Your friend has always had pancakes, ice creams and paninis without ever gaining a kilo. For your part, you have the impression that the slightest green bean is immediately visible on the scale. Enough to cause some frustrations… but also a lot of questions. How can these differences be explained? Julie Boët, dietitian-nutritionist, disentangles the truth from the falsehood on this subject.
Weight doesn’t just depend on what you eat
We’ve all been in this situation: seeing someone eat waffles and ice cream without it seeming to have the slightest effect on their weight.
“Conversely, some people feel like they easily gain a few pounds even though they feel like they are eating reasonably. It’s often frustrating, but you have to keep one thing in mind: we are all different“, recognizes Julie Boët.
So, our weight would therefore depend… on many factors. The first culprit would be our basal metabolism – that is, the energy that our body expends simply to operate organs and ensure vital functions – “mbut also genetics, muscle mass, physical activity, sleep, stress, hormones or even certain treatments, which can also influence our weight“, explains the dietitian.
In other words, two people can eat the same thing without their bodies reacting the same way.
Comparing your plate to that of others makes no sense
Age would also play a key role, according to Julie Boët.
“Many people tell me that at 20 they could eat a little bit of what they wanted without gaining weight, then that from the age of 40 or 50, particularly with menopause in women, they saw their body react differently. This is completely normal: metabolism changes over the years and our energy needs change too.“, warns the dietitian.
This is also why it is useless to compare yourself to others: the person who never seems to gain a gram (while eating a lot in front of us) may have a very balanced diet the rest of the time, a physical job or greater energy needs.
“Certain illnesses, hormonal imbalances, digestive disorders or certain medications can also promote weight gain or, on the contrary, weight loss. So what you see on a plate never tells the whole story“, underlines the nutritionist.
Being thin doesn’t necessarily mean being healthy
Another detail that is not one: weight alone cannot be synonymous with good or bad health. You can be thin and still have metabolic imbalances.
Conversely, a few extra kilos are not necessarily synonymous with poor lifestyle. “This is why it is important to have a global vision, rather than relying solely on the number displayed on the scale” insists the specialist.
The dietician finally reminds that no food alone makes you gain weight.“What really matters is all of our habits: the frequency of consumption, the quantities, but above all the balance of the diet over time. Crepes, ice creams or paninis have their place in a balanced diet when they are eaten with pleasure and occasionally” she says.
“Guilty” foods (ice cream, pancakes, candy, Nutella, etc.) should therefore not be banned: eating is above all about having fun. “A healthy diet is not a perfect diet: it is a diet sufficiently balanced to meet the body’s needs while leaving room for desires. confides the dietitian.
In summary, rather than wondering why your neighbor never gains an gram, “it is much more interesting to learn about your own body and build habits that suit it” concludes the nutritionist.