Why Diets doesn’t work?
It’s really tempting to follow the last trending diet when you want to lose weight. People want to believe that there is a magic pill to lose weight but unfortunately it doesn’t work like this.
Diets are not sustainable which means that once you have reached your goal and start eating as you used it, you will regain all the weight which can be very harmful for your health.
- What are yo-yo diets?
When you start a diet and reduce your calorie intake, your body will first use the energy stocked (depending of the type of activity, fat and/or glycogen will be converted into energy), which will result into weight loss.
But overtime, you will adapt to this new calorie intake which means that your body will need less calories to produce the same amount of energy. This is what we call a plateau, your metabolism will decrease and in order to keep losing weight you will need to reduce your calorie intake further more.
During your diet, your metabolism decreased for 2 reasons:
- your body weight decreased, the less you weight the less calories your body will need to maintain it.
- your body is now use to function with less calories
When you go back to your “normal” diet, you will increase your calorie intake and therefore gain back all the weight and maybe even more because your metabolism decreased compared to what it used to be.
2. What are the health impacts?
- On your metabolism
Your metabolism decreased because of the calorie restriction, our bodies only have one goal: survive! Which means that it will adapt to calorie restriction and need less calories to create energy. When you increase your calorie intake again, your body will stock it to make sure that you have enough energy in case you decide to restrict your intakes again.
Yo-yo dieting can also have an impact on body composition. If you don’t exercise and build muscle, when dieting your body will use energy from fat but also muscles. So when you gain the weight back, you will have more fat and less muscle than you used to have pre-diet.
- On your mental health
For some people calorie restriction can have an impact on their mental health and can lead to disorder eating for example.
3. So what is the solution?
- Eating a balanced diet
This is not a secret, eating a balance diet if you are overweight will help you reach your ideal weight.
A diet full of vegetables, fruits, proteins and healthy fats will be lower in calories that a diet composed of processed food.
It will give you all the nutriments your body needs to function, and will help you to improve your overall health.
It’s import to focus on your health and how you feel rather than focusing on aesthetic aspect.
- Exercise
Moving your body everyday is important for your physical but also mental health. It doesn’t need to be intense, going on a walk, a bike ride, practising yoga, etc are great activities to begin with.
I offer personalised training in London or online so don’t hesitate to contact me if you are a beginner and don’t know where to start or if you are advanced and want to improve your performance! I will be happy to start this journey with you and help you improve your health.
- Listen to your body
Don’t forget to listen to your body! Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full. Move your body but don’t forget to rest when you need to.
It’s all about balance!