The Metabolic Factor
When we stop seeing results from our eating and exercising, we eat less and exercise more. If you or someone who know has this same formula stuck in their head, well then I am about to blow your mind. There is a reason your body is resisting to the work and nutrients you are (or are not) giving it. There is a reason. Stick with me – it will change your life.
Are you familiar with what a metabolic burner type is? I was not aware until about a year or so ago, when I was sick and tired of putting in the hard work and not seeing results I was hoping for. I had been following a plan that was supposed to increase my strength and trim me up. 6 months later, it seemed like I had to up my workouts, up my cardio and lessen my food intake and what for? To look exactly the same. Through educating myself and remembering what I have been taught in the past that it sounded like my body was reacting the quite opposite to what, on paper, seemed like it was supposed to do.
Turns out my body doesn’t like stress, but who’s doesn’t? What I mean by this is that my body was already stressed and my working out and cutting calories I was adding more unwanted stress to it, so literally, my body was eating its muscle because it didn’t have enough energy (carbohydrates) it needed from food to burn fat.
It is finding your metabolic burner type that the answer to your problem, contrary to what you believed before reading this article.
Yes, I know, tell us what it is already!
Metabolic burner types is, the theory that our bodies are always either storing fat or burning fat, which depends on multiple factors. But the key to understanding your metabolic burner type is to decipher how to get your body burning fat over sugar or muscle for fuel. Without having access to proper metabolic testing, it can be tricky to figure out your type with any kind of certainty, but there are a few key traits that can point you in the right direction by using this questionnaire.
SweatBlock
You are either a muscle burner, sugar burner or a mixed burner.
When I found out I was a sugar burner, I immediately was ecstatic. Um actually, yeah I should have felt quite the opposite. Below I break down what each of the burners means, which will help you figure out what to do for your own metabolic burner type.
Muscle Burner – This is typically someone that has been called ‘skinny fat’ before. They are the ones that appear to be super small but really their composure is made up of mostly fat.
Muscle burners typically forget to eat and burn up protein from their own muscle tissue via gluconeogenesis. Who forgets to eat? I wish I had that problem… Ugh! Anyway, this process is triggered by a higher protein diet and stress. Muscle burners have higher resting levels of cortisol in their blood. It is important to have regular stress reduction activities and include a little more carbohydrates into their diets without there being too much present. A little experimentation on how many carbohydrates is best for you will have to occur before your see your body adapting properly.
If you think you are a muscle burner, don’t skip meals, don’t do accessive cardio, and definitely, don’t ‘eat less and exercise more’.
The Paleohacks Blog
Sugar Burner – Sugar burners do just that, they burn sugar. This means that when carbohydrates are present in their diet, they’re far more likely to store fat. On the bad side of the scale it means, they’re also more prone to insulin resistance, which contributes to high blood sugar and Type 2 Diabetes. They typically look like very dense overweight people, but in reality could very well not be. Since they are sugar burners, they tend to put on weight easily and are hungry pretty quickly after they eat.
The key to a sugar burner is controlling their carbs, as well as sticking to a low-sugar and high protein diet – the good ol’ ‘lean and clean’ mentality!
Saltwater Fit
Mixed Burner – They are just that – a mixed bad. They can shift from being a sugar burning to being a muscle burner and vice versa. Their body with shift to one or the other depending on their carbohydrate intake, stress levels, skipping meals, being lazy, over exercising, etc.
The key for a mixed burner is to pay attention to your physical activity and stress. If you aren’t that active, lower your carbohydrates. If you are overly stressed or more active increase your carbohydrates. The shifts in carbohydrates shouldn’t be drastic and you should maintain a healthy balance of protein and healthy fats too!
Have you heard of metabolic burner types before? Which type do you think you are and what has been helpful for you?
