Speaker 1: 1:25

What's going on everybody? Welcome to today's show. Today I am going to be playing a clip from my book Next Level Metabolism. This is chapter two about 35 minutes of chapter two and it's going to give you a really powerful overview of metabolism. And one of the reasons I'm doing this is that I get asked an awful lot about my books on DMs and other places, and a lot of people are asking me to explain metabolism. I've already done this in my books, and so what I decided to do is perhaps to put more of the book clips into the podcast for all of you, so that's what you're listening to on this episode. Please enjoy, and I will see you at the next show.

Speaker 2: 2:15

Chapter 2, the Metabolic Scientist. This book is not a diet book, nor is it a medical text. However, a full understanding of metabolism requires that you understand some of the detailed science. This becomes even more critical in understanding the tools, techniques, protocols and processes I have adopted in my own clinical practice. This chapter will give you a big-picture overview of some of the most important concepts related to metabolism and hormones. But before we get to that, I want to explain several different ways you can understand metabolism.

Speaker 2: 2:51

What is metabolism? Metabolism is the mechanism responsible for seeking, procuring, digesting, assimilating, transporting and generating energy. Metabolism is your body's energy infrastructure and, just as is the case with any complex system, many factors can impact its function, supply and Demand. Oil is the most in-demand fuel source on the planet, and we rely on an entire infrastructure to both get it and use it. Determining where oil might be requires sophisticated equipment. High-tech drills and extraction tubes are used to access and remove the oil. That oil then needs to be transported by boat, train trucks and pipelines to areas where it is refined and processed. From there, the oil must once again be shipped to energy centers, gas stations and homes where it is burned. The story does not end there. Based on demand. Oil consumption can go up or down. These fluctuations tell the entire oil infrastructure to either ramp up its activity or turn it down. This is a classic case of supply and demand. This is how the metabolism works as well, except multiply the fuel source by 5 and adjust the complexity by a factor of a thousand. Just as the markets will respond to the supply and demand of oil, the metabolism reacts to the supply of energy and the demands of its environment. In this way, you can think of the metabolism as a computer, a chemistry set, a thermostat and a stress barometer all in one. It is constantly measuring the demands placed on it by the outside world. Stress barometer all in one it is constantly measuring the demands placed on it by the outside world. Stress barometer, calculating and consuming its energy needs. Computer and then, through a series of complex chemical reactions, producing the energy required. Chemistry set and feeding back to the entire system to make any adjustments. Thermostat Key points. Metabolism is the body's energy management system. It works on supply and demand. It is complicated and has many interconnected moving parts. The metabolism is one big stress measuring device combined with a sophisticated computer, a chemistry set and a feedback system like a thermostat Metabolism as Socializer.

Speaker 2: 5:20

To make it even easier to understand metabolism, let's use social interactions. You're human, so you are already an expert in connecting and interacting with other humans. We humans are social creatures above all else. So in this example, food, energy is synonymous with social connection.

Speaker 2: 5:40

The metabolism is always seeking balance, what science calls homeostasis. The metabolism seeks just enough food to feel good, look good, function better and live longer. This means it wants the perfect amount not too much, not too little, but just right, just like Goldilocks. This is similar to how you interact socially. You crave a certain amount of interaction. If you have too little social interaction, you will feel lonely, sad and unsure. If you have too little social interaction, you will feel lonely, sad and unsure. If you have too many people around and too many social demands, you can easily become overwhelmed, drained, bitter, unsure or unproductive.

Speaker 2: 6:19

In order to balance this equation, you will institute all kinds of conscious and unconscious actions. Some days, you might send multiple texts, make some calls, spend hours on social media and meet friends out for drinks. Other days, you might sit on the couch, screen calls and avoid social interaction as much as possible, left to its own devices. This is how the metabolism works as well. Sometimes it will feel motivated and hungry and desire certain flavors and foods. Other days it may want to sleep in, eat sparingly and avoid a lot of activity. This depends on a number of different factors and circumstances during the previous days.

Speaker 2: 6:57

Just like you naturally regulate your social, energy and interactions, the metabolism is naturally regulating its energy balance as well. Imagine if you were stuck in solitary confinement for two weeks with no social interaction. Or imagine if you had to spend two weeks straight inside a never-ending wall-to-wall dance club. Neither of those extremes would feel comfortable. You would likely institute all manner of coping mechanisms as a result. The same thing happens with the metabolism. Whenever it is confronted with too much or too little, it reacts negatively and does everything it can to get back to balance. Whereas you might get sad and lonely if you were isolated socially, the metabolism gets hungry and loses motivation when it has too little food. You might get agitated and irritable if you are overwhelmed socially. The metabolism suffers disruptive sleep, increased cravings and unpredictable energy when it's overwhelmed with too much food. Furthermore, if you watch the same movie every day, hang with the same people and read the same chapter out of the same book at the same time each and every day, you are not going to feel very mentally stable. In fact, you may go insane. The metabolism is exactly the same. It thrives off change and challenge. It is adaptable by nature and functions best when it is able to freely react to its environment.

Speaker 2: 8:19

Many people think they should have a fast metabolism. What we really want is a flexible and adaptive system. A fast metabolism is one speed, which means it can't change and is too rigid. The healthiest, most functional and lean metabolisms can speed up, slow down, take tight turns, adjust to bumpy terrain and adjust to the infinite conditions of the road Key points. The metabolism becomes dysfunctional whenever it is confronted with too much or too little. The metabolism seeks balance constantly. The metabolism is an adaptive and reactive system. The metabolism does not do well under rigid conditions, ie the same conditions day in and day out. This is why doing the eat, less exercise, more approach to dieting ends up causing issues. A fast metabolism is not ideal. A flexible metabolism is the ideal Metabolism as Survival Software. The metabolism is a system dedicated to helping you survive.

Speaker 2: 9:28

If you were a computer, the metabolism would be the operating system, just as a computer gathers information from its keyboard, wi-fi, usb drive mic and video camera. Your metabolism gathers information from its sight, hearing, taste, touch, scent, emotional sense and digestive function. This information needs to get relayed to the cells deep inside the body so they know how to respond. This happens through nerve impulses and hormones. Think of nerve impulses as text messages or phone calls. Think of hormones as little metabolic mail carriers delivering emails and letters. When the brain sees, hears or senses something, it writes a message and sends it to the brain sees, hears or senses something, it writes a message and sends it to the cells of the body. The same way, I might send you a quick text asking you to pick up some milk on your way home from work. Or maybe the message is not so urgent, or I want to send it to a lot of different recipients at once. I probably wouldn't call or text for that, but rather send out an email to multiple contacts or a letter to everyone involved.

Speaker 2: 10:34

It may seem silly to think of the metabolism in this way, but understanding how it acts as a message system can help you decipher what your metabolism is telling you. If the metabolism is sending the signal of hunger, this is something you can feel is sending the signal of hunger. This is something you can feel If it is producing high, stable and focused energy. It is useful to know what conditions created that. If your sleep is disrupted and fragmented, your mood is often irritable and you are having uncontrollable cravings. Those are all hints about the state of your metabolism and its current needs and its current needs. I call this window into your metabolic computer software, shmec. S-h-m-e-c is an acronym for sleep, hunger, mood, energy and cravings.

Speaker 2: 11:21

When your SHMEC is in check, you can be relatively certain your metabolism is in a state of balance. When your SHMEC is out of check, it is a sign your metabolism is in a state of stress. Schmeck is out of check. It is a sign your metabolism is in a state of stress. Key points the metabolism is constantly measuring what is going on in the outside world. It uses hormones to tell the inside cells how to respond. These hormones are indirectly or directly responsible for producing sensations we can feel. Schmeck is our way to measure metabolic stress. When Schmeck is in check, we are likely in a flexible, stable position. When Schmeck is out of check, we are in a rigid, stuck metabolic state. When we are flexible, we are thriving. When we are rigid, we are rotting.

Speaker 2: 12:11

Energy Production and Cellular Castles. The metabolism produces energy in cells. You can think of your cells as little remote castles. Like a castle, they are designed to be selective in what they let in and out. They literally have a moat and a wall, just as a castle does. The cell membrane is a semi-permeable barrier that looks for signals from the outside world. A hormone such as insulin acts like a rider approaching the castle gate and saying hey, open up, I have some firewood for you. The guards at the gate greet insulin and say thanks so much, bring it on in. From there the wood is taken to the fireplaces and forges inside the castle, chopped up and burned.

Speaker 2: 12:58

Your cell is pretty crafty because it can use lots of different types of firewood. It is like a car that can simultaneously run off diesel, unleaded jet fuel and electrical energy as needed. In fact, based on the demands placed on the cell and the fuel available to it, it can mix and match fuel amount and type as needed. The problem comes when you get too much fuel or an excess of the same type of fuel. Imagine if you were the king of the castle and every time insulin came he was bringing in massive quantities of poorly burning fuel, of poorly burning fuel. Before you knew it, you would have firewood everywhere, disrupting the workings of the castle and spewing black smoke from the chimneys, making life in the castle miserable and unhealthy.

Speaker 2: 13:43

The furnaces and forges of your cells are little energy-producing units called mitochondria. They work best when they have enough, but not too much, energy. They also are healthiest when they are given variations in fuel. You can think of these little mitochondria as sorting houses. When the wood comes in, they clean it, chop it and get ready to burn it. They have different segments of the factory floor devoted to each type of wood. If huge quantities of one type of wood are always coming in, all the workers need to be diverted to that task. They get very good at it but become rusty and less efficient at burning other types of fuels. This is what happens when you eat the standard American diet every day, day in and day out. It is also what is likely to happen with any type of dietary regime you do every single day, day after day, year after year, without deviation. In order for your castle to function best, it needs the right amount of fuel and the right type for the right job or season. Key points the cells of the metabolism, respond to hormones and are selective in what they let in and out. The cell is like its own little energy-producing city that needs to make energy for itself and the demands of the body. The mitochondria in the cells can become overwhelmed and dysfunctional if they are inundated with large amounts of fuel and or the same types of fuel day in and day out. The same types of fuel day in and day out.

Speaker 2: 17:56

Metabolism as Individual. The final thing you need to know about the metabolism is that each one is unique because you are unique. Imagine every human body was a different car, each with its own special strengths and different weaknesses. Some would be pure electric vehicles, while others would be high-performing sports cars that run off jet fuel. Some are good at off-roading, some do best on the racetrack, others like long drives in the mountains. Some can handle snow and weather wonderfully, others thrive in extremes of heat and dryness. This is how your metabolism works as well. You are unique in your physiology, psychology, personal preferences and practical circumstances. Your metabolism shares a lot of overlap with other humans, but, like your fingerprint, it is subtly unique in extremely important ways. Although it helps to understand what the metabolism is and how it functions, it is most important to discover how your unique metabolism varies and performs. Your metabolic machinery likes to run on a variety of fuels. Some people do best with oats and fruit in the morning. Others thrive with eggs and bacon. Still others function optimally by skipping breakfast altogether.

Speaker 2: 19:10

Up until now, you have likely been operating under the assumption that there is one perfect lifestyle everyone should be following. This is wrong. There is no perfect diet. The perfect diet is created out of a deep understanding of your own metabolic workings, the psychological sensitivities unique to you and the varied nature of your personal preferences. The process by which you uncover your metabolic uniqueness and begin to eat, move, think and live in accordance with that is what I call being metabolic. It is the state of metabolic thriving that only this approach can uncover. When sleep, hunger, mood, energy and cravings, or SHMEC, is in check, you are attaining or maintaining a lean muscular physique and blood labs and vitals are moving in optimal directions, you have found what works for you. Now, when the metabolism changes, as it always does, you have a process to repeat, rather than trying to find another imperfect, off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-all protocol how metabolism works.

Speaker 2: 20:15

Although everyone has a unique metabolism, there are a few things happening in each person that dictate how it functions. The brain, specifically the hypothalamus, is the command and control center of the metabolism. Think of the hypothalamus like central command in the military metabolism. Think of the hypothalamus like central command in the military. The hypothalamus is responsible for integrating information from the outside world with the needs and conditions inside the body. It is a hub of activity that receives signals, integrates that information and sends out its own signals to the rest of the body through nerve impulses and hormonal releasing agents.

Speaker 2: 20:52

Hormones that come from the hypothalamus impulses and hormonal releasing agents, hormones that come from the hypothalamus, are often referred to as releasing hormones. Anytime you see RH in an abbreviation, it's a good chance that hormone came from the hypothalamus. They go by names like GNRH gonadotropin-releasing hormone, trh thyrotropin-releasing hormone, and CRH corticotropin-releasing hormone. These three releasing hormones make up the beginning steps of communication between the brain and the gonads, testes and ovaries, thyroid and adrenals respectively. When the hypothalamus integrates all the signals from outside and inside the body, it sends releasing hormones and nerve signals out to adjust the metabolism. The pituitary receives many of these signals and responds with a host of signaling molecules of its own. The pituitary gland releases stimulating hormones that often have the abbreviation SH, such as FSH-LH follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone, tsh thyroid-stimulating hormone and ACTH adrenocorticotropic hormone. These hormones communicate directly to the gonads, thyroid and adrenal glands.

Speaker 2: 22:10

The first basic understanding of metabolic science is these three critical hormonal networks. The connection and communication from the hypothalamus to the pituitary and then to the thyroid gland is called the HPT axis hypothalamic pituitary thyroid axis. There is also the HPA axis hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis and the HPG axis hypothalamic pituitary gonadal axis. If the metabolism were a jumbo passenger jet, the hypothalamus would be the pilot in the cockpit, the pituitary would be the co-pilot, the adrenals and thyroid glands would be the right and left engines and the gonads would be the tail rudder. The hypothalamus and pituitary work together to fly your metabolic airplane. Now imagine the pilot's instrument panel getting scrambled, flying into a ferocious thunderstorm, encountering extreme turbulence or a group of hijackers attempting to breach the cockpit. This is analogous to chronic stress, poor dietary inputs, inflammatory insult or infectious agents. All of these things disrupt the ability of the metabolism to find balance or homeostasis. If the hypothalamus and pituitary are the president and vice president of the metabolism, then the gut, digestive tract, liver and immune system are the generals. Gut, digestive tract, liver and immune system are the generals. The gut is a key mover of metabolism and is the five-star general. The liver and immune system are the four-star generals. You can think of all other tissues like muscle, fat tissue and the rest as the colonels, captains and lieutenants. All of these systems are taking orders from their higher-ups, sending orders down to their platoons, the cells they influence, and reporting back to the brain the conditions on the ground. How does the metabolism manage all this communication?

Speaker 2: 24:01

Hormones A quick clarification for the serious science nerds. The term hormone in biochemistry classically refers to a chemical released by a gland or cell in one part of the body that then travels through the blood and binds to cell receptors in other parts of the body. The most popular of these hormones are the steroid hormones. That include sex steroids, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, stress steroids like cortisol and regulatory hormones like aldosterone. However, the definition of hormone has been expanded to include other signaling molecules that don't function exactly the same way. To make matters simple, the term hormone I am using here is meant to denote all signaling molecules in the body.

Speaker 2: 24:47

The metabolism communicates through signaling molecules. When the immune system needs to signal certain immune cells to an area of injury or infection, it uses cytokines. When the fat cells need to communicate to the brain, it releases adipokines. When the muscle sends signal about demands placed upon it, it uses myokines. The brain uses neurotransmitters, the gut uses incretins, and so on. All of these compounds have hormone-like action because they are released from one area and communicate to other areas locally or at distant body sites. The brain, gut and immune system are a few of the biggest hotbeds of this metabolic communication. You can think of these signaling molecules as phone calls, text messages, emails, dms and handwritten letters. The hormonal system is the metabolism's communication network.

Speaker 2: 25:42

The major role of metabolism as a whole is as one big sensing and responding apparatus. What is it sensing? Stress. How does it respond In a way that restores balance or homeostasis? If the metabolism is one big stress barometer, its job is to make sure the pressure is not too much, not too little, but just right. This means the communication channels must remain clear and unobstructed. That is incredibly difficult when you are dealing with extreme or chronic stress.

Speaker 2: 26:16

Three tiers of metabolism. To make it as simple as possible, think of metabolism as consisting of three tiers or compartments. Compartment one is the brain level. It consists of nerve impulses and the hypothalamic pituitary axes, the HPT, hpa and HPG. Compartment two is the tissue level Muscle, fat, skeleton, gut, liver, kidney, immune, etc. Compartment 3 is the individual cells, including the end unit of energy production called the mitochondria. These are the small organelles in every cell responsible for making the energy your metabolism consumes to stay alive and thrive.

Speaker 2: 27:03

While the brain is taking in all the information from the outside world, it has to integrate that information with the signaling it receives from the tissues and cells. From there it begins instituting its plan. Of course there is all kinds of information being communicated, but to keep things simple, let's focus on the most important the gap between the amount of energy the metabolism is burning and the amount it has available. I call this the calorie gap. There are many different types of stress the metabolism responds to, but perhaps the biggest stress is the discrepancy between the resources the metabolism needs to survive and how many of those resources it has. If there is one single mission of the metabolism, it is to stay alive long enough to reproduce. Historically speaking, the major impediments to that goal were starvation, infection and injury. Goal were starvation, infection and injury. Here we are focusing on starvation.

Speaker 2: 28:05

Anytime the body perceives a lack of energy resources, especially when it comes in the context of increased metabolic demand, it jumps into action. The first thing the body does is increase food-seeking behavior. Hormones like ghrelin, cortisol and others signal back to the brain, reducing motivational centers, increasing reward-seeking behavior and elevating hunger in general, most specifically cravings for calorie-rich foods. Before food even enters the mouth, the process of digestion, absorption and assimilation begins. When you see a food. The brain has memory of it and expectations for it. Looking at a steak and smelling it cooking on a fire kicks off the memory of certain textures and flavors. Those textures and flavors carry memories of certain nutrients, in this case amino acids, and the metabolism begins prepping the body with increased salivation, hydrochloric acid and pepsin secretion in the stomach. Once you begin chewing the food, the brain adds to the information it has. It says not only did that look and smell like steak, but it also now chews and tastes like steak. That amplifies the digestive process.

Speaker 2: 29:18

When you swallow that steak, the digestive secretions in the stomach go to work as the stomach expands. Stretch receptors in the stomach signal the brain how much food it should expect. The stomach also releases certain hormones that tell the brain to slow eating and feel full as the food passes from the stomach to the intestine. As the food passes from the stomach to the intestine, pancreatic enzymes and bile enter the mix. Surprisingly, the body continues to taste your food long after it has left the mouth. L and K cells lining the small intestines sample, feel and taste the digestive contents and start firing off and creating hormones like GIP and GLP. And start firing off and creating hormones like GIP and GLP. These hormones are powerful movers of metabolism that communicate to the pancreas about insulin need and shut down hunger in the brain. As the food continues moving through the small intestines, other hunger hormones further down, like PYY, start sending stop eating signals to the brain.

Speaker 2: 30:20

As the digestive contents start moving from the gut to the bloodstream, the signals about what and how much was eaten continue to be released. The first place the digested material goes is the liver, and again the liver sends its own messages, while also continuing to receive instructions from the brain and other tissues about what is needed. From there, the liver starts adjusting energy needs. It moves from producing glucose gluconeogenesis to consuming and storing it glycogen synthesis Other tissues burn the energy they can immediately use and begin storing any leftovers. If the intake exceeds what the body can currently use, the extra is stored as glycogen, the body's version of potato starch, muscle, the metabolism's amino acid pantry, and fat, the largest storage depot. These tissues all then send feedback to other tissues, explaining their current metabolic state and needs. As the meal travels into the large intestines, bacteria begin to digest the leftovers. Depending on the diversity and type of bacteria you have, more signaling molecules are released.

Speaker 2: 31:35

The bacteria living in the human gut are more numerous than cells in the body. These bacteria have profound impact on metabolic function. As well as producing compounds that influence mood, hunger, cravings and the rest, they are also a source of extra nutrition, synthesizing compounds like butyrate that act as fuel for the body, especially the cells lining the digestive tract. The bacteria inhabiting your gut are known as your microbiome, and many scientists now regard the microbiome as perhaps the largest and most important organ in the human body, even though it is technically outside of the body and not made up of human cells at all. Although this area of research is extremely interesting and provides a huge reservoir of untapped metabolic understanding, we are still in our infancy in terms of understanding how to measure or manipulate it. Your microbiome is somewhat like a fingerprint and may hold the key to metabolic manipulations that may keep you lean, fit and optimally healthy. Unfortunately, the science is too new to have any definitive directions regarding the microbiome, other than the theory that a healthy, lean, fiber-based diet may be best for helping it function optimally.

Speaker 2: 32:53

Once your food reaches the cells, it moves into the mitochondria. You can think of your mitochondria as car engines that can simultaneously burn jet fuel carbs and diesel fuel fat, as well as flex fuel protein. They can also burn a few other sources of energy, such as alcohol and ketones. They do this by breaking most of these fuels down into one universal fuel called acetyl-CoA, especially carbs, fats and alcohol. Acetyl-coa then gets broken down into smaller and smaller molecules in a cellular process resembling a water wheel. As acetyl-CoA is broken down, energy is released. Think of this as a spinning wheel generating sparks. These sparks, or energy packets, get picked up by little intracellular taxis, nad and FADH. The sparks are then shuttled into the inner mitochondria, where the energy is passed around like a hot potato from one energy-producing protein to another. Along the way, an energy gradient builds up across the mitochondrial membrane, which becomes the battery power that produces an energy packet called ATP. That ATP is then used to power the entire cellular city.

Speaker 2: 34:13

This process can either be clean and efficient or dirty and damaging. If you consume a pizza and beer dinner followed by a giant cheesecake, the mitochondrial shuttles and delicate machinery can become overwhelmed, kicking off excess free radicals and pushing the cell's antioxidant systems to the brink. You can think of free radicals like flaming meteors that go zipping around the cells, tearing functional proteins apart. You can think of antioxidants as giant catcher's mitts that intercept these free radicals and neutralize them before they can do damage. All of this then gets fed back into the metabolic system by the cells themselves. At this point, the chain of metabolic command is reversed, with the foot soldiers mitochondria reporting to the platoon sergeants cells, which then send their signals out to the lieutenants, colonels and captains body tissues and then up to the generals gut and the commander-in-chief, the brain or hypothalamus. From there, once again, the hypothalamus integrates the situation in the body with the demands of the outside world, measuring the stress at both ends and plotting a course to restore balance.

Speaker 2: 35:25

Once more, four steps of fat burning To lose or gain fat. There must be a discrepancy between the energy coming into the body and the energy the body is using, either a calorie deficit or calorie excess. When too much energy is coming in and not enough is being burned. This is known as a hypercaloric state. When too little energy is coming in compared to what's being burned, this is called a hypocaloric state. Both hypocaloric and hypercaloric states represent a calorie gap to the metabolism. When energy in and out are equal, this is known as an isocaloric state. For fat to be burned, you must achieve a hypocaloric state. However, if the calorie gap gets too wide for too long, this can register as stress to the metabolism. More specifically, it is a signal of starvation, and starvation is not necessarily the signal you want the metabolism to be responding to, as that signal involves hormonal alarm bells characterized by increased cortisol, reduced thyroid activity and increased expression of ghrelin, with decreased leptin signaling Translation, reductions in metabolic rate, elevations in hunger and cravings, drops in energy and negative effects on mood and sleep, among others.

Speaker 2: 36:52

To avoid this, you want to work with the body by either exposing it to extreme but very short-lived calorie deficits or, alternatively, very gentle and prolonged calorie deficits. In this case, the hormonal signals from the brain cause the four-step process of fat burning. First, fat releases from a fat cell lipolysis. Second, fat travels through the bloodstream to the tissue that needs the energy. Third, fat enters into the cell. And finally, fourth, fat burns in the mitochondria, ie lipid oxidation.

Speaker 2: 37:30

It is important to realize that just because fat is released from a cell lipolysis does not mean it will ultimately be burned in the cell lipid oxidation. In fact, it can easily be restored. This is a very common misunderstanding. Virtually the entire weight loss industry speaks as if lipolysis and lipid oxidation are the same thing. Understanding that they are different helps you realize why some things work while others don't. This is why hormonal effects are so important. Insulin resistance, among other metabolic imbalances, is characterized by increased blood sugar and blood fats, ie triglycerides. Lipolysis may be occurring, but lipid oxidation is compromised, a situation where fat is being released but cannot be adequately burned.

Speaker 2: 38:22

The science of metabolism is a closely orchestrated and extremely complex and refined process. We know only a tiny fraction of the signaling molecules involved and therefore are unable to measure or manipulate metabolism in the ways we often think we can. This is why understanding the ultimate functions and aims of metabolism is critical. Hormones directly or indirectly impact sensations like sleep, hunger, mood, energy cravings, digestion, mental focus, exercise, performance, menses, libido, erections and every conceivable sign or symptom, including joint pain, headaches and all the rest. This simple understanding, along with knowing whether you are losing weight or gaining weight, tells us the two things most critical to attaining fat loss caloric load and hormonal balance. The biofeedback sensations mentioned above tell about hormonal balance. Whether we are losing fat or not tells us whether we have achieved a calorie deficit or not. In fact, weight loss is the only way to know for sure we are in a calorie deficit. This is why discussions of metabolic mechanisms are less useful than you might have initially thought, and why understanding the way your metabolism functions and the language it speaks is more important.