Contrary to popular belief, eating less does not always mean losing weight. For many, it’s even the opposite: the less we eat, the more the body resists. And that is explained. “”If we create an excessive calorie deficit in relation to our needs, the body enters alert“Explains the dietician Anaïs Soize.
In addition, by drastically reducing its contributions, a chain reaction is caused: the body slows down, the brain triggers hunger, and each daily action becomes more costly in energy. Result ? Stagnation, even weight recovery. And all this, even though we eat very little.
Why eat less can slow weight loss
When you start to draw from its fat reserves, the brain reacts immediately. “He receives the message that the pantry is emptied and triggers the shortage alert” details Anaïs Soize. This ancestral mechanism, useful in the face of a predator or during the famine, remains active even when you are simply at the diet.
To protect the body, the brain releases more ghrelin, hunger hormone, and reduces leptin, which normally hinders appetite and stimulates expenses. Metabolism slows down, hunger signals explode: a spiral of food frustration is entered.
The hormonal trap that harms weight loss
With less leptin, “Each effort becomes harder“Specifies the dietician. Walking requires more energy, breathing too. In parallel, food intake remains low, but expenses collapse.
And this is the trap: we consume little, but we spend even less. This configuration thus installs a vicious circle. The energy balance is unbalanced, not because we eat too much but because the body consumes less and less. “”We can even find ourselves gaining weight when we eat very little“Insists Anaïs Soize.
Stagnation, fatigue and compulsions: signals not to ignore
Faced with this situation, two reactions are frequent.
- The first: further reduce the contributions, until it has only one yogurt to eat, during the day, leaning out and ending up falling;
- The second: Understanding that a simple calorie deficit is not enough, especially when it is too far from the real metabolism of the person;
According to Anaïs Soize, it is crucial to adapt the energy intake to the precise metabolic situation of each. And that cannot be done with restrictive menus or arbitrary figures. The power must be adjusted as a function of the real functioning of the body and its hormonal signals.
Food rebalancing is better than a brutal deficit
How to take it? You have to bet on a food rebalancing, which does not seek to create a drastic deficit, but to stick to the real needs of the body. This implies taking into account age, physical activity, basal metabolism, but also the hormonal and psychic state.
“It’s not just a question of calories“Recalls our expert. What matters is the quality of the contributions. A hypocaloric diet based on empty calories is useless because it does not feed.”If we eat less, but bad, it doesn’t work“She adds.
You must therefore adapt your diet not only to the quantity, but especially to quality. “”Do we have resistance to insulin? Do we have enough proteins in relation to physical activity? The answer to these questions changes everything “. Instead of trying to “deceive” the body by ever cutting more, it is more strategic to listen to it.
“”The objective is not to be in the permanent diet, but to find a stable balance, which respects biological, hormonal and psychological needs“She concludes.