16/10/2026
🔥 BUILT ON EVIDENCE #007: YOUR METABOLISM ISN’T BROKEN!
If you’re struggling to lose weight, it’s easy to blame a slow or damaged metabolism.
But what does the research actually tell us?
🔬 1. Your metabolism doesn’t suddenly crash in your 30s or 40s.
A large study examining energy expenditure across the lifespan found that, after accounting for body size and composition, metabolic expenditure remained remarkably stable between approximately 20 and 60 years of age.
🔬 2. People with obesity generally burn MORE calories, not fewer.
Research shows that people with obesity typically have higher absolute resting and total energy expenditure.
Why? Because maintaining and moving a larger body requires more energy.
🔬 3. Metabolic adaptation is real, but often exaggerated.
As you lose weight, your energy requirements naturally decrease.
There can also be additional reductions in expenditure, known as adaptive thermogenesis.
Interestingly, a long-term calorie-restriction study found that, after accounting for changes in body composition, the additional reduction in sleeping energy expenditure was approximately 57 calories per day using one measurement model.
That doesn’t represent everyone’s adaptation or their total daily energy expenditure, but it provides some useful perspective.
💡 SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
When weight loss slows, consider what may have changed.
Your body is smaller. Your calorie requirements are lower. Your daily movement may have decreased. Your food intake may have increased.
And yes, some additional metabolic adaptation may be occurring.
But none of this means energy balance has stopped working.
Your metabolism isn’t necessarily broken. Your energy requirements have changed.
Understanding that gives you something you can actually work with.
And that’s Built on Evidence.
📚 RESEARCH:
PMID: 34385400
PMID: 27184275
PMID: 33762040
PMID: 40830369
