If you are hitting the gym and cutting down on calories but still having trouble losing those extra pounds and keeping the weight off, you might want to have a look at your metabolic rate, Turkish dietician and phytotherapist İrem İmrağ says.

Speaking to Ihlas News Agency (IHA), Imrağ said a variety of factors can influence the speed of our metabolism — or in other words our metabolic rate which is the number of calories our body burns in a specific amount of time — and our food choices and lifestyle may be to blame for a slow one.

According to Imrağ, there are five main culprits of a slow metabolism.

Under-eating

Although calorie restriction and a caloric deficit is required to lose weight, our metabolism slows down when we our daily energy intake is below our basal metabolic rate (the number of calories required to keep our body functioning at rest). When we don't consume enough calories over the long-term, our bodies go into "starvation mode" to maintain vital functions, and our damaged metabolism tries to conserve more energy by burning less calories. So, if you want to lose weight make sure you eat enough so your brain and body doesn't think that it is starving.

Inadequate protein intake

Not consuming enough protein – whether its plant-sourced or animal-based — could be to blame for your weight-loss troubles. Every calorie we consume does not create the same reaction in the body. Different types of foods pass through different metabolic pathways and some of these roads are much more effective than others. We can describe the thermic effect of food as the energy we spend during their digestion, absorption and metabolization. The thermal effect of proteins is higher than that of carbohydrates and fats. Protein digestion accelerates metabolic rate by 20-30 percent, while carbohydrates speed it up by 5-10 percent and fats by 3 percent. But that does not mean that we should overestimate our protein intake. 0.8-1 grams of protein intake per kg will be sufficient.

Sedentary life

Nowadays, our office jobs — and the long hours we spend at our desks — do not allow us to be active during the day and slows down our metabolic rate. We must get up and move regularly, and do exercises throughout the day to speed up our metabolism, and lead a more active life.

Poor sleep (quality)

Not getting enough z's can be really detrimental to our health. Poor quality and little sleep not only slows down our metabolism but also increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes and depression. We must strive to get at least seven hours of quality sleep at night.

Sugary drinks

Consuming ready-to-drink, sugary and carbonated drinks is associated with insulin resistance, diabetes and obesity. Research shows that excessive fructose consumption increases the amount of fat around the waist and in the liver. We should stay away from sugary and artificially-sweetened beverages as much as possible.