Healthy slimming means losing weight slowly. Image: karepa/stock.adobe.com
There are many reasons for the desire to lose weight. It is not uncommon to associate slimness with success, beauty and willpower. Many people therefore simply want to conform to the common ideal of beauty. Others are concerned about their well-being because they notice that endurance and mobility deteriorate due to the higher body weight.
Pronounced obesity, on the other hand, almost always leads to secondary diseases in those affected. Back and joints become overloaded and start to hurt. The risk of permanent joint diseases, diabetes mellitus, heart attack and stroke increases.
Am I really overweight??
Losing weight does not necessarily mean reaching your ideal weight. Even a few kilograms of weight loss have a positive effect on your health.
Overweight can be determined by the body mass index, known as BMI for short. It is calculated by dividing the body weight in kilograms (kg) by the square of the height in meters (m) and allows weight comparisons between people who are different heights. Normal is a BMI of 18.5 – 25 kg/m2, if it is higher, one speaks of overweight. When it exceeds 30 kg/m2, the excess weight is called obesity. Older people and sportsmen may have a weight of slightly more than 25 kg/m2. For children and adolescents there are own weight tables, so-called percentile curves.
Slight overweight is not necessarily harmful, it also depends on the fat distribution. It becomes critical when the waist circumference (at the level of the belly button) exceeds 80 cm for women and 94 cm for men.
Formula Body-Mass-Indes: BMI=body weight (kg) / height (m) squ.
Unfavorable diets
Unfavorable are so-called crash or lightning diets with promises of high weight loss in a short time and those with one-sided nutrition, which easily lead to malnutrition. This includes in particular mono diets, where one food is in the foreground. Even some trendy diets have their pitfalls. They often contain strict rules that do not take individual preferences and lifestyles into account.
How to lose weight successfully – without the yo-yo effect
The lower the calorie content of the diet, the greater the risk of the so-called yo-yo effect, which results from the lowering of the basal metabolic rate and the lack of learning success of crash diets. The weight shoots after admission of the old eating habits like a Jo Jo completely fast again upward, and a new Diat is programmed.
An energy-reduced but balanced mixed diet that includes all food groups as far as possible is ideal:
- Energy free drinks
- plenty of plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains (sources of vitamins, minerals and fiber)
- Daily dairy products (protein suppliers)
- animal products in moderation (protein suppliers)
- little fat and sweets
It makes sense to reduce weight slowly by about one half kilo per week.
A weight loss program is only successful if the meals are filling. It is not the calorie or fat content of the food, but the quantity (volume) that has the strongest influence on satiety. When the stomach is full, a good feeling of satiety sets in. How long we are full depends, among other things, on the composition of the food: Protein makes you feel full for a particularly long time and is important for counteracting a loss of muscle mass. Muscle mass is important for the supporting apparatus, but also for energy metabolism, so that the basal metabolic rate does not drop during a diet. Carbohydrates, on the other hand, satisfy quickly, but only for a short time – especially if they contain little fiber.
You will become and remain really full if a meal is sufficiently large and varied in composition. The energy density of a food should be low. Briefly, the energy density describes the energy content of a food in calories (kcal) per gram or per 100 grams. Above all, foods with low (up to about1 kcal per gram), but also medium energy density (up to 2.25 kcal per gram) are very suitable for losing weight, as your plate remains well filled in the process. Alternatives for foods with a high energy density would be, for example, baked potatoes with herb curd (instead of French fries) or a portion of salty popcorn (instead of chips).
It’s the taste that counts
Eating is pleasure, so flexible control of eating behavior is also more beneficial – z. B. instead of never eating chocolate again, only one bar a week instead of the previous four. The diet should be adapted to individual preferences, so that the diet can also be continued with enjoyment.
In addition, a successful diet must be practicable in everyday life and tailored to the life situation. And it has to taste good, because otherwise it is mostly programmed to be discontinued. Regular meals are advantageous, because too long intervals between meals promote attacks of ravenous appetite.
Exercise helps to lose weight
Sport not only makes it easier to lose weight, but also to stabilize the new body weight. It directly increases energy consumption and also counteracts the drop in basal metabolic rate by maintaining muscle mass. Strength training can even increase muscle mass. In addition, sport improves performance, lifts the mood, promotes well-being and prevents secondary diseases of excess weight.
In addition to light endurance training combined with strength training, everyday activities such as climbing stairs instead of taking the elevator, walking instead of driving, or going for a walk instead of watching TV also count. It is important that the exercise is fun, because that is the best reason to stick with it.
Lose weight with the DGE program "I’m losing weight
Long-term nutrition programs are best, where participants not only lose weight slowly, but also stabilize their new weight. In principle, it is possible to remove them by oneself. The "I’m losing weight" program can help of the German Nutrition Society (DGE), which combines a change in diet with exercise and relaxation.
The program is also successfully used in group counseling sessions. Nutritional specialists, who carry out the program in the group consultation, find you in the Internet offer of the DGE. In groups the exchange is possible among themselves, which can contribute considerably to the motivation increase.