Losing weight is a process that goes beyond adding and subtracting calories and doing sports daily . A team of doctors from Harvard University has developed a theory according to which losing weight goes much further weight loss. They are based on science, much more complex than miracle diets that pose a health risk because they are often designed by questionable professionals and word-of-mouth recommendations.
They start from the fact that not all calories are equal, Dr. JoAnn Manson has explained to Today why counting calories does not work when it comes to losing weight :
By reducing calorie consumption , the body responds by slowing down the metabolism:” Slowing down the metabolism sabotages the effort to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. So, when you eat even the same amount of calories as you did before, you are gaining more weight.” quickly. This is one of the reasons why people so often lose weight briefly on a diet . They may lose weight for the first few months, but then gain it back .”
The doctors from the team at the most prestigious university in the world divulge these five recommendations:
- Eliminate unhealthy foods from our diet
The first thing to eliminate are processed foods, which in addition to damaging our microbiota and being the origin of many diseases , also eliminate both their fiber and nutrients, which can cause them to be “rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream, which that causes a sudden increase in insulin. Result: being hungry, overeating.
It is not just a calorie problem, but it is about foods that harm our body : “An unhealthy diet will cause more inflammation, including in the brain , and adverse effects on hormones that influence brain function.” For example, you can eat an entire bag of chips and still be hungry: ultimately, you will end up consuming “many more calories than you would need if you had a quality diet.”
- Don’t eliminate everything we like
If you give up everything that makes you feel good, sooner or later you will end up abandoning any weight loss process . That is why it is considered important to stay happy and we will achieve this if we can eat from time to time what we really want, even if it is caloric.
A healthy and balanced diet involves eating foods rich in protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats. But, from time to time, you can succumb to temptation and eat a hamburger with fries, a pizza or an ice cream. The important thing in this case is moderation: you can do it from time to time and, the rest of the time, continue eating well.
- Play sports
Introducing exercise into our daily lives will not only make us age better , but it will also help us lose weight because developing muscle mass helps speed up the metabolism.
Sport, beyond promoting weight loss , improves the quality of life because it is essential for our health . JoAnn Manson notes that “it is very important to have a physically active lifestyle to maintain a healthy weight and have optimal health .”
- How to measure your progress
Forget the scale, it’s too easy, what you have to pay real attention to is the feeling of satiety. Seeing how our clothes fit and measuring our waist circumference from time to time can help us achieve our goal, while helping us control possible cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, etc. - Choose the right foods
We are chemicals and we are made up of elements, what we ingest balances some substances and unbalances others, that is why it is so important to know yourself. Harvard doctors who specialize in weight loss recommend eating vegetables that do not contain starch, fruits low in fructose such as berries (although almost all fruits can always be eaten in moderation), carbohydrates rich in fiber (whole grains, legumes, etc.). ) , healthy fats such as olive oil , avocado or fish and high-quality proteins such as those found in chicken, lentils, salmon and seafood are the best foods to lose weight.