to the rest of the body so that the amount of energy burned is also reduced.

How to increase your metabolic rate when you lose weight

Regulating metabolism is not easy, but you can work around this by adjusting your diet, lifestyle, and the amount of energy burned from physical activity. Here are a few things you can try.

1. Do high intensity exercise

High intensity exercise helps increase metabolism because this type of exercise involves fast and intense body movements. Not only that, high-intensity exercise is also considered to be more effective at burning fat.

2. Do aerobic activities

Aerobic activity is one of the most effective ways to burn energy. Try some aerobic activity such as walking, swimming, or cycling for 30 minutes. Do it 5 days a week, and don't forget to give a 10 minute break in each activity.

3. Do strength sports

Building muscle mass will help increase your metabolic rate. In order to gain large muscle mass, you can do sports that involve the strength of the chest, stomach, shoulders and leg muscles. One type of exercise that you can do is lifting weights.

4. Drink more

Drinking water, especially cold water, can help increase your metabolism over a period of time. This is supported by several studies which have found that drinking 500 mL of water can increase the metabolic rate by 10-30% for one hour.

5. Eat spicy and drink tea

Several types of food and drink are believed to increase the metabolic rate. Green tea can increase metabolism by 4-5 percent, while oolong tea can increase metabolism and fat burning by 10-17 percent.

Consuming coffee and spicy food is also believed to increase metabolism. However, this is not very effective and still needs further research.

Metabolic rate plays an important role in maintaining a stable body weight. Even though your metabolism cannot be fully controlled, the various tips above can help you keep your metabolism from going down when your body loses weight.

That way, you can still go on your diet effectively without worrying that your weight will come back up.