Proven Methods to Increase Metabolism

[gbrice75]

Girly, I believe that eating every 2 hours can get your metabolism running properly again. I did this years ago (my metabolism sucked), eating every 2hrs and taking a digestive enzyme. It will be interesting to read the more recent article as well

I don't mean to 'burst your bubble', but it's been proven beyond a doubt that meal frequency has zero bearing on metabolism. Basically, if you consume 2000 calories (for instance) over the course of 7 meals eaten every 2 hours, or 3 meals eaten every 6, your body has 2000 calories to metabolize. The whole 'stoking the metabolic flame' or 'feeding the furnace' analogies were good ones and seemed to make sense from a logical standpoint - but they're simply incorrect.

I suspect the 'smaller frequent meals' mantra came about as more of a way to help people control their calories. i.e. people who tend to overeat wouldn't be able to do so with smaller portions eaten more often. Also, in theory they'd be less hungry, and less likely to snack in between meals when another meal was a mere couple hours away.

Don't take that to mean there's anything wrong with eating smaller more frequent meals; there's not. I've eaten that way, and a huge portion of the bodybuilding community does too (although a huge portion of the bodybuilding community are idiots, so take that for what it's worth lol), but it's not necessary in order to 'speed up' metabolism.

Other than drugs and exercise, there really is no way to speed it up as it's essentially dictated by genetics.

Gbrice, can you point me towards a thread with a sample carb cycling diet, more on refeeds etc? I'm sure you have something on here

I know your journal has a wealth of info, but something basic for a 'newbie' to grasp

I'll repost the carb cycle i'm doing now and you can check it out in my thread.

[twitz]

I don't mean to 'burst your bubble', but it's been proven beyond a doubt that meal frequency has zero bearing on metabolism. Basically, if you consume 2000 calories (for instance) over the course of 7 meals eaten every 2 hours, or 3 meals eaten every 6, your body has 2000 calories to metabolize. The whole 'stoking the metabolic flame' or 'feeding the furnace' analogies were good ones and seemed to make sense from a logical standpoint - but they're simply incorrect.

That's the analogy I used to use a lot 'feeding the furnance'. So basically, as long as you are hitting your daily marcos for your goal, it doesn't matter if you are eating 8 meals every 2 hours, or 2 meals in an 8 hour window (IF/leangains).

[/QUOTE]Other than drugs and exercise, there really is no way to speed it up as it's essentially dictated by genetics.[/QUOTE]

And carb cycling, right?

[/QUOTE]I'll repost the carb cycle i'm doing now and you can check it out in my thread. [/QUOTE]

Thanks Gbrice

[gbrice75]

That's the analogy I used to use a lot 'feeding the furnance'. So basically, as long as you are hitting your daily marcos for your goal, it doesn't matter if you are eating 8 meals every 2 hours, or 2 meals in an 8 hour window (IF/leangains).

Don't feel bad, I did too. That's the great thing about this sport... as new technologies and science becomes available, we learn new things and old theories that were taken as gospel are disproven. Hey, they thought the world was flat once too, right!?

Basically, yea. Larger meals will simply take longer to digest. My advice to people nowadays is to do what best suits them and fits their lifestyle. Some people enjoy eating more frequently, and I say go for it. Others enjoy a few smaller 'snacks' (by snacks, I still mean a proper meal but snack size) with one large meal at the end of the day, and that's fine too.

Currently, i'm eating 4 meals/day plus a PWO shake. I may drop it to 3 meals so I can make them bigger. I enjoy feeling full. I do NOT enjoy grazing all day... makes me miserable, and I'm constantly thinking about food and the next meal. Satiation is huge with me, lol!

And carb cycling, right?

Haha!! Well, kind of. Dieting (i.e. hypocaloric, low carb) for even a short time has a negative impact on many bodily functions, metabolic processes being one. However, it's necessary to lose bodyfat, plain and simple. Lesser of 2 evils I guess. But with carb/calorie cycling, we can counter this negative impact and give our bodies a chance to recover, and possibly even grow a bit.

Thanks Gbrice

Anytime!