What nutritional mistakes lead to you not losing weight even on a diet?

The main causes of excess weight lie in poor and irregular nutrition and low physical activity. An important factor is overeating, which you may not notice. However, consuming large amounts of high-calorie foods puts stress on the digestive system. As a result, metabolism slows down and some nutrients are not absorbed, and excess energy is converted into fat. It would seem that everything is simple - adjust your diet and give physical activity, but often diet and sports do not help you lose weight , what's the matter ? First of all, you need to study your body, identify health problems and choose the optimal training program and diet for yourself, forever changing your lifestyle.

Sedentary lifestyle

Prolonged sitting, standing, or lying in one place does not stimulate the muscles of the body and does not cause them to contract frequently. Quiet muscles do not drive blood through the veins and metabolism, along with blood circulation, slows down.

A muscle in a relaxed state allows only 25-50 capillaries per 1 square millimeter of flesh to pass through it. And a muscle that periodically experiences stress can pass up to 3000 capillaries per 1 square millimeter. Due to a sedentary lifestyle, on average, about 40% of the blood does not circulate properly and stagnates.

Question 4: “At what rate does fat burning occur?”

Answer:

It is considered normal for the body to lose weight by 1 kg of fat per week (or 4 kg of fat per month)! Please note that the calculation is in kilograms of fat, and not just in reducing kilograms of weight. These are absolutely real numbers that can easily be achieved with proper nutrition and regular exercise. At this rate of fat loss, you definitely won’t starve or break down, there won’t be any hormonal imbalances or complications, your skin won’t sag and unsightly folds won’t form.

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Calorie restriction

Numerous studies on mice and monkeys have found that the most important thing is to reduce the total calorie content of the entire diet, and not its individual elements. In 1934, Cornell University researchers Mary Crowell and Clive McKay showed in mice that an overall reduction in dietary energy increased the average and maximum lifespan of the test group by 30 to 50 percent. This discovery renewed the race to find the recipe for the elixir of eternal youth.

But no individual elements, the reduction of calorie content of which will significantly accelerate the normalization of metabolism, were identified during the research.

Low calorie diets

These include a diet whose calorie content is no more than 1000 kcal per day. Adherents of such diets are deficient in fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and microelements. The consequences of such a reduced diet appear very quickly. First, your general health deteriorates - dizziness, drowsiness, and irritability appear. A little later, you can notice a deterioration in the condition of the skin, hair and nails. If you periodically follow low-calorie diets, and in between them neglect the principles of healthy eating, there is a high risk of developing gastrointestinal diseases.

And such methods of losing weight are not very effective. If a woman usually eats healthy and wants to lose only a couple of extra pounds, the result of the diet will be almost unnoticeable. Those who are overweight can lose weight in this way. But in this case it will be very difficult to save the result. Even if you balance your diet after finishing the diet, the extra pounds will most likely return. In preparation for a possible “hunger strike,” the body will store fats from food in reserve.

Alternative. In order to easily control the slightest changes in weight at any age, you must clearly know how much food per day you can afford without harming your figure. And to do this, you need to calculate the daily energy consumption of your body, which consists of three values.

The first value is the basal metabolic rate (BM): the amount of energy required to carry out the vital processes of the body at rest. To calculate it, WHO recommends the Harris-Benedict formula, which takes into account a person’s gender, age, weight and height.

OO (for women) = (655+ 9.6 x weight in kg + 1.8 x height in cm) - (4.7 x age)

From this formula it is clear that the higher the height and weight of a woman, the greater the amount will be, i.e. the amount of energy required for basal metabolism. But with increasing age, the final figure will gradually decrease. Therefore, for the same person, provided the same weight and height, over the course of life, the amount of energy he needs to maintain metabolism decreases.

The second value. The daily total costs take into account the energy spent on digesting food - EPP . It is approximately 10% of the OO value.

The third value. This is the energy expended on physical activity - the physical activity ratio (PAF) . This number is very individual. Even 50 years ago, it could have been at least 40% of the OO value, but a modern woman moves much less, so its minimum figure is at the level of 10%. If a person trains 3-4 times a week, you can safely add 30-40% of OO.

Daily energy consumption = OO + EPP + CFA

If you want to maintain your normal weight regardless of age, try to consume as many calories from food as corresponds to your energy expenditure. And if you want to lose weight, then the calorie deficit should be no more than 500 kcal.

Muscle growth

Do you constantly exercise and practice a balanced diet, but the extra pounds still don’t go away? Most likely, you are an endomorph. An endomorph is one of three body types, which is characterized by increased body fat, short or average height, large bones and wide hips. A person with an endomorph body type needs much more physical activity to lose excess weight. But, muscle mass with such a physique is gained much faster. Therefore, fat consumption and muscle growth can fluctuate around the same weight range.

Three teaspoons of oil

In the dietary departments of stores, the shelves are bursting with a variety of healthy vegetable oils. Here you will find not only sunflower, olive and flaxseed oils, but also grape seed oil, avocado, nut oils of all types, pumpkin, coconut, corn, sesame and even camelina. And many people who are losing weight are sure that if the oil is healthy, and even unrefined and cold-pressed, then it can be poured into a salad without measuring it out with spoons. How much oil should be in a healthy nutrition menu?

Nutritionists say that fats should make up no more than 30% of the calorie intake, with one tenth coming from animal products, and the rest from vegetable fats. Vegetable oils should be consumed only fresh and no more than 3 teaspoons per day, because 1 teaspoon of oil contains 45 kilocalories. Some doctors advise adding an additional 1 tablespoon of oil in the morning on an empty stomach half an hour before breakfast for excellent stomach function and good metabolism.

Wrong food intake

In a person’s diet, both the diet and the balance of nutrients can go wrong: - It’s enough to eat fast food and it will clog the body with sugar, toxins and fats. And in a littered environment, metabolism is disrupted and every extra kilogram increases the load on the cardiovascular system.

— Wrong eating is considered to be eating once or twice a day, as well as eating food earlier than two hours before bedtime.

— When choosing a diet, you should keep in mind that the best solution is always in the middle. Throwing from one extreme to another, from overeating directly to a strict diet, is very harmful to health and causes gastrointestinal diseases.

— Lack of fat has a bad effect on the condition of teeth and bone strength. Fats are necessary for the absorption of vitamin D. The use of drugs and supplements that accelerate the breakdown of fats is recommended to be combined with calcium intake.

— An overdose of drugs that reduce appetite, especially in combination with “dry” fasting, leads to disruption of the water-salt balance in the body, which greatly affects the kidneys and liver.

— A diet that lacks proteins can lead to disruption of water-salt metabolism in the body. Proteins are actively involved in removing excess fluid from the body, and their lack leads to the accumulation of water and swelling.

- Using only one diet to lose weight can cause the extra pounds to come back again. This is usually caused by stress from sudden weight loss and hormonal imbalance. To avoid such problems, a weight loss course should combine different approaches: both diet and exercise.

Hormonal background

If you have problems within the body, hormonal imbalances, this always affects the process of losing weight. You may, for example, gain weight “for no reason.” First of all, in this situation, pay attention to thyroid hormones. You may have hypothyroidism - insufficient production of thyroid hormones. I also recommend checking estradiol, prolactin, progesterone, testosterone.

If you don't get enough sleep, don't rest, and your daily routine is messed up, this also leads to hormonal imbalances. In particular, levels of the stress hormone cortisol increase. The balance of leptin and garelin is disrupted. All this can cause a deterioration in metabolism.

Not Persevering Enough

Think you can't lose weight? You lack persistence! Ask yourself: Do I want to lose weight? And if your answer is yes, then just be patient. Biological processes have their own speeds and rhythms, often more measured and leisurely.

If you practice something for a long time, but the result is not visible, this does not mean that it does not exist. All changes consist of smaller changes, and those in turn consist of even smaller ones, etc. And what a person calls a noticeable result is only the moment when many changes have accumulated to a critical concentration and the person noticed it.

How to eat right to lose weight (the basics of proper nutrition)

When you start studying the issue of healthy eating in detail, you will realize how many sources of information there are. Scientists and doctors around the world are still studying this topic. They will help you:

Morning meal is a must. Some people make a serious mistake when they skip breakfast, thinking that it will help them lose weight faster. What a stupid misconception! After all, it is in the morning hours that the body starts metabolic processes. Regular breakfasts ensure the burning of subcutaneous fat;
It is necessary to divide daily meals into several meals. A myth is the opinion of people who think that by eating rarely they can quickly get rid of extra pounds. Rare meals do not at all mean small volumes, or especially low calorie content;
During the day, give preference to foods containing carbohydrates. Don't be afraid to eat pasta, bread, potatoes. A properly designed menu containing carbohydrates will help you quickly burn fat reserves. It’s not for nothing that the famous saying goes: “fats burn in the furnace of carbohydrates”;
Vegetables are an irreplaceable, important component of any diet. They create a large volume of food while containing a minimal amount of calories;
We must not forget about protein, which, in addition to the feeling of fullness, is the main material for building muscle tissue. Therefore, if you need to lose weight and tighten your skin, giving it an elastic look, do not bypass protein;
An important element of normal life is water! It is she who removes decay products and harmful substances from the body. The daily water requirement for an adult is 1.5-2 liters. The more you drink pure water, the faster you will get rid of those annoying extra pounds.

Not enough water

Why am I not losing weight? The reason for this may be a simple lack of water. Water is even more important than food for the human body. If a person lives on average for about two months without food, then he dies from dehydration in just 5-7 days.

Man is two-thirds water. The water content of human blood is about 92 percent. Gastric juice consists of 99 percent water! Dehydration of the body by only 10 percent thickens the blood, causes excess stress on the heart and blood vessels, slows down metabolism and the elimination of toxins.

Do you want to lose weight? Instead of lemonades and juices, drink plenty of water every day. The most common drinking water is the best way to lose weight.

Why doesn't weight come off when exercising?

Those who are losing weight may experience a problem when the weight does not come off when playing sports. At first he is actively lost, but then he can get up. A plateau effect is created and you cannot lose weight. There are several reasons for this:

the body does not receive enough load;
the person does not give his full effort in class;
too exhausting and painful methods lead to stress;
incorrect exercise technique;
unbalanced nutrition before and after training.

Why those who exercise intensively fail to lose weight: if we are talking about losing kilograms, then muscles weigh more than fat, so as they grow, the weight increases. If an increase in volume is observed, this may be due to improper nutrition or execution techniques, when instead of being toned, the muscles “swing”. To lose weight, follow the rules:

After training, do not behave passively - walk up the stairs, take a walk;
measure your BMI, percentage of fat and muscle tissue before going to the gym;
set a goal and develop a workout plan with a trainer to help you lose weight;
do the work with perseverance, do each approach efficiently.

Diseases

Excess weight can cause many diseases:

1) Increases the risk of age-related eye diseases.
2) In men, excess adipose tissue lowers the level of testosterone (male sex hormone) and leads to impotence.
3) In women, extra pounds contribute to disruption of menstrual cycles and even cause infertility.
4) Excess fat creates excess pressure on the entire cardiovascular system, provokes hypertension and increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
5) According to some statistical studies, having extra pounds increases the risk of cancer.
6) Excess weight is an additional burden on the entire musculoskeletal system. This leads to wear and tear of cartilage tissue and joint diseases, curvatures the spine and promotes varicose veins in the legs.
7) Excess fat contributes to the deterioration of blood supply to the cerebral cortex and increases the risk of Alzheimer's syndrome by as much as 80 percent!
Snoring and sleep disturbances can also be a consequence of being overweight.

Food diary for weight loss: how to keep it correctly

Keeping a weight loss diary will greatly help in developing healthy eating habits. This activity will help you learn self-discipline, self-control, and self-organization. Be sure to write down what you ate, when and in what quantity. It is convenient to record data in table form. It doesn’t hurt to take regular photos for a visual example. Using the services of a nutritionist, a diary will replace a collection of tests. The doctor, having familiarized himself with the exact diet, will help to add adjustments to it so that the process of obtaining a positive weight loss result becomes more intense.

How to keep a diary:

Date (in the format day, month, year);
Time of awakening (record the time when you woke up, not when you got out of bed);
Weight (step on the scale every morning after waking up);
Volumes (measure your chest, hips and waist in centimeters weekly);
Meals (indicate the time when you were going to have breakfast, lunch or dinner);
Composition of the meal (write down everything you ate);
Volume, number of calories (calculate calories for each product separately);

<Communication on thematic forums will also help: there you can meet like-minded people and also share reviews.

Perseverance and tolerance are the key to losing weight

It is quite possible that you will not be able to immediately select an effective method of getting yourself into sports shape. It takes many months to achieve noticeable results. And all this time there will be no significant results observed!

When losing weight, you should not be stopped by the lack of rapid progress. Losing weight is a long and subtle process of restructuring the metabolism with a subsequent change in physical form. No matter how much time and effort it takes, persistence and patience will ensure you achieve a positive result.

Why don't you lose weight after 40 years?

Age-related changes after 40 years can cause a slowdown in the weight loss process. During this period, metabolism decreases, the rate of fat metabolism slows down due to hormonal imbalance, the development of chronic diseases, and women can gain excess weight. Even if you follow a diet and exercise, you will not be able to lose weight as much as was possible in your youth - one size in a week.

The solution to the problem is to reduce the total daily caloric intake to 1500-1800 kcal and adhere to simple but effective physical activity. Fast walking, fitness, yoga will do. A diet after 40 years is ineffective - try switching to fractional healthy meals, arranging fasting days every week. Before losing weight, it is advisable to be examined by a doctor to determine your hormonal levels.

Don't go on a strict diet

Metabolism is a complex process and the fight against excess weight does not come down to sudden starvation. Of course, if you become like a Tibetan monk, go high into the mountains to live in a cave and eat one drop of dew a day, then literally in a couple of months you will not be recognized. But monks prepare for such complex practices all their lives, and an unprepared person will do more harm to his health than benefit from such fasting. Sudden and prolonged fasting can cause digestive system disorders and exacerbation of chronic diseases.

What to do if you can't lose weight

The reasons why you can’t lose excess weight are discussed. It remains to figure out what to do if you are not losing weight. For this there are general rules and recommendations from fitness trainers and professional nutritionists:

eat in small frequent portions, chew food slowly;
calorie expenditure should be greater than their intake;
track your nutrition - keep a diary, write down everything you eat;
maintain water balance - 2 liters per day is enough to lose weight;
eat before training to prevent active muscles from burning;
exercise intensively, alternating strength and cardio training;
arrange fasting days every week;
set aside a cheat meal - a day for eating a forbidden tasty dish - sweets, cakes, pizza, but only in small quantities;
to get rid of stress, do yoga, meditation, consult a psychologist, find joyful moments in life to gain energy and endorphins;
get rid of the obsession with losing weight;
maintain a sleep schedule;
take detoxification courses every six months, stop smoking and drinking alcohol;
check your hormonal levels, follow a diet in accordance with your doctor’s instructions;
calculate the correct amount of calorie intake, body mass index, percentage of fat and muscle tissue;
find the right motivation, set a program for your brain to carry it out.

Don't skip breakfast

Refusal of breakfast and lack of appetite in the morning are already symptoms of a metabolic disorder. Many physical processes are subject to daily biorhythms and gastric juice is produced in the stomach, regardless of actual food intake. In the morning, the whole body is in anticipation of breakfast and depends on the food it receives when bile begins to be produced in the intestines.

Plateau effect

When you define a nutrition and training program, reduce the number of calories you consume, and deny yourself specific foods, the process starts - you begin to lose weight. Everything seems to be perfect. But a month, two or three may pass, and the body adapts to the chosen diet and training regimen, to a reduced calorie diet, and to certain loads. The process of losing weight stops. This happens often. Don't panic and change your workout plan: if you were focusing on strength training, add more cardio, or vice versa. Try other types of training: circuit or interval training.

In nutrition, arrange a kind of “swing” for the body: eat more than the norm of carbohydrates and proteins for a couple of days, then eat less than the norm for a couple of days. For some, a fasting day will be enough to “invigorate” the body. Another option is to change the portion of your meals: instead of five meals, make three.

Learning to count calories

If solving mathematical problems gives you a headache, and you have not been good with mathematics since childhood, the most convenient way for you to calculate the calorie content of food may be a special application for your smartphone. There are many different applications with a ready-made product database.

While others are counting sheep before going to bed, are you making a graph of their jumping ability relative to their external differences? Then, before you run, scrupulously write down the energy value of each sandwich in your notebook, remember a few simple tips:

1) To calculate the energy value of foods at home, you will need electronic scales and a table of caloric content of foods.
2) The manufacturer must indicate on the packaging accurate information about the composition and calorie content of its product.
3) To calculate the energy value of complex dishes, you need to have a little knowledge of cooking. You will have to calculate the weight of each ingredient of the dish separately, find out their calorie content using the calorie table and sum up all the calories received.

How to switch to proper nutrition

Finally, we figured out the essence of healthy eating, studied the rules and regimen. Now all that remains is to go to it, but how to do this? There is nothing difficult here. See for yourself:

Each meal, as mentioned above, should include the following components: protein (meat, fish, seafood, dairy products), fiber (fresh fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, berries and herbs), complex carbohydrates (pasta from durum wheat, whole grain bread, legumes, cereals);
Be sure to eat liquid food at least once a day. Soups are great;
Cook food using the oven or grill. Try to break the habit of adding oil. Believe me, this will not spoil the taste of homemade dishes, but will significantly reduce the calorie content. Try to experiment more often with different cooking options;
Try to remove foods from the refrigerator that you should not eat. Sometimes it's hard to stop at the sight of your favorite dessert, sausage. Therefore, it is better to remove such food out of sight;
To remember to eat on time, install a special reminder application on your mobile phone and set alarms at the same time;
To achieve the maximum effect of fat burning at night, include a scheme consisting of two components in your dinner menu: protein + fiber.

Nutrition program for weight loss

Today, a wide range of different weight loss programs are presented to your attention. Each person independently chooses the appropriate system. In addition to recommendations regarding dietary aspects, it contains useful psychotherapeutic advice. It is a positive psychological attitude that has a significant impact on rapid weight loss. And very often a person’s unstable psycho-emotional state affects the gain of extra pounds. Without taking into account psychological health, any weight loss system will be ineffective, and maintaining the results obtained will be short-lived.

Agree, many people, experiencing crisis moments in life, try to eat up their problems. In such a case, dietary advice alone will not help. Specialists will help identify the real cause and teach the patient how to deal with emotional storms without resorting to eating large amounts of food. Thus, it will be possible to minimize the chances of overeating during any stressful situations.