Courses

Metabolism, or the rate at which your body burns calories, is directly related to health, fitness, and weight loss. A low metabolism can make it harder to achieve all three. Nutrition, movement (including exercise), sleep, and stress all have an impact on your metabolism, and research provides us with substantial guidance on how to manage these to our benefit. In this course, we will begin with the theory and application of the “three Ws” of nutrition (what to eat, when to eat, and water) and the core components of movement and exercise (cardiovascular, interval, and strengthening). We will then discuss how to coordinate exercise and nutrition so that they are mutually supportive, avoiding the potential irony of exercise actually reducing your health, performance, or ability to lose weight. The course will also examine how exercise and nutrition interact with stress hormones and sleep, since these aspects of our lives are critically dependent on each other. Through weekly homework assignments, each student will develop a comprehensive personal plan for rejuvenating their metabolism from the ground up. This course is geared toward anyone who wonders why their exercise has hit a plateau, why they can’t lose weight in spite of exercising more and eating fewer calories, or why some aspects of their metabolic health have worsened even as they try to improve them.