Why do many people start a diet and lose weight at the beginning, but then gain it back over time? Traditional diets are not enough to change certain essential parameters in our body, and here you can understand the reason for it without so many complications.
Why just “dieting” doesn’t work
First of all, a very simple reason: restrictive diets are not sustainable in the long term, since they subject us to deprivations that we are not willing to accept over time. We can deprive ourselves of certain foods or larger portions and lose a few kilos in the first few weeks. But if our real desire goes in another direction, it will be almost impossible to fight against it.
The changes in our lifestyle have to be deeper and more sustainable to achieve real and lasting results. And there are physiological and metabolic reasons that you need to understand, and they can be easily explained.
Why counting calories is not enough
Let’s do a simple exercise: a person reduces the daily caloric intake below the energy needs. The body is forced to burn fat to cover that deficit, so after a month this person loses weight. By continuing with this plan, if the weight reduction remained linear and constant over time, we could reach the absurdity of considering that this person’s weight could even reach zero!
But evidently simple mathematics is not enough to describe these processes.
Caloric reduction means a danger to the body and this goes against its survival instinct. The human body has adaptive processes by which it resists the stress that this situation produces. If we cannot accumulate fat, then the body will begin to slow down the metabolism to reduce energy expenditure. And here different hormones come into play that will regulate our behavior.
Insulin and blood glucose
Don’t worry, we’re going to keep it at a very basic level.
Insulin is the hormone responsible for regulating blood glucose levels.
The body secretes insulin when it is necessary to reduce these glucose levels, which will then be absorbed to be used or stored, as needed. That sugar is in principle the priority energy source to be used by the body. Therefore, the continuous supply (intake) of glucose will force the body to continue secreting insulin, without giving it the possibility to resort to stored fat as a source of energy.
The simpler the carbohydrate we consume, the easier and faster it can be absorbed, so the faster insulin must be secreted. The abrupt peaks of this hormone create abnormal reactions in our body, generating a great appetite again when its level falls. This abrupt decline leads us to the need for a new intake, with which the described process can be renewed. Worse still, this sustained behavior over time tends to develop insulin resistance, which could eventually lead to diabetes. And there are foods especially guilty of generating these alterations.
Natural foods vs. ultra-processed
Cases of heart disease and diabetes have skyrocketed in humanity in the last century, coinciding with the rise of ultra-processed foods, abundant in trans fats, refined carbohydrates, and added sugars. It is not only essential to get rid of them, but also to understand that despite being “usual” they are not natural or “normal” foods. Some of its components may even be synthetic ingredients that are not even present in nature! Without a doubt, it is difficult to abstain from those foods that we have known since our childhood, but always remember that their calories are empty and their sustained consumption produces hormonal imbalances, especially in our insulin.
All the calories are the same?
We have seen that our body reacts differently depending on whether the calories consumed are proteins, fats or carbohydrates. In other words, these three types of nutritional sources or “macronutrients” produce in us different hormonal and metabolic reactions. The first ones require more work from our body to process them, and therefore more energy expenditure. So, the net energy value that we have left from a protein calorie should be less than one from a simple carbohydrate.
This is why some researchers argue that there is no point in counting calories. There isn’t actually an unanimous consensus on this statement, but in any case, we still need to understand those three basic type of macronutrients, as well as the types of foods that are desirable and undesirable in each one of them. Because even if their caloric values were the same, our hormonal reactions are still different. And that’s a fact.
The balance in the intake of proteins, fats and carbohydrates
The greater consumption of proteins and fats will give us greater satiety. This leads to less need to eat more times throughout the day. For the same goal, we should complete meals with fibrous carbohydrate garnishes. In this way, we will feel “full”, and more important, insulin levels in the blood will remain at acceptable levels and their variations will not be abrupt.
The antithesis of this plan would be the abuse in the consumption of those foods high in simple sugars and made from refined carbohydrates, typically white bread, cookies, candies, etc. These foods, beyond the empty calories and lacking in nutrients, are responsible for “driving crazy” our hormones and triggering all the metabolic imbalances above described. That’s why consuming these foods regularly is one main reason that prevents us from having long-term success.
Sedentary lifestyle as an additional risk
Physical exercise is the other pillar to improve our health and combat overweight. Not only because it helps us to burn extra calories, but more importantly, it also promotes the much-needed positive hormonal changes.
Any type of training that stimulates muscle development generates an acceleration of metabolism, since creating and maintaining lean muscle mass is energetically more “expensive” for our body than maintaining fat reserves.
Burning fat and replacing it with muscle also has an impressive visual effect, even if in purely mathematical terms, we kept the same weight. This is because lean mass occupies less volume than the same amount in kg of fat.
The intake window
The best choice in quality and type of food allows you to maintain the feeling of satiety for longer. This will help us to achieve a new eating schedule pattern, anticipating dinner a bit while also delaying (or directly suppressing) breakfast. In this way, we can manage to separate those meals between 12 and 16 hours (of which around 8 correspond to sleep). This is known as intermittent fasting.
The current overabundance of food made us forget that this pattern of intake is actually normal for our species. During this period of fasting many processes of “optimization” of our cells and hormones occur. The prolonged fasting window promotes an improvement in insulin resistance, increases the production of growth hormone (which speeds up metabolism) and facilitates fat burning.
Intermittent fasting can also be further combined with ketogenic nutrition. But it is advisable to consult a doctor about the feasibility of their implementation, since both intermittent fasting or keto diet may not be advisable for everyone, especially in pregnancy, childhood, and for those who suffer from diabetes, kidney or thyroid problems, etc. Remember that this article is about general information, which is verified in most cases, but yours may be an exception.
Summary:
Weight loss requires planning, patience, and consistency. In those people with significant overweight, the positive results can be seen quickly, but it depends on a real change in their habits and lifestyle so that they are maintained and deepened over time.
The recommended steps for a successful strategy are:
- Don’t count calories and focus on the quality of food.
- Increase your intake of lean protein and healthy fats. Complete the portions with fibrous vegetables, they allow you to eat abundant portions until you feel full.
- Eliminate or at least drastically reduce all ultra-processed foods, and in general all foods that provide a large amount of added sugar and refined flours.
- Increase your physical activity according to your possibilities and interests (walking, running, strength workout, etc.).
- Instead of focusing on reducing calories or portions, try to reduce your daily intake window.
- Remember that this is a lifestyle to improve your health and not just a trick to have a better figure next summer.
Follow bastapasta.fit to stay motivated and reach your goals. Here you can find healthy recipes, recommendations on healthy and quality products, tips to improve your lifestyle, etc.
Disclaimer: this article is over-simplifying very complicated subjects, in order to make an introduction about the discussed topics and to arouse your interest about them. If you are willing to improve your health and lifestyle, keep researching, and eventually get the advise of a professional. I share in this blog all my knowledge and personal experience about all positive changes I had, but still, don’t believe blindly everything you see and read online!
Related articles of interest:
How to overcome sugar addiction without eliminating it completely