Dietitian shares 4 things you need to do to reset your metabolism

Discover how you can reset your metabolism with our accredited dietitian, Erin Miller.  

Erin shares practical tips to boost metabolism, including strength training twice a week, maintaining a diverse diet with protein-rich meals, and avoiding long fasting periods.

Erin highlights the importance of hydration, sleep, and stress management.

She also recommends a 7-day metabolism reset plan with regular meals, protein intake, and daily movement. Erin stresses that muscle is key to fat burning and maintaining a strong metabolism.

Action Items

• Implement one practical tip this week to support your metabolism.
  
• Try the 7-day metabolism reset plan outlined below.
  
• Focus on strength training and daily movement   
• Prioritise protein, fibre, and healthy fats in your meals and snacks.
  
• Manage stress levels through techniques like breathing, walking, and journaling.
  
• Prioritise sleep

Dietitian shares 4 things you need to do to reset your metabolism

We often find that as we age, we're eating the same things, we're still exercising as much as we can, but it's just a little bit harder for us to lose those extra kilos that we used to find quite easy to shift.

So that comes down to your metabolism. Let’s look at why your metabolism tends to slow down as we get older or as we age and how muscle mass keeps your metabolism strong PLUS some practical tips, including diet and lifestyle to support the reset of your metabolism and trying to keep it pretty flexible.

Musle loss - Every decade after the age of 30, we do find that we do have a muscle loss of about 3-8%.

So, that means fewer calories are being burned when we're at rest, the more muscle that we have, the more muscle that we've gained at rest, that's going to help to support our metabolism and help to burn our calories or our fat stores.

So if we've got this deficit, you've got to think after the age of 30, things are working a little bit harder for our body to break down those stores.

Then we talk about hormonal changes. So, estrogen and testosterone will decline. Our thyroid function sometimes tends to have a little bit of a dip or quite sluggish. That can also impact our metabolic rate and the metabolic processes. We can also look at mitochondrial slow down.

So mitochondria are energy factories. So they're not working as efficient as they used to be. So we can become quite sluggish with energy output because of these little factories, that output isn't working as well as it should be. It's still functioning, but it's just getting a little bit tired and sluggish.

Lifestyle - Then we look at our lifestyle. You know, we're still busy, we're still running around, but are we sitting a little bit more? Are we more sedentary at time? Because we do have that lack of energy.

So it's looking at the activities that we're doing. Is it the same type? Can we mix it up? Can we add diversity?

Sleep is a big thing as well, that's going to support our metabolism.

So we know as we get older, our sleep and our rhythm will change. So if you're not having as a good rest or as a good sleep as you normally have the night before.

Stress - And we can look at stress factors as well.

So we know the connection between higher or constant level of stress looks at inflammation and then inflammation impacts that ability to lose weight because of the cortisol or the hormone response is there. If there is that constant level of stress response it's making your body harder to shift kilos quicker.

Tips to support your metabolism

When we look at some practical tips to slow down the decline and do some strength-based training at least twice a week.

So we're talking about resistance training or strength, so weight upon your own body weight.

Pump classes, reformer pilates, circuits that include a whole diversity of different body parts and movements.

So what can you be doing every week, at least a couple of times a week, looking at your weekly routine. I understand that things change and with different dynamics of life.

But it's amazing once you start to prioritise and put non-negotiable days in place for your activity. How much you can actually get into this beautiful rhythm and being excited to actually exercise, cuz we know if I'm exercising, that's a supporting my physical health, my mental health. It's also supporting my metabolism.

When I'm resting or I'm back in the office and doing work, If I've done some activity in the morning and really put some strength training into place, at rest, my body's actually supporting me to burn my fat stores, which I think is a really good bonus. Keeping it active daily.

How can we do some extra movement? I'm talking about steps, chores, gardening, parking my car a little bit further away at the shops, or at work for the day, so I can get those extra steps in. We're talking about 10,000 plus a day would be ideal. That can also include my extra activity that I might start doing.

Prioritising protein at meals

When we talk about protein foods, that's going to be your meat, your chicken, your fish, lamb, turkey, your eggs, leggings, chickpeas, kidney beans, um black beans, lentils as well, low fat dairy.  

Why do we prioritise protein? Because if we're going more for our salads and our grain carbohydrates first, that is going to tend to fill us up, and then we're not going to tend to eat or sometimes finish that protein foods.

So prioritise it as in eat it first of the meal. That can actually enable us to have that feeling of fullness as well. So that supports that feeling of satiety, the feeling of fullness.

But then I know okay, I've got that protein in, that's prioritizing my muscles. Then I go for the fibre, that's going to be my different types of salad or vegetable mix. Then I go for that grain type of carbohydrate. Be it my quinoa, my brown rice, wild rice, um a whole meal pasta mix, a little bit of sweet potato, or a bit of grain bread, or a grain wrap. So you've got this beautiful flow of your main macro nutrients there as well.

Avoid longer fasting periods

I think this is a thing that we can get quite confused about as well in terms of that intermittent fasting, which you know has its roles to play, but when I talk about metabolism, when we've got larger periods of time in between a meal or a snack, that's then slowing down your body's ability to burn its fat stores.

So yes, it's lovely to rest your digestive system and not feel like you're eating all the time, but if I was to eat my breakfast at 7:00 and then really nothing until 2:00 in the afternoon my body's going to freak. Erin hasn't fed me since 7:00 in the morning. I'm going to store whatever she's going to eat next. So that 2:00 meal and probably I'm hungry. I'm going to probably overeat and then that larger bowl of food is then working so much harder in my system to digest and break down. So that's slowing down the rev of my body burning.

Whereas if I had small regular little bit, so food, say 3 hours in between, for example. That's going to help to keep my energy systems flowing and quite active. So it's got this beautiful flow effect that is preventing me going up and down, up and down and probably then craving something over eating, or eating a larger meal when I get capacity.

When we talk about diet focus, so eat an enough. Don't under eat. We see a lot of calorie restriction and severe calorie restriction can slow down your metabolism further.

Try to have that support system in place of going, can I eat a little bit? Spread it out? Where's my protein? Where's my grain carbohydrates? We can talk about healthy fats as well. So, build putting those muscles around healthy fats can also support your metabolism. 

Healthy fats

When I mean healthy fats, that's going to be a little bit of an avocado, some unsalted nuts and seeds, some olive oil, maybe a nut butter. We can add that into our meal, as well as a palm size protein serve, and a good amount of fibre.

30 different plant types is going to be really powerful for your gut microbiome.

You want to help to support that blood sugar to be quite stable and steady. If we know that's kind of under control, then we can focus on what am I craving? Can I lower that down? Was it because I didn't eat well enough today?

Am I overeating at certain times, and then you'll be able to individualize and figure out where you're kind of going a little bit too much or a little bit too less.

Try to include iron and B vitamins in your eating plan. These are going to help to support your energy metabolism.

These are going to come from your animal-based product. or plant-based products that have got fortified iron in them as well. So your meat, your chicken, your tofu, legumes, green leafy veggies.

How can I improve my iron absorption?

I can add some vitamin C to my iron based meal, so my non-hem, so my non-animal based products. Squeeze a little bit of lemon. Cut up some orange and put it beside my meal of a night time, squeeze some orange over my veggies.

Try to really separate caffeine and calcium as well away from iron foods because they're really going to cross for absorption, they fight for absorption.

The mechanism behind this, the metabolic house is your muscle. So, muscle is going to burn more calories, three times, more calories, then fat at rest. So, let me repeat that.

Muscle burns three times more calories, then fat at rest. So, this goes back to what we were talking about before, trying to do some form of activity a couple of times a week that I know is going to help to support my muscles.

Movement!

Lunges, sit up, push up, little mini weights when you're walking. I don't care if you get like cans of chickpeas and doing weights while you're doing the kids' homework. Everything is going to be supporting to build your muscle and also help your skeletal system as well. Then we know it's going to help to burn the calories when you're at rest.

Muscle acts like sponges for blood sugar. So that's going to help to support your cravings, so reducing your cravings and it's going to stabilize your energy systems. So if we've got a good degree of muscle, that's going to help to stabilize our blood sugars. That's going to help that desire or that cravings to be changed as well, and then that's going to help to support our overall energy system.

When we look at hormonal boost. So, exercise boosts insulin sensitivity.

It can look at growth of hormones, testosterone, and then that can support a stronger metabolism as well. So, we know that exercise is a powerful thing.

It can help to circulate our insulin and our glucose through our body. It can support our hormonal system,  that's overall going to help a stronger metabolism.   

Strength training boosts your metabolism for 24-48 hours later. So, if I get up in the morning, kick start my day with a glass of water, have a nice breaky, hit the gym. I'm going to do a pump class, for example, so that's like full on weight, to rhythmic movement.

I know, that just that one half an hour or hour session is going to actually to help to support my metabolism and help to support burn my fat stores for up to 48 hours later.   

Figure out what you're doing at the moment, what type of activities are you doing at the moment, and how can I increase that muscle and that muscle diversity in terms of exercise.

Protein, protein, protein! 

So we talk about targeting protein as much as we can, but spread it out throughout the day. I tend to find that people just have protein at dinner. So think about aiming for 20-30 g per meal. So that's about that size of that hand.  

 So you might look at breakfast, boiled eggs in the morning, with some veggie sticks as a snack.

I might have an omelette for breaky or a protein smoothie, veggies in an egg for a morning tea, or some crackers with some low fat cheese. I might have some Greek yoghurt with some berries on top, make up a chia pudding, put some hemp seeds in my smoothie as well. Protein smoothie. milk, plant-based milk, a little bit of fruit, a little bit of nut butter, okay? Hummus with some grain crackers in the afternoon.

So, it's not just grabbing a packet of chips or a handful of lollies on the way because I'm starving.

It's actually going, how can I feel my body better and prioritize protein as well to ensure that my muscle integrity is still there.

Grab the Zing Wellbeing protein powder for an extra protein boost.

Carbs

Smart carbs are going to be important as well. So, we're going to pair whole all grain carbohydrates, like quinoa, brown rice, wild rice, oats, with protein to fuel, training, and recovery.

So, this is a really good way to think about it. So, when I'm looking at my meals, or even my snack ideas, where's my grain carbohydrate, and then where's my lean source of protein?

So, if we're thinking that way and really planning on our meals throughout the day, be in on a weekend, writing out a bit of a schedule.

It's a really smooth transition, so we're not gripping and confused and not eating at all, or over eating another type of food.

Omega 3s are going to be a really powerful source of protein, plus you've got to think it's going to help to support my inflammation in my system, lower my cortisol, I stress response as well, amazing for my brain and my vision and my cardiovascular health as well.

Little bit of salmon some walnuts, small scoop, they even look like a brain. walnuts, chia seeds, that's going to help to support that muscle recovery because it's going to help reduce the inflammation in my system. macrol, herring, sardines, white fish, a little bit of seafood, marinara.

So these are all beautiful things that you can be incorporating into your weekly routine.

Improve your metabolic flexibility

Daily hacks to improve your metabolic flexibility. So flexibility is being able to burn carbs or fat depending on what's available. So when we talk about some nutrition hacks here, let's look at protein for breakfast.

So we're going to go through a few more examples to give you some more guidance and to what you can implement at home. So you might do two boy eggs with a little bit of avocado.

Remember, those are good fats, but they're still a fat. So a quarter of a serve would be a really good idea. Or you could do some chia pudding with some protein powder and some berries.

The mechanism behind this, this is going to kick start your metabolism in the morning.

So it's going to help to balance your blood sugar, and it's going to help to reduce cravings. It's going to help you feel fuller for longer as well.

So if I know I'm going to hit the gym early, or I've got a very busy day of um work, instead of a skipping breakfast, because I'm not a priority.

I am a priority, and I'm not going to jeopardise my health. So, I'll boil up some eggs the night before, or I'll make a protein smoothie and I won't blend it yet. I'll leave it in the fridge for the morning, and then I'm ready to go to kick start my metabolism and to support my mental capacity to actually think that first thing in the day.

When I talk about balancing snacks, so remember that combination, a bit of fiber with the protein or a good fat. Slicing up some apple, putting a tablespoon of peanut butter, or a nut butter, um would be a really nice combination.

We might have some low fat cheese, cottage cheese is a really good one, or I might make up some protein balls on the weekend with a big combination of all different nuts and seeds.

Eat fibre daily

So, I it's my favorite topic of conversation, fibre, fibre, fibre I tell people to always be counting.

 Always be counting the amount of colour coming from salad and vegetables, and it's a really powerful thing to support your overall health and prevent disease prevention as well.

So, we're going to include lots of vegetables, and legumes, and whole grains throughout the day. The mechanism behind fiber is going to slow down your digestive system.

So, you're going to have this steady release of energy. It's going to support your gut bacteria, and then that is linked to your metabolism.  

Don’t skip meals

We've talked about trying not to skip any meals. So, that regular eating pattern is going to prevent an energy slump and it keeps your metabolism switched on.

Water

Make sure you're drinking enough water. I really find that some people have even said they're allergic to water, which kind of concerns me.

But you know, we look at how much fluid am I actually drinking, signs of dehydration, cracked lips, look at my skin. What color is my urine at the end of the day? What are my bowel movements doing? And we can lose up to that litre and a half a day, not necessarily even fully exercising, talking right now, I'm very thirsty.

So, 2 L would be ideal, and that can include your herbal tea, decaffinated tea, sparkling water.  

So, it just doesn't have to be water, water, water.   

How does fluid help my metabolism?

Even mild dehydration can lower the energy burn.

So, that's a good role of going, "Okay, I'm taking my water bottle with me. Everywhere I go, I've got one in the car, I've got one in my handbag, I've got one in clinic, cuz I know a that's going to help to filter the toxins through my body, but it's actually going to help to support my metabolism and enable my body to burn while I'm at rest.

Sleep

We're going to prioritise sleep. I actually can't urge this enough in terms of health outcomes. Um we know that that 7-8 hours be it is going to help to lower that co- cortisol level, that stress hormone, and that's going to keep our hunger hormones balanced.

If you're doing shift work, how can you fuel yourself throughout the night and the day, pretty evenly from a day a not a non-shift day.

Join Zing Wellbeing to take part in the 7 Day Sleep Program to improve your sleep habits.

Stress

Try and look at your stress levels and think of ways that we can support that stress relief. So, breathing exercises, doing some short walks, going for a light walk after dinner as well.

Journaling really helps. So, reducing that quarterfinals, that stress, that other is, otherwise drives that belly distribution of our fat stores as well.

Join the Stress reduction program with Zing Wellbeing. 

But how do I do it all!?!

How can we put all these things into place? It's got to be realistic. It's got to be individual. I can absolutely promote and say it all to you, and you could say well Erin, I'm just absolutely exhausted and I can't do anything that you said, or I could take away a few of those little tips and put them into reality for me.

And that's all I really want you to try and do. I can throw all the knowledge at you, but at the end of the day, if you're taking one thing away from this and trying to implement into your every day, that can be a really powerful thing.

7 day metabolism diet reset

So we're looking at eating every 3 hours.

Meals: Looking at breakfast, a snack, lunch, a snack, dinner, and I like to say just 3 hours in between meals.

7:00am for Breky, then by 10:00am I'm going to have a little snack, then by 1:00pm I'll try and have my lunch, 3:00pm or 4:00pm I'm going to have a little snack and then eat dinner between 6:00pm and 7:00pm.

Protein: I'm going to include protein in each of those meals.

Move: I'm going to try and move my body more (unless I'm medically advised not to.) I kind of tell people start with 15 minutes. If you can try and move your body from doing nothing to 15 minutes a day, or at least three times a week.

Incorporate that strength training in one or two of those days is going to be a really powerful benefit towards your metabolism.

Remember your lifestyle tips. Diet is only one thing.

So we want to do our strength training as much as we can. Daily walks, get those steps up. That's equivalent to all types of movement and beautiful mindset and obviously to support that metabolism as well.

Sleep: I'm going to focus on my sleep.

Hydrate: I'm going to try and drink at least 2 plus litres of water a day.

I'm looking at how much caffeine I have. Is that one of the things that remember it can stay in our body for up to 24 hours. So can I stop having my later cups of coffee to get me through my work day? Can I have a bit of sparkling water and make sure am I actually hungry or am I actually thirsty?

Stress: Really look at that stress management as much as you can.

Key points

So we know that metabolism is going to naturally slow, but it's not inevitable.

Muscle, diet, and lifestyle can absolutely reignite it.

We're going to prioritise the protein when we're eating.

We're going to do our strength training.

We're going to stay hydrated.

We're going to move more every day.

We're going to look at our sleep hygiene.

We're going to look at our management of our stress, and know that your metabolism is not broken. It just need needs the right fuel and movement to fire it back up.

Erin shares, "So, after today, I kind of want you to go home and I'll have a little bit of a think and say what's one practical tip you can commit to this week to support your metabolism."

Watch Erin's amazing coaching session below.