Metabolism Repair?

Hi guys,

I’ve been lurking / reading T-Nation for about 6 months, and I’ve worked at turning my life around for the past 2 months or so.

I am doing cardio 2 - 3 times a week and a full body lifting plan 2 - 3 times a week. On my off day I will usually do something outdoorsy like hike or bike or anything to get out and “exercise” in a way that doesn’t feel like exercise.

I started about 2 months ago - I am 31 years old I am 6’1 and weighed approximately approximately 310 lbs.

Today I am about 296.

Thats the good news.

The bad news is that I have ALWAYS been battling obesity for my entire life, and some of my dieting practices in the past could definitely be considered “eating disorders” or worse - I know I have done some serious and long term damage to my metabolism.

I’ve read the articles here about repairing a damaged metabolism and I was just wondering if anyone had any further insight or success in repairing a severely damaged metabolism.

I read a few posts that said it might be IMPOSSIBLE to repair metabolic damage, and that is definitely a morale killer for me.

I noticed that for the past week or two my weight has been steady up and down 2 - 4 lbs while my workouts remain as intense as normal.

I am eating around 2000 cals per day -I was eating less before- and Im slowly trying to build it up.

I’m worried this might be as far as I can get with my metabolism being broken, and I find it very hard to handle. Are there any tips? I know it is a long path and I need to be consistent and stick with it. I guess ultimately I’m venting and looking for first hand experience of someone that has or knows that serious metabolic damage might be repairable.

Anyway I am thankful for any responses I may get.

I dont know too much about metabolic repair so I wont try to advice you on that however I do suffer from my body naturally being overweight, so when if I deviate from my Diet or stop working out for a week the weight does pile back on quicker than I lost it :frowning:

There was a great article (by CT I think) about it though on here somewhere

However my workouts remain as intense as normal. got my attention…

Are you showing improvement in your exercises?

No - You should have improved greatly from your starting level of fitness. If not then step back and look again at your plan and perhaps take some professional trainer advice

Yes - Remember that muscle is heavier than fat.

You might have lost 14lbs but actually lost more fat than you realise.

Are you taking before photos and comparing your progress? 310 to 296 is actually a big leap and you WILL see improvement even if its not in areas you expect

Reshaping your body as all the advice tells you will take time - and the more you need to change the more time it will take…

[quote]Randomguy555 wrote:
I read a few posts that said it might be IMPOSSIBLE to repair metabolic damage, and that is definitely a morale killer for me.
[/quote]

I’m not sure what this is referenced from and if it’s out of context, but in my experience that is not true.

Although I cannot prove it, I think it is safe to say that I have increased my metabolism a fair amount. This is evident in my progress and eating habits, but I won’t get into that too much.

Simply put, you must eat often, eat protein and vegetables with EVERY meal, workout for at least 4-5 hours a week.

I would highly recommend you pick up this book and give it a read, it explains qutie a bit.

I know there are foods out there that a lot of people stand by as metabolism boosters, I guess different things work for different people.

Anyway to improve your metabolism your going to have to improve your diet there are tons of articles on the site about nutrition.

Good job with the weight loss mate :smiley:

taking measurements and pictures weekly will let you know more then just weight…

hope that helps a bit.