What is a Metabolism?
Have you ever thought that your metabolism was the reason you couldn't lose weight? I've heard so many women say that they have a "slow metabolism". Evidence does actually lend credence to this statement, especially in the PCOS population. Women with PCOS do actually have a slower metabolism. What is a metabolism anyways?
In medical terms, "the metabolism is the process by which the body changes food and drinks into energy."(1) Calories and metabolism are often interrelated at least in our understanding. So let's take a moment to define a calorie too. A calorie is just a unit of measurement, like an ounce or a meter. It's a means to describe an amount of something.
The calorie is a measurement of energy. If your body receives more energy than it needs it will store it for later. (2) To understand metabolism and overall health it's important to also understand that our bodies are incredibly smart and they will work as efficiently as possible with the goal of keeping you alive. Extra energy gets put away for "winter". A time when calories are less available or harder to obtain.
Adaptation is also a key skill the body has. It would take many hundreds and likely thousands of years for our bodies to adapt to the modern food environment. Where energy fluctuations are less common and food production systems can bring produce to your local grocer no matter the season. Since we don't have millennia to adapt to excess in calories, we need to understand our metabolism and make informed behavior changes for our overall health.
Early in my own PCOS journey I remember thinking "I look at pizza and gain weight, I run a half marathon and gain 60 pounds during training. Why is it so different for me?"