Ack, I think my metabolism is ...

Avatar for soleilune
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Ack, I think my metabolism is ...
6
Wed, 02-16-2005 - 6:24pm

...bottoming out. I'm so active it always been hard to balance out my caloric intake & output. When I'm heavy into my schedule I always seem to put on a little fat. I thought lately that I might be putting on a little insulation in the past few weeks, but thought it might be my imagination, but lo and behold, I saw today at work that I'm definitely redeveloping dimples on my butt & upper thighs. I can handle a putting on a few pounds, especially given that most folks seem to thinking I've gotten to thin, but did it have to be in the form of cellulite? :-P I know, I know... wah, wah, wah. ;-) It's hard though not to start thinking about calories & thinking I should be cutting them back when I KNOW the problem is that my metabolism is slowing because I can't keep up w/ my caloric requirements. As someone that doesn't eat animals or refined/processed food its tough to consume the close to 3000 cal. I should be getting. Time to make like a squirrel and start hoarding nuts. It just goes it goes against all the conditioning we, as women in North American society (& mine personally as a dancer), have received to try to eat more when I'm putting on fat.

(I can't believe I just complained about this, but I've been obsessing & figured voicing it would help regain my objectivity. Must be low blood sugar making me so irrational but I'm better now. ;->)

Soleilune
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Wed, 02-16-2005 - 8:04pm
You're thinking the same thing I was--nuts, nuts, nuts, and everything drizzled in olive oil.





iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Thu, 02-17-2005 - 10:12am

i don't get it, since you aren't trying to lose weight, why not just let your metabolism slow a little bit, so you WON'T have to eat so much? then you can stay the same size and just not eat as much. maybe this is just your body trying to normalize itself at a more realistic balance, you know like a pendulum swinging before it comes to rest?


you know, some people think that, all other things being equal, our bodies are better off with eating fewer calories. i'm not sure why that would be, maybe we all only have a limited amount of metabolizing our "engines" can do, and when we put too many miles on the "engine" we age and die? i don't know if i agree, but slowing down the engine sure seems more convenient than trying to fit in so many calories per day.

Avatar for soleilune
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 02-17-2005 - 3:37pm
Ah, yes... extra virgin olive oil and I have become very close friends in the past year. It was tough at first after years of 'watch the fat' mantra going through my head, but it's not total fat that has to be watched, its type. And nuts, I keep a good variety of nuts & seeds on hand to throw on salads, rice, sometimes pasta & soup and most of my baking.
Soleilune
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 02-17-2005 - 4:34pm

I'm not terribly worried about my metabolism right now, its just that the reappearance of my saddlebags, in all their dimpled glory, is, well... icky. ;-p At this point in time I really don't worry about my metabolism or how much fat I have since my metabolism was so screwed up for so long and has only stabilized in the past year or so. I do know I need to eat more calories though. I have worked out my caloric needs 2 other ways after thinking Fitday was overestimating (they were actually pretty close). Everything indicated I need a minimum of almost 2500 cal. and a max. of around 3000. When I was eating lots of nuts/nut butters and adding moderate amounts of olive oil to everything I averaged between almost 2000 - 2500 cal./day. I felt great, full of energy, my mind & spirit clean & clear. Over the past month & a half, I have not only slacked off in the fat consumption but have been eating tons of bread (even have coffee on occasion :-< ) and have become lethargic, achy and fuzzy-headed as well fattening up - relatively speaking that is. I tracked my calories for a short while and discovered I'd been consuming 1700 - 2200. On a very rare occasion I might manage a little over 2400 cal. but those were days when I'd made a couple wraps w/ lots of avocado & pigged out on chocolate too. I wasn't eating as cleanly either so I think that's a factor too. I cleaned things up starting a few days ago & am already feeling a little more 'together'.

It really not a big thing, but I still manage enough vanity to be mildly disgusted by all that 'cottage cheese' and by some little part of the brain saying, "Ooh, I see some fat in the mirror, it must be time to cut some calories". Believing that all things serve a purpose I think ultimately that the cellulite is a good thing because it forced me to re-evaluate my diet and realize I was eating too much of the same foods and not cleanly enough (I know its just fat and its dimply because of the flesh over it being more fibrous, but I always associate w/ a build of toxins in the body). I got away from eating intuitively. If I listen to my body it tells me what it needs and how much (calorie-wise - when I eat nuts and other calorically >sic?< dense foods I eat less in volume and vice versa). I got so busy that I reverted to eating quick to prepare or ready made 'comfort' foods and my body has rebelled in a number of ways. So, now I've had my wake up call and vented I'm feeling much more objective.

Gosh, I hope folks are wrong about having a finite number of miles we can put on the metabolic engine or my days are numbered. ;-) When my metabolism slows I feel like an adle-brained slug.

Thanks for hearing me out - vain & silly as I've been. It seems that just voicing things aloud (so to speak), bring issues back into perspective.

Soleilune
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Thu, 02-17-2005 - 4:56pm
i don't think you sound silly, though i do wish
Avatar for soleilune
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 02-17-2005 - 5:31pm

Definitely. I was having ww bread or bagels w/ regular PB (read: added sugar & oil) for breakfast almost everyday and often as a bedtime snack too, as well as multigrain/seed bread (that had white flour in it - which I never eat) w/ bruschetta as an afternoon snack. On top of that were tofu dogs (ww/ bun) AND I was on a brand name (read: not organic, w/ lots of yummy preservatives & trans-fats) tortilla chips and store bought salsa.

People wishing they were in my shoes is part of why I felt silly. I've always liked to think I was a regular, average gal, no different than everyone I meet until recently (always believed this was one of strong points as a health/fitness pro). Someone brought to my attention that I'm the equivalent of an pro athlete. I'm the person I've been telling people not to compare themselves to for years (pro/competitive athletes; fitness models, etc.). I could eat just about anything I want if it weren't for the fact that I need to make wholesome, natural choices so my body doesn't break down; I don't have to find time in a busy schedule to exercise; although my BF% fluctuates my weight never goes up more than 5 lbs. anymore and on the downside of my 30s I'm the fittest/healthiest & leanest I've been in my life. So complaining about a little cellulite seems silly, but I'm only human & still just like everyone else on the inside. :-)

Soleilune