Table of contents:
- How the body stores fat
- Why are you gaining weight after dieting?
- Three strategies for effective weight loss
2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44
About a third of low-calorie diets end up with weight gain: the body accumulates fat with a vengeance, nullifying all your efforts. The life hacker understands why this happens and how to lose weight so as not to gain weight again.
After a low calorie diet, many people gain weight again. And it's not a lack of willpower or bad eating habits. This is because the body strives to return to a given amount of fat.
A given amount of fat is a certain level of adipose tissue in the human body.
This amount is strictly individual and depends on genetics, activity level and dietary habits. But whatever it is, the body will try to keep this amount unchanged.
How the body stores fat
Slow down metabolism
The further you move away from your target amount of fat, the more the body inhibits further fat loss, forcing your Biology's energy system to respond to dieting: the impetus for weight regain. work as efficiently as possible. Mitochondria - the energy sources of cells - begin to produce more energy from less fuel.
At the same time, the metabolism slows down, the amount of energy you spend on ordinary activities decreases, even the thermal effect decreases. Effect of circadian variation in energy expenditure, within-subject variation and weight reduction on thermic effect of food. food - the number of calories you spend to digest food.
And the more fat you lose, the more efficient your body becomes. Moreover, the more often you expose your body to such a test, the better it learns to conserve energy. That is, in your fourth attempt to lose weight on a low-calorie diet, fat will go much slower than in the first three.
Hunger hormones
As you lose weight, your fat cells shrink, triggering the secretion of leptin, a hormone that makes you feel full.
Study. showed that during a caloric deficit, the fall in plasma leptin levels outstripped the rate of decline in fat stores. Moreover, this level remains low for some time after the weight has stabilized. This means that even after finishing the diet, it will be difficult for you to get enough.
At the same time, a calorie deficit causes increased levels of ghrelin, the hormone responsible for feeling hungry. Thus, you constantly feel hungry, meals do not bring satiety, and your body conserves energy - ideal conditions for weight gain.
And when you quit the diet, you not only return to your old weight, but gain even more.
Why are you gaining weight after dieting?
The target amount of fat that we talked about above is determined by the number and size of your fat cells. When you quit the diet, the shrunken fat cells grow larger again. In theory, this should tell the body that the weight is restored and there is no more calorie deficit, so you can stop saving energy.
However, an experiment. proved in mice that rapid weight recovery after losing weight provokes the formation of new fat cells.
The more fat cells you have, the smaller their average size. Lack of fat cell size and decreased leptin levels signal to the body that the amount of fat is still reduced, so that your body continues to conserve energy. All this forces you to store even more fat than before the diet.
It turns out that in order to really lose weight, you need to avoid a sharp slowdown in metabolism during a diet and correctly return to a normal diet after it. Let's take a look at three strategies to help you lose weight without slowing your metabolism and return to your calorie intake without gaining fat.
Three strategies for effective weight loss
1. Find your calorie deficit
First of all, you need to find out how many calories, proteins, fats and carbohydrates (BJU) you consume without any restrictions. For three days, just read the nutritional value of everything you eat, on paper or in a special supplement.
Then determine how many calories you need to consume in order to lose fat, but not slow down your metabolism. Try the simplest method: take your weight in kilograms and multiply by 26.5. For example, if you weigh 60 kg, you will need to consume 1,590 calories to lose weight.
Do not take this meaning as absolute truth. This is just a starting point, a rough number to start with.
To find your calorie count, you need to carefully monitor your condition.
If you feel a lack of energy and constant hunger, then you need to slightly increase the calorie intake, otherwise the deficit will lead to adaptation and a slowdown in metabolism.
If you are feeling great and not hungry, you can, on the contrary, lower your calorie intake, but it is advisable to do this gradually, since a quick transition will again slow down your metabolism.
2. Follow the reverse diet to get out
When you reach your goals, it's time to increase your calorie intake. However, a quick transition to increased calories can lead to the formation of new fat cells and weight gain. To avoid this, use a reverse diet.
The essence of this diet is a gradual increase in calories - by 80-100 kcal per day. This approach allows you to slightly speed up your metabolism, slowed down after a long calorie deficit, to return to your norm of nutrients and at the same time not gain excess weight.
The specific gain depends on how large your calorie deficit was, how you feel, and how afraid you are of gaining weight after finishing the diet. If you are in a large calorie deficit, feel weak, and are not afraid to put on some fat after you quit, you can take the big jump and quickly add 200-500 calories.
If you feel good on a diet and do not want to gain a single gram of excess fat, increase your calories very carefully. For example, increase the amount of carbohydrates and fat in your diet by 2-10% each week.
3. Find small victories to strengthen your resolve
We've already talked about how constantly jumping from a low-calorie diet to a regular diet only worsens your results. Therefore, try to avoid breakdowns.
The physical discomfort of a lack of calories must be compensated for by mental gratification. You will not be able to hold out for long on a simple anticipation of results - you need daily small victories.
Eliminate situations that make you feel guilty and take away little joys.
For example, if you are constantly going beyond your established carbohydrate intake, why not just raise it?
When you understand that you are able to follow a diet and keep within your norm, and at the same time you feel good, there is no weakness and wild hunger, you begin to enjoy the process, and this is the key to a long diet with sustainable results.
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