i've read that many of you say you have a "compromised" (or damaged, etc) metabolism. some of you say that it's from yo-yo dieting over the years ...
what exactly does a compromised metabolism mean?
how does one damage or ruin his/her metabolism?
how do you know if yours is not working up to par (aside from not being able to lose weight)?
thanks!

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Carrie
SBD since 9/12/2005
Re-started 5/8/2006
My new journal: Just Breathe

good question! Hope someone has an answer. I've wondered why some are lucky enough to have a high metabolism while others, like me, have such a low one it may as well be non existant.

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In the cookies of life, we are the chocolate chips.

Hmm... I will do my best here...

I believe that this would mean that the person's body does not use as much energy as it could be using. In other words it has become very efficient with calories and energy, making it harder to loose.

Typical example would be someone who tried Atkins a year or two ago, and lost far more weight than they are loosing during their second time around.

Eating low calorie for too long can do it. This will make the body "learn" to use the calories as efficiently as possible. The same rule applies to reducing carbs too low for too long, ie. staying at 20 grams for 6 months or so would make the body use carbs more efficiently. There is also the thyroid, which produces hormones that regulate the overall metabolic level of the body. If it is damaged or surgically removed, the person will generally have great difficulty loosing weight.


Umm....

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Started Atkins on 9/20/03
235-->190; 150 goal

Yup. And then there are those of us who, by virtue of genes or an extended period of obesity (or both) have impaired our metabolism to the point of type II diabetes, or pre-diabetes, or "syndrome X" / "metabolic syndrome."

It's not clear that a metabolism that much out of kilter can be "reversed", but it certainly appears that it can be controlled with a low or controlled carb way of eating.

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Maybe "damaged" or "compromised" aren't necessarily the right words to describe it.

If you diet long enough, your metabolism will change in some way. Your body tries to adjust to your new eating habits, which is the way your body should work. That might interfere to some degree with your plan to lose weight as quickly as you'd like, but that doesn't mean you have harmed yourself at all.

There are actually some benefits to having a lower metabolism. There's an old book called The Two 120 Year Diet by Roy Walford that describes a low-calorie diet that slows the metabolism down for health benefits -- in this case, to extend lifespan. To the people following that diet plan, a slower metabolism is cool.

Likewise, for those of us that are low-carbing, cutting carbs seems to make our body learn to process our carbs more effectively. That can provide health benefits like less insulin resistance. I think it's the insulin resistance that gives some of us such a rapid weight-loss the first time we do low-carb. You gotta sneak up on that old pancreas and wallop it with a low-carb diet when it's not looking to get the fastest results.

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"And so, in my State of the—my State of the Union—or state—my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation—I asked Americans to give 4,000 years—4,000 hours over the next—the rest of your life—of service to America. That's what I asked—4,000 hours."