Do you want to lose weight? Never go on a diet!

Victor TribunskyThe article is published on the website Tribunsky.RU

Diets aimed at burning fat have never been easy - they require a significant reduction in daily calories. A diet without exercise is even worse, it invariably leads to failure for a number of reasons.

Most people with this diet lose the same amount of fat and muscle, however, the loss of lean muscle mass entails a slowdown in metabolism (metabolism). And slowing down your metabolism means that in order to continue burning fat, you will need to cut calories even more. A vicious circle…

Numerous studies show that about 97% of people who have achieved weight loss with the help of strict diets subsequently return it and even with an increase. A few years ago, the famous American TV presenter Oprah Winfrey proudly showed America her new, slimmer figure by wearing jeans that had been gathering dust in the closet for many years. She lost 30 kg of weight in a matter of months. Unfortunately, it wasn't just fat, which turned out very quickly. Soon she not only regained her former weight, but also gained a little more.

Oprah's case is a classic example of a step–by-step diet: rapid weight loss with an equally rapid return. Such a diet entails a significant loss of lean muscle mass, which, as you already know, is fraught with considerable danger – a drop in the level of metabolism at rest. In the course of weight loss, you will need a permanent reduction in caloric intake to support this process, which is very difficult for a huge number of citizens. Oprah's mistake was too few calories and a lack of exercise.

Every fall, requests appear on Internet forums and women's websites to help you lose weight quickly for the New Year. And after that – by spring. Ladies get a lot of advice – from a kefir diet to onion soup twice a day and of course the postulate "do not eat after six in the evening" is as gray as the world. And they really lose weight by five, ten and even 15 kilograms! And then what?

Then the zealous fans of diets, for the most part, gradually return to the previous diet and get their kilograms back.

So what? – you say. Just think, the same weight – I'll throw it off again by summer.

But the fact is that with each such jerk – or "step" – the composition of the body deteriorates a little. At the same weight, you get a little less muscle and a little more fat. Maybe it's time to think about a smoother weight loss and a gradual change in the composition of the body with the preservation of the achieved result forever?

If you can maintain a gradually reduced weight for several years, then your body will "reset" various hormones associated with appetite and energy production, adapt to the new composition of the body and stop having difficulties maintaining it. He will simply "remember" the setting for a new level of metabolism, which he will focus on in the future, even if you want to allow yourself some liberties in the diet. Exercises with weights greatly facilitate the process of such restructuring, I would even say – they are its main tool.

The second tool is nutrition, and in particular protein (protein).

Compared with fats or carbohydrates, protein saturates better, which causes less food intake and, accordingly, calories. The faster the protein is absorbed, the sooner the appetite decreases. That is why sources of fast-digesting protein, such as whey (or whey protein), suppress hunger more effectively than slow-digesting proteins, for example, casein from the same milk.

In addition, the protein has a significantly higher thermogenic effect. Thermogenesis - the conversion of calories into heat - is closely related to the mechanisms of hunger quenching. Animal proteins provide a more powerful thermogenic effect than vegetable proteins, and therefore saturate faster.

Medical observations show that eating a high-protein diet helps to maintain the achieved result after weight loss. In one study, American scientists analyzed data from 113 overweight men and women aged 18 to 60 years who followed a low-calorie diet for a month, and managed to maintain a reduced weight for the next six months. After that, they were divided into high-protein and control groups - the participants of the first group received an additional 30 grams of protein. Thus, the diet of the protein group consisted of 18% protein, and the control group – 15%.

In the post-diabetic phase, the high-protein group returned less weight and showed a smaller waist than the control group. Weight gain in the first group consisted of dry weight, while the control group gained more fat. But more importantly, the level of saturation after eating in the protein group was significantly higher, that is, no one was hungry. None of the groups trained at the same time. And imagine if you add training in the gym to all this?

So, studies have repeatedly confirmed that a high-protein diet allows you to maintain a dry body weight and slow down the deposition of fat. In addition, you get more efficient saturation and enhanced thermogenesis (energy costs for heat production), but most importantly - a healthy change in body composition, allowing you to maintain a higher metabolic rate even if you move a little.

Having considered all of the above, the question arises: then why not eat according to a high-protein moderate-carbohydrate plan all the time? If proteins saturate so well – which means you do not need to starve - and at the same time do not harm your health, but even improve both it and the figure, burning fats and preserving muscles, then let a moderately carbohydrate high-protein diet become your permanent style of nutrition. And if you add to this a couple of strength training sessions a week, the process will go faster, and the health benefits will only increase.

Okay, let's say you decide to try to put all this into practice. What to do?

1. Start training with weights and on simulators. Two strength sessions a week lasting an hour each will be enough for you to start. At each strength training, try to work a little more than at the first one, that is, increase the weights of the weights in small steps. If your fitness club has group aerobic classes, then you can include two aerobic workouts in your schedule between strength training. However, if you start losing weight too quickly – more than two kilograms per month - then you can safely abandon them, since weight loss of more than 1.5-2 kg per month is not healthy and is not desirable.

2. Switch to frequent meals – 5-7 times a day. Everything is considered a meal – from an apple to a portion of meat.

3. Avoid feeling hungry, because this is a signal to the body about the threat from the outside. In this case, he turns on the mechanisms of survival and, first of all, begins to save energy by storing it in fat fibers. Your body must be sure that food will arrive regularly and without interruptions, then it will begin to ruthlessly get rid of stocks "for a rainy day" in view of their uselessness. You already know where these stocks are stored.

4. Gradually begin to reduce the proportion of carbohydrates in your diet – cereals, bread, pasta, sweet pastries and sugar in general. It is gradually, and not immediately, so as not to "scare" the body.

5. At the same time, systematically increase the proportion of proteins in the diet – low-fat dairy products, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, seafood.

6. Eat fresh vegetables without restrictions, fruits – moderately.

7. Do all this until there are signs of weight loss. In this case, you need to stop at the current diet and wait until the weight loss stops and it stabilizes. As soon as this happens, proceed to steps 3, 4 and 5 again.

Sooner or later, you will reach the desired weight and permanently gain a foothold on it. At this stage, you will even be able to occasionally allow yourself various "liberties" in nutrition without unpleasant consequences for the figure. Moreover, you will no longer need to train three or five times a week – two workouts a week in the gym will be enough.

Does that sound too rosy? A real example? You are welcome!

With this client, we applied a high–protein nutrition plan, first with a low amount of carbohydrates, and after a while with a moderate one - no hunger strikes, plus two high-intensity strength training sessions per week lasting an hour each. At first, there was one aerobic workout between them (walking on a moving track), which was subsequently excluded due to too rapid weight loss – we did not want to lose muscle. Here are the results of a little more than a year of systematic work.

November 2006 March 2007 February 2008

Height – 167cm
Age – 37 years
Weight – 63.5 kg / 52kg
Waist – 78cm / 66cm
Hip volume – 98 / 89cm
Breast size – 98 / 90cm

To date, the weight is about 53 kg. Continuing to work with the client and controlling her diet, I know that apple strudel and cheesecake, so beloved by her, have returned to it (but without abuse). Now work continues on fine-tuning the forms that do not satisfy her yet.

Materials used:American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 83, 2006

International Journal Sports Medicine, 37, 2007

Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru
27.02.2008