🧠 [Know Your Body to Lose Weight #3-6] Low Basal Metabolic Rate

 

[Know Your Body to Lose Weight #3-6] Low Basal Metabolic Rate: Why Isn't the Weight Coming Off? – A Survival Strategy for a Body That Stays the Same Despite Movement



✅ One-Line Summary

If you have a low basal metabolic rate, your diet strategy needs to be different. Prioritizing a 'metabolism-boosting diet' comes before 'eating less and exercising'.



📌 1. What is Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)?

It is the energy your body consumes even when doing nothing, the minimum energy expenditure required to sustain life.
It accounts for 60-70% of total energy expenditure and is used for maintaining body temperature, breathing, organ function, etc.


But what if your BMR is low?

👉 You don't lose weight easily even with a lot of movement, and you gain weight easily even by eating a little.



📌 2. Reasons for Low Basal Metabolic Rate

BMR is influenced by both congenital and acquired factors.

1)   Muscle Mass Decrease: Naturally declines with age.
2)   Repeated Extreme Dieting: When the body repeatedly experiences starvation, it enters an 'energy-saving mode'.
3)   Stress and Lack of Sleep: Increased cortisol → metabolic slowdown.
4)   Hypothyroidism: Directly affects metabolism.



🧠 For such a body, a diet of simply 'exercising and starving' can actually solidify a constitution that gains weight more easily.



📌 3. How to Diet with a Low Basal Metabolic Rate?

For people with a low BMR, metabolic recovery is the priority.



🌿 Diet Strategy

1)  Sufficient Protein: (1.2-1.5g per 1kg of body weight)
    
-   Essential for muscle preservation: chicken breast, tofu, eggs, fish, legumes, etc.


2)  Sustainable Carbohydrates:
    
-   Avoid insulin spikes with sweet potatoes, oats, brown rice, etc.


3)  Always Eat Breakfast: Prolonged fasting further lowers metabolism.


4)  Vegetables and Fats are 'Metabolic Fuel': Recommended intake of quality oils (MCT, olive oil) and vegetables.



💪 Lifestyle Strategy

1)  Strength Training + Short Cardio:
    -   15-30 minutes daily, focusing on sustainable routines rather than high intensity. Include representative full-body exercises like squats, lunges, planks, along with push-ups, bench presses, etc.

2)  Sleep Recovery: 7+ hours per day.

3)  Maintain Body Temperature: Drink warm water, use heat packs, take half-body baths → promotes metabolism.



☕ Support Strategy

Apple cider vinegar, green tea catechins, magnesium supplements, etc.
→ Improves insulin sensitivity + aids energy metabolism.



📌 4. To Break Free from a Body That Gains Weight Even When Eating Little

Metabolic recovery is the priority.
True weight loss is possible only when the body switches from a 'fat-storing' mode to a 'fat-burning' mode.



📚 References

•   NIH: Basal Metabolic Rate and Health Implications (2021)
•   Harvard Medical School: Muscle mass & metabolism (2022)
•   Korean Society for the Study of Obesity: Relationship between Basal Metabolic Rate and Metabolic Syndrome (2023)
•   'Eat for Energy' by Ari Whitten (2021)



🔜 The next episode will be [Know Your Body to Lose Weight #3-7] The Golden Hour for Burning Body Fat – When is the Most Effective Time to Exercise?