Week 1, Day 5 – Jon’s metabolism
Jon’s body is very smart. It knows that the carbs (carbohydrates) in foods are converted into fat more easily and quickly than proteins are. When fat storage is deemed necessary, bodies love it when we eat carbs. Since the conversion process is simplified, the body doesn’t have to work as hard. This means that it utilizes less energy during the conversion process than it would if protein got in the way to slow things down. So, when Jon’s body wanted to store energy, it caused Jon to crave carbs, because carbs are converted and stored more easily. Less energy is “wasted” on the conversion process itself, thereby allowing more of it to be stored.
His body began to conserve energy in other ways as well. Because it was trying to hold onto as much stored energy as it could, it sent messages to his brain that said, “I’m too exhausted to exercise,”, or “I have no desire to go to the gym today.” His metabolism was working at a snail’s pace. At times, he’d try to force himself to “just suck it up” and go to the gym, or for a run, even when it was the last thing in the world he felt like doing at the time. But it was to no avail. His body didn’t want him to exercise, and so it found all sorts of methods to get in his way.
Sometimes, Jon would accidentally twist an ankle, or wake up with an aching back. (This has happened to me, too, and it often seemed to be at the most inopportune time, like just when I was beginning to get back into the swing of exercising.) Other times, he slept right through the hour he’d have spent at the gym. (Hmm… I do this all the time.) Even on those rare days when he actually felt like working out, something would get in the way. His body was finding ways to sabotage his best efforts. It was a losing battle.
As you and I would likely do in a similar situation, Jon began to wonder if he was just lazy or weak-willed. Why did he keep undermining his own efforts? Why couldn’t he stick to a diet? He knew that he needed to move more, so why didn’t he do it? Have you ever asked yourself these questions? I know I have!
Jon isn’t weak or lazy, or “just doesn’t try”, like some of the people around him believed. His extra weight had nothing to do with a lack of willpower. In fact, he often displayed tons more willpower than his naturally thin friends. He’d proved that plenty of times, by skipping that slice of birthday cake, or that bagel at the meeting, while his “skinny” friends and co-workers indulged their desires to their heart’s content.
Jon’s body was creating that “too tired to move” feeling in order to prevent him from using up the energy that it had worked so hard to store away. He became lethargic, and this prevented him from moving around enough to use up the calories he’d ingested. He was eating mostly junk, so his body went into survival mode, thus causing him to crave the very foods that were keeping him fat. He eased his cravings by eating more junk, and the cycle continued.