11. Not getting enough calories.
Cutting calories can sometimes be an effective way to reach your weight loss goals, but if you don’t consume enough calories throughout the day that your body needs, it can slow down your metabolism.
“You have to eat calories to burn calories,” says Goodson, “and while a caloric deficit is needed for weight loss, consuming too few calories can make your body think food is scarce and slow down its metabolism to compensate.”
12. Eating too much ultra-processed food.
Your metabolism is affected by the amount of food you eat and when you eat it, but it’s also impacted by the type of food you eat. Many experts recommend limiting your processed food intake for this reason.
“Highly processed packaged foods are typically digested quickly and lack fiber, which means they don’t require a lot of energy for processing,” says Pincus.
But sometimes you are in a bind, and you need to grab a quick snack. If you need to go for the packaged food, Pincus suggests looking for “something with fiber-rich ingredients like whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, fruits, and veggies when possible.”