There are several reasons why you don’t lose as much weight as you want, even when you make efforts. One of them is based on metabolism, the way your body converts food into fuel. But she is not the only one.
What is metabolism?
Our colleagues from Top health thus interviewed Professor Jean-Daniel Lalau, professor of nutrition, ex-chief of the service of endocrinology-nutrition at the CHU of Amiens on what makes weight loss. “”Energy balance in general is the relationship between inputs and outputs, inputs being food and outputs metabolism mainly, but not only “, he begins.
Imaged, what is called metabolism can look like a fireplace: “It works more or less well, depending on the quantity and nature of what is given to it (we can give the example of dry wood for starchy foods) on the one hand and the quality of his draw on the other hand, the latter corresponding to what we spend at rest, that is the basic metabolism “, reports the expert. Metabolism is therefore what our body spends at rest. And it is very variable depending on the people (from single to double).
Other energy expenditure stations exist such as physical activity (about a third of expenses) and expenses induced through food.
Know what brakes your weight loss
Thus, metabolism acts for many in this long -awaited loss of weight. But before knowing whether the metabolism is too slow or not, the doctor advises to make sure that there is not another problem, when the loss is too laborious. “”NObviously, extremely frequent thyroid function disorders, especially in women “. Indeed, if you have thyroid insufficiency, you have a low metabolism and you can therefore gain weight. In this case, a dosage of the TSH can easily guess it.
Of course, what you put on your plate will also count. If your menus include a lot of hidden fats or too large quantities of food, this can also slow down, or even cancel the desired effect. “”Quantitative and qualitative food survey must be as fine as possible “says Professor Lalau.
Two ways to know your metabolism
Once the whole context is flat, (your diet and any thyroid problems) it is then possible to take stock of its metabolism, by assessing energy expenditure in hospital environment by so -called calorimetry techniques. “”In a simpler way, it is possible to approach constitutional metabolism by analyzing the bodily composition, which also provides an evaluation of energy expenditure, by impedancemetry “underlines the expert.
However, the professor specifies that the usual impedancemetry balances question only the lower part of the body and that the interpretation of the figure must return to a nutrition professional.
Another way to assess your metabolism is to compare yourself to another person. “”Indeed, some can “eat what they want” without gaining weight, while others must “be very careful” so as not to take it “explains the specialist.
Are you the one who loses the least calories or takes the most weight? You undoubtedly have a low metabolism (hypometabolism), “It is then necessary to play on other expenditure stations: increase energy expenditure by physical activity in the event of sedentary lifestyle and make the most relevant food choices on a qualitative level, without restriction, precisely to properly adjust the level of contribution to the recommended physical activity “, concludes Professor Jean-Daniel Lalau.