Understanding Metabolism

✦ Wellness Education ✦

Understanding Metabolism

A simple, visual guide to how your body uses energy

What is metabolism — illustrated notebook
🧠

What metabolism actually is

At its core, metabolism = all the chemical reactions happening in your body to keep you alive and functioning.

That includes:

  • 🌬️ Breathing
  • 💓 Heart beating
  • 🥗 Digesting food
  • 💪 Building muscle
  • 🔥 Burning fat
  • 🧠 Even thinking

So metabolism ≠ just fat loss. It’s your entire energy system.

⚡

The simplest way to understand it

Think of your body like a city:

  • Food = fuel coming into the city
  • Metabolism = how the city uses, stores, and distributes that fuel
  • Cells = factories using that fuel

Some fuel is:

🔥 Burned immediately for energy
🫙 Stored
(fat, glycogen)
🏗️ Used for repair
(muscle, tissues)
The simplest way to understand metabolism — illustrated sticky note

🔥 The 3 main parts of metabolism

🔥 The 3 main parts of metabolism

1. Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

This is the biggest chunk.

👉 Energy your body uses at rest (just to survive)
  • Breathing
  • Organ function
  • Temperature control
💡 ~60–70% of your daily calorie burn
Basal Metabolic Rate BMR — illustrated sticky note
Physical Activity — illustrated sticky note

2. Physical Activity

This includes:

  • Exercise (gym, yoga, walking)
  • Daily movement (NEAT: steps, fidgeting, chores)
💡 This is the  most changeable part

3. Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)

Energy used to digest food.

  • 🥩 Protein → high TEF (burns more calories to digest)
  • 🍞 Carbs → moderate
  • 🥑 Fats → low
💡 This is why protein feels “metabolically expensive”
Thermic Effect of Food TEF — illustrated sticky note
❌

Myth: “Fast metabolism = you don’t gain fat”

✓ Reality:

Metabolism is not just about burning more.

It’s about how your body decides to use energy.

Myth: Fast metabolism = you don't gain fat
🔄

What happens when you eat?

Let’s say you eat carbs + protein + fat:

  1. 1 Food is broken down → glucose, amino acids, fatty acids
  2. 2 Blood sugar rises → insulin releases
  3. 3 Body decides:
  • 🔥 Use it for energy
  • 🏋️ Store as glycogen
  • 📦 Store as fat
What happens when you eat — metabolism illustrated

🧪 Where metabolism links to fat loss

Fat loss depends on this chain:

  1. You eat less energy than needed
  2. Body needs extra energy
  3. It starts using stored fat

This process is called:
👉 Lipolysis

Then fat is converted into usable energy via:
👉 Beta oxidation

⚠️ The mistake most people make

They think:

👉 “I’ll just eat less → metabolism will burn fat”

But your body is smarter:

If calories go too low:

  • Metabolism slows down
  • Movement reduces
  • Hormones adjust

👉 This is called metabolic adaptation

🧠 Real insight (this is what matters)

A “good metabolism” is not:
❌ Just fast

It is:
✔ Flexible
✔ Efficient
✔ Able to switch between fuel sources (carbs ↔ fat)

🧩 Simple example

Two people eat the same meal:

  • Person A: active, more muscle → uses more energy
  • Person B: sedentary → stores more

Same food. Different metabolic response.

Simple Metabolism Concept

📌 Energy in → Energy used → Energy stored

Energy in 🍽️ comes from the food you eat — carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. This is the fuel your body receives. Your body then uses this energy 🔥 for essential functions like breathing 🌬️, movement 🚶‍♀️, thinking 🧠, digestion 🍽️, and exercise 🏋️‍♀️. Since these processes are continuous, your body is always using energy — even at rest.

Any energy that is not immediately used gets stored 📦 for later. This happens in two main forms: glycogen (stored in muscles and liver) and body fat, which acts as a longer-term energy reserve.

💡 Balance is key
  • If energy in is greater than energy used → more energy is stored 📦
  • If energy in is less than energy used → the body uses stored energy 🔥
🧠 The key insight: your body is not just “burning” or “storing” energy — it is constantly deciding how to use, store, or release energy based on your needs.
🌿 ✦ 🌿 ✦ 🌿 ✦ 🌿
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