We must also keep in mind the most important goal of a diet: lose as much fat as possible while losing minimum muscle !
So I’m going to give you some tips to minimize or even eliminate these negative effects, and let you understand that following a diet can become child’s play!
► The first thing, regarding the type of diet you are going to follow. There are dozens of protocols: small meals divided into 6 or 7 times a day, intermittent fasting (16/8, 20/4, 5/2…), meal replacements… So you should know that they ALL work, provided:
- to have a daily calorie intake (or weekly divided by 7 in the case of the 5/2 fast) lower to the maintenance calorie intake
- keep at least 1.8 g of protein by body weight. Be careful, 100g of meat is not 100g of protein. A 100g steak contains around 20g of protein, for example.
- keep approximately 1g of fat per body weight . Favor omega 3 of animal origin (fatty fish and organic eggs), vegetable oils rich in omega 3 or 9 (linseed, rapeseed, olive oil), oilseeds (walnuts, cashews, almonds …) And avoid vegetable oils rich in omega 6 (sunflower, soya…)
- to maintain a healthy intestinal flora . It may be beneficial to supplement with fiber. Drink idea to maintain optimal intestinal health: 10g of collagen + 10g of inulin in a large glass of water, to be taken once a day (preferably at bedtime)
- to have a daily calorie intake higher to basal metabolic rate (if your basal metabolic rate is 1300kcal per day, never eat less than 1300 calories, except again if you are practicing a partial fast of 2 days / week, but knowing that the “missing” calories will be made up for the other 5 days of the week)
- to respect the diet ! If you are entitled to one gap per week, make one gap per week. If you have the right to a “free” meal every other day, then indulge yourself. If you don’t qualify for any spreads, don’t make any spreads, it’s that easy.
- Finally, it is important to choose a diet that is right for you at you . For example, a person who works at home or in the office will (in principle) have time to prepare 6 meals a day, while a nurse or person who works in restaurants will have very little time for this and will prefer a fast. intermittent or meal replacements.
► Next, I’ll give you a few tips that will help you manage your hunger, which should not be excessive otherwise it means that the diet is not suitable :
- If you start to feel hungry but it is not the time to eat your meal, prepare yourself a non-calorie drink : coffee, green tea, mineral water, herbal tea, juice. diluted squeezed lemon…
- In all cases drink plenty of water .
- Take care! Boredom is the biggest culprit in food cravings. You do not know what to do ? You eat. Are you watching a movie? You nibble. These habits must stop! Get some fresh air, take a walk, shop, read a book, go out with the family … but don’t be home alone, it’s the easiest way to have a crush.
- Take the time to eat ! Eat at least 15 minutes (ideally 20 minutes or more, but I know that when working out it can be very difficult). A few tips: put down then take the fork between each bite, cut your meals with a few sips of water (at room temperature), eat in groups if possible, and keep the conversation going!
- Don’t eat in front of the TV . Without going into a spiritual delirium, it is important to eat your meal with full awareness .
- Know that these are the most difficult first days . Your stomach will rehabilitate itself, between 3 and 10 days on average. In the meantime, be very demanding of yourself, do not allow yourself any deviations until your body is able to be content with what is imposed by your diet.
► Sleep is of crucial importance in body composition. The less you sleep, the higher your stress will be and will block fat loss by speeding up muscle loss. Your leptin (the satiety hormone) will decrease and you will also have a greater inclination to indulge in high-calorie, high-carbohydrate foods. At less than 6 hours a night, your sleep is not enough. It will also depend on your physical activity (sport and daily expenses); remember that the more you move, the more rest you will need. Ideally you should sleep 8 hours a night. The 2 hours that you “lose” in your day sleeping will be compensated by a productivity so high that it will be more than profitable. The same goes for your health in general (especially with regard to cardiovascular problems, hypertension, etc.)!
► An interesting avenue if for you the diet brings a lot of constraints, in particular psychological (loss of morale at the idea of dieting, impossible to control yourself in the face of food sugary foods, even binge eating): therapeutic hypnosis can be very useful to you!
You may find that food is a kind of comfort , that you seek to fill a gap by eating, and this is probably accompanied by a feeling of disgust towards oneself (“I am unable to control myself”, “I am weak”, “I am addicted to food”, “I cannot do without pastries / junk food ”,“ I’m sad if I only have to eat vegetables ”,“ my body is disgusting ”,“ nobody likes me ”etc).
The problem does not come from your body , nor does it come from a simple problem of will, but it surely comes from a deeper trauma , a bad image of yourself, false beliefs…
There are some very good therapists who, through techniques such as Ericksonian hypnosis and as part of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) will help you learn to love yourself and permanently suppress these impulsive directed behaviors towards food.
► Finally, some other little tips to speed up your weight loss and achieve your goals:
- Only if necessary, use food supplements to keep fit: vitamin D, zinc, magnesium…
- Drink green tea, mate, coffee… during the day. These are drinks that on the one hand will speed up your metabolism, and on the other hand will help you stay in shape.
- Do not take “slimming” food supplements , they are not effective.
- Do not weigh yourself NOT ! You will most likely lose fat as well as gain some muscle. Knowing that muscle is much denser than fat, you risk losing weight while stagnating in weight or even gaining kg. A better indicator is the percentage of body fat (% fat), which is calculated with professional tweezers. There are balances called impedencemeters which “calculate” this MG rate, only they are imprecise, and only professional ET balances equipped with foot and hand sensors give a more or less reliable indication. Unfortunately, they are overpriced and nonetheless lacking in reliability because they do not take into account certain factors such as drinking water, breast implants for some women, hormonal fluctuations etc. The best indicator for you is the mirror . And the only way to know if you’ve lost or gained fat and / or fat is to compare by taking pictures on a regular basis (once every two weeks or so) at the same time, with the same light, the same viewing angle.
- prefer weight training instead of cardio, in order to conserve as much muscle as possible and keep your metabolism high. Cardio activity such as running or the elliptical trainer will slow down your metabolism and slow down your fat loss. Favor polyarticular exercises such as the squat, deadlift, bench press, military press, rowing and pull-ups, in order to increase your testosterone level and thus accelerate your fat loss but also by increasing your metabolism as well as your hypertrophy. The more muscle you have, the more calories your body consumes, the more fat you lose (at equal caloric intake).
- Remember to hydrate your skin well. It would tend to sag after a significant weight loss. We are looking for aesthetics, so we must put all our chances on our side.