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It’s also probably going to save you a lot of money because the truth is anyone who has some pill or potion to sell you that will wake up your dormant metabolism is just trying to rip you off.

When we think about metabolism we might think of that one friend who seems to be able to pound back burgers and pizza every single day, and yet they never seem to gain weight.

Whereas others of us so much as look at a tub of ice cream and we gain weight.

This can be a really stressful thing to think about because if our metabolism is damaged or broken then that’s going to make weight loss really hard for us, right?

First thing’s first - take a breather.


Here’s the truth.

Most of the things people think are impacting their metabolism - like hormones and age and gender - are either:

- Not impacting their metabolism as much as they think, or

- Not impacting their metabolism at all.

Hormonal imbalances and metabolic disorders definitely exist - and they absolutely can make weight loss harder for some people.

But for the vast majority of us - worrying about our metabolism is missing the forest for the trees. 

It’s like trying to put out a fire with a protein shaker rather than getting the garden hose and calling the fire department.

I’ve been there..

If you read this article until the end, you’ll know exactly what the hell your metabolism even is, and why most of the things silly influencers post online are complete and utter horse shit.

To get the ball rolling:

Your Metabolism isn’t a lawnmower… You can’t “kickstart” it. Unfortunately.

❌ Not with apple cider vinegar,

❌ Not with lemon water,

❌ Not with eating 6 small meals per day, and

❌ Certainly not with detox teas or juice cleanses.

Your metabolism is:

✅ All of the ways you burn calories each and every day.

You burn around 70% of your calories doing absolutely nothing - that’s your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and you would burn this amount even if you were in a coma because maintaining all of the processes which keep you alive takes energy.

About 15% is burnt through non-exercise activity (NEAT) like cleaning the house or maybe holding up your phone to watch this video - nice one.

10% of your calories are burnt through the thermic effect of food (TEF) which is the energy required to digest and absorb food.

That leaves you with around 5% which is the amount of calories you burn doing exercise (EAT). Not very much, is it?

Now there are some factors which affect the total size of the pie - like genetics, age, gender and medical conditions.

But you can’t control many of those things.

For example someone who is 7’2 will - all else being equal - have a higher metabolic rate than someone who is 5’1.

The larger body requires more energy to function.

But just because you weren’t born to play in the NBA doesn’t mean you can’t lose weight, get stronger, build muscle and get the body you want.

Whilst there are some things you can’t control - like your age, gender and proclivity to metabolic conditions… You still have full control over the weight loss process.

Think of it like this:

You can’t control the size of the pie, but you can control the size of each individual slice.

Spoiler alert - we don’t do that with detox teas.


Here’s how we improve your metabolism for real:

#1: Build more muscle. 

The heavier you are, the faster your metabolism will be. You’ll burn more calories - even at rest.

Now you could increase your weight by gaining fat - but I’m going to assume that’s probably not your goal if you’re watching this - so instead you’re going to build muscle.

You want to train with weights 3 to 5 times per week. I’m not going to turn this into a strength training video - in fact if you want a free strength training programme based on your goals - click here.

But you need to build more muscle.

Now, many people don’t like the idea of building muscle because they don’t want to look too bulky.

As someone who has dedicated nearly half their life to trying to get too bulky - take it from me - you won’t accidentally become a Mr Olympia overnight.

If you get to the point where you’re happy with your muscle, awesome! You can simply maintain from there.

Saying you don’t want to lift weights because you don’t want to get too bulky…

Is kind of like never getting your driver's license just in case you accidentally become a Formula 1 Driver.

Don’t worry - it’s not going to happen.

Now it is true that every kilogram of muscle added doesn’t burn that many calories. Around 12 calories per day, to be precise.

It doesn’t sound like much - but here’s the thing.

Having more muscle allows you to be stronger, more active and energized throughout the day.

Remember how non-exercise activity made up around 15% of your total calories burnt each day?

Who do you think burns more calories in their everyday life - the jacked personal trainer who’s been strength training for years… Or the frail office worker who spends their entire day sitting down.

And that leads us to the next way to improve your metabolism…

It ain’t lemon water…

#2: Be More Active. 

Think back to when you were in school - we all knew that one kid who just could not sit still. Constantly fidgeting. Running up and down the stairs. Tapping on the desk. Pissing off all the teachers. It’s like their parents were feeding them pre-workout for breakfast!

That kid had a very high NEAT (non-exercise activity). They might have burned hundreds of calories more than other kids who were the same age, some the same gender, some even with the same metabolism otherwise.

So whilst you probably don’t want to morph yourself into that annoying kid from school - you can focus on increasing your activity.

This is especially true if you work a sedentary job like in an office, drive to work, then come home and sit on the couch until you go to lie in bed.

Your activity is very low and it’s your responsibility to increase that.

You can try taking the stairs instead of the lift and parking further away from the shop but those things are really quite trivial.

The magic comes in the daily walks. 

Not only is this a great way to get your activity up, lubricate your joints and burn some calories - all good things for your physical health.

It’s also a great thing for your mental health. Listen to a new podcast, audiobook or your favourite music. Connect with a friend or loved one.

Now we’ve talked in the past about how exercise isn’t great for fat loss. And the truth is when we think about how many calories we are burning in just one daily walk - it’s not dramatic.

We always use nutrition first to create the deficit for fat loss.

But when we’re making the call between reducing calories or simply adding in a daily walk - because of all of the extra positives you’re going to get out of that habit - we should really be treating this as a minimum requirement - if not for fat loss, then simply for our health overall.

Speaking of nutrition, we can use nutrition to improve our metabolism - but maybe not in the way you might think.

#3: Eat More Protein.

Protein is the macronutrient which has the highest thermic effect of food (TEF).

Remember how TEF accounts for roughly 10% of our daily calories burnt?

The TEF for protein is around 10%. That means 10% of the calories consumed via protein actually get burnt up via digestion and absorption.

That’s why protein is critical during a dieting phase.

Now it is possible to overdo it on the protein - and trust me your toilet will know all about it. 

So opting for somewhere between 1.2-2.2g per kilogram or 0.5-1g per pound of your bodyweight in protein is a great starting point.

If you care about maximising muscle growth - which you should, remember - you want to be upwards of 1.6g per kg or 0.8g per pound.

If you’re already very lean, you might want to consider going up to that 2g/kg or 1g/pound mark.

If you’ve got a decent amount of fat to lose, 1.6g/kg or 0.8g/pound is plenty.


What about metabolic adaptation?

Isn’t it true that if you reduce your calories then your body stops burning as many calories in response and you get stuck and can’t lose weight?

What about starvation mode?

We’ll cover starvation mode in another article because that’s a whole myth in and of itself - the TLDR is: It’s a complete myth.

But metabolic adaptation is a real thing. 

The thing is - it’s completely normal and it’s not something you really need to worry about.

As you diet, you lose weight which reduces your BMR.

That’s one slice of the pie.

You also need to eat less food to be in a calorie deficit, so your TEF goes down, too.

Two slices of the pie.

People experience dieting differently but some people will gravitate towards naturally being less active throughout the day.

They’ll be less inclined to take the trash out and do the chores, and more inclined to sit on the couch all day.

That’s your NEAT falling, too and now we’re at three slices of the pie.

What happens to your exercise depends on what you do. If you’re more inclined to be less active when dieting then you’ll probably see a small reduction in calories burnt throughout your exercise.

But people do tend to add cardio in to facilitate fat loss so this might actually remain the same, or even increase to offset some of the losses from elsewhere.

All of this is normal and predictable, though.

Remember how that 5’ person didn’t burn as many calories as that 7’2 giant? That’s not just because of their height - it’s because of their weight, too (lean body mass, to be precise - which is everything in the body that’s not fat tissue).

The good news is many of the negative metabolic adaptations we experience in dieting like reduced activity come back when we end the diet and come back up to maintenance.

Extraordinarily aggressive dieting might result in chronic adaptations - we’re talking Biggest Loser level suffering, here.

Most people don’t lose weight nearly as quickly as the contestants on that show - even if it feels like it.

So think of metabolic adaptation as a good thing because it means you’ve successfully lost weight.

Just be wary of getting too lean when the pros no longer outweigh the cons unless your goal is to be a pro bodybuilder.

And that… Is everything you need to know about your metabolism.

So where to from here?

Use this information to help you ward off the bullshit claims you see online and remember the only thing you need to manage in order to lose fat is your calories. 

For reading this far, I want to invite you to download our Don’t Know What To Eat To Lose Fat guide. 

Because whilst you can’t completely accurately track the ‘calories out’ side of the equation - your metabolism - you can track the ‘calories in’ side - everything you eat.

To get your copy of the guide simply join our private community - Fat Loss Hacks for Frustrated Dieters. We post information just like this every day and it’s completely free to join.

I’ll see you on the inside!




Coach Vaughan Burrell