If you’ve ever thought, “I barely eat… so why isn’t anything changing”?

Hi. Welcome. You’re in the right place.

Because if I had a dollar for every woman who told me she’s tried EVERY diet under the sun and still feels stuck in a fat loss plateau, I’d be writing this from a beach in Italy. 🇮🇹

And here’s the thing I want you to hear right away:

You’re not broken. You’re not failing. And you’re definitely not lazy.

What you’re experiencing is almost always a metabolism that’s been pushed into survival mode from years of restriction, under‑eating, and diet burnout.

So let’s talk about how to actually know if your metabolism needs some love.

First, What a “Slow Metabolism” Really Means

When women hear “slow metabolism”, they picture something permanent. Like their body just decided one day to betray them (I’ve been there 😆)!

Luckily, that’s not what’s happening.

A slow metabolism comes from metabolic adaptation. Your body adapted to what you repeatedly asked it to do… which was survive on less food.

Think metabolic: metabolism. Adaptation: adapting.

Low calories. More cardio. Cutting carbs. Cutting sugar. Cutting joy. 😅

Your body listened. And it adjusted, just not the way you were hoping.

So instead of fighting it harder, we need to listen to the signals it’s giving us.

Here are the 6 biggest ones I see over and over again.

Sign #1: You Lose Weight Only When Calories Are Extremely Low

If fat loss only happens when you’re eating 1,200 calories (or less 😬), that’s a red flag.

Yes, calorie deficits are how we lose fat, but chronic, aggressive deficits teach your metabolism to survive on less, not thrive on more. Over time, your metabolism adapts downward to match your intake.

That’s why weight loss feels harder and harder the longer you diet.

So every time you try to eat more like a normal human, your body says,

“Whoa. This feels like too much,”

and weight regain happens.

And if you want to go deeper on why this happens, I break it down step by step in this episode on Healing Your Slow Metabolism (Part 1): Why Low‑Calorie Diets Cause Plateaus & Weight Regain.

Sign #2: You Regain Weight as Soon as You Stop Dieting

This is the one that breaks women’s hearts.

You diet. You lose weight.

You stop dieting because it’s miserable.

And boom. The weight comes back.

Sometimes fast!

That doesn’t mean diets “work” and you just didn’t try hard enough to maintain them.

It means your metabolism never recovered from the deficit.

So when you went back to eating more food, your metabolism was still sitting at that lower intake… and suddenly you were in a surplus relative to where your metabolism was stuck.

This is why women say,

“I eat normal and gain weight.”

It’s not normal eating that’s the problem.

It’s a metabolism that never healed.

Sign #3: You’re Rarely Hungry (or Your Hunger Feels Broken)

This one throws people.

A lot of women tell me, “I’m eating 1,200 calories but I’m honestly not that hungry”.

That’s not a green flag. 👀

That’s hunger hormones being suppressed from long‑term under‑eating.

Your body learned that food is scarce, so it stopped asking for it.

And yes, hunger coming back during a reverse diet can feel scary…

but it’s actually one of the best signs your metabolism health is improving (and setting you up for a fat loss that STAYS off – what we support our BPM clients with through our Metabolic Reset Method and Fat Loss Accelerator).

No hunger isn’t the goal. A responsive metabolism is. 🤩

Sign #4: You Experience Binge Eating or Intense Cravings

If you’re “good” all week and then completely unravel on the weekend, this is not an issue of being able to stay away from the “bad food”, Beautiful Peach!

When your brain doesn’t get enough energy for long enough, it flips into protection mode. It doesn’t know the difference between intentional dieting and being stranded on a desert island.

Its goal is to get food into your body to keep your heart beating and you breathing. This is why chronic restriction and binge eating so often live together. ❤️‍🩹

Additionally, when we feel deprived of our favorite foods, of course we are going to feel the “free for all” when that chocolate chip cookie is all the sudden in front of you! Might as well start over tomorrow.

Sign #5: You’ve Tried Elimination Diets (Keto, Low Fat, IF, No Sugar)

Keto.

Low carb.

Low fat.

Intermittent fasting.

No sugar.

No fun. 😅

Here’s the key thing to understand: these approaches “work” short term because they reduce calories, not because carbs or fat were the problem.

When you cut out entire food groups, you almost always land in a calorie deficit. Fat loss happens… until your metabolism adapts and progress stalls.

Then when you reintroduce those foods, weight regain follows—and the blame goes to carbs instead of the real issue: metabolic adaptation.

This is exactly why tracking macros, instead of eliminating foods, is such a powerful tool for sustainable fat loss.

Sign #6: You Feel Run‑Down, Burned Out, or “Off”

Low energy.

Poor sleep.

Low libido.

Mood swings.

Lost period.

Constant fatigue.

These are not random.

When calories stay too low, your body diverts energy away from non‑essential systems (like reproduction, recovery, and fat loss) to keep you alive.

If your body feels like it’s in survival mode, fat loss will not be a priority (no matter how perfect your diet looks on paper).

So What Do You Do With This Information?

If multiple signs made you say, “Oh…wow. That’s me”, then no amount of pushing harder is going to fix this.

This is where a reverse diet comes in.

A reverse diet is a strategic process that helps you:

✅ Increase calories without weight gain

✅ Restore metabolism health

✅ Bring energy, hunger, and hormones back online

✅ Set the stage for fat loss that actually lasts

Not eating more randomly.

Your Next Step (Without Guessing)

If you want clarity on where your metabolism currently sits, I created a Heal Your Metabolism Starter Kit to help you self‑audit exactly that.

It walks you through:

• Where you are now

• Where your metabolism likely needs to be

• Whether a reverse diet or fat loss phase makes sense

OR IF you want to skip the free stuff and get right to the direct coaching, feel free to apply directly to our BPM coaching program where we help you heal your metabolism so you can lose fat long term!

Final Thought, My Peach 🍑

You don’t need to eat less forever.

You don’t need more cardio.

And you definitely don’t need another quick fix.

You need a metabolism that trusts you again.

When that happens, fat loss stops feeling like a fight…

and starts feeling possible.

And if this blog felt like someone finally put words to what you’ve been feeling, I’m really glad you found your way here. 💛

Love and peaches,

Caitlen 🍑🎓

Click here to listen to this week’s podcast episode: How to Determine If You Have A Slow Metabolism