
Nutrition and weight loss
Weight loss: how can your nutritionist help you lose weight for good?
In most industrialized countries, the proportion of overweight and obese adults is historically high. In fact, over 30% of the Swiss population is not at a healthy weight, and over 10% is obese. Many of these overweight people suffer from obesity. Many would like to take action to feel better about themselves and improve their health. The word diet is on many lips, in magazines, books and social networks. People dream of rapid weight loss. According to most of these diets, to lose weight we have to reduce our daily calorie intake by depriving ourselves. But what does the word "diet" actually mean?
A diet is first and foremost a way of eating (the Mediterranean diet, for example) or a dietary protocol in a specific therapeutic context, such as following an operation or illness. On the other hand, "going on a diet" is undeniably associated with a "slimming program", which results in calorie restriction with the sole aim of losing weight by imposing deprivations on the body that can be deleterious. So beware, "going on a diet" is not recommended, especially if undertaken without support.
1 ) Slimming "diets" and rapid weight loss: a demotivating and potentially harmful short-term effect
As a nutritionist at the Clinique Naturelle de Genève, I follow many patients who have embarked on fad or non-fad diets. Unfortunately, they've regained all the weight they've painstakingly lost, or even seen their weight increase some time after stopping the diet. This is the famous "yo-yo" effect! This pessimistic observation demoralizes patients, making them doubt their ability to lose weight, and leaving them with a feeling of failure and low self-esteem, which can sometimes lead to depression or BADs (eating disorders).
At first, diets help you lose weight, but in the long term, it's a different story. It's a mistake to think that you can change your weight at will and maintain it as soon as you've achieved the result, without any physiological changes. In fact, the body is very clever and will adapt metabolically as if faced with a state of starvation. As soon as the diet is over and you go back to your usual eating pattern, or deviate from the diet you've been following, the body will store fat in the form of adipose tissue, because it's afraid of running out. The only way to keep the weight off is through permanent restriction... which is undesirable, as the restrictions imposed can lead to deficiencies that are detrimental to overall health.
To achieve positive long-term results, the new eating habits need to be applied over the long term. For this reason, weight loss needs to be slow, induced by a very unrestrictive diet and composed of healthy foods. This will help avoid episodes of compensatory overeating* and maintain the new weight.
2 ) Weight loss success: Act on the cause of weight gain
In addition to diet, there are other factors linked to weight gain:
First of all, stress, especially chronic stress. When you're under long-term stress, your body secretes a hormone called cortisol, which enables it (up to a point) to live with this permanent stress. This hormone is what's known as "hyperglycemic", meaning it raises blood sugar levels even without carbohydrate intake. In other words, stress makes you fat!
Another factor linked to weight gain is a sedentary lifestyle. Physical activity has many advantages, not least of which is an increase in metabolism. To meet the needs of the moment, the body draws on its reserves to fuel muscle cells, thereby burning calories. Sport also secretes endorphins, which help the body fight stress. A double benefit!
Sleep can also influence weight loss. The cause? A hormonal change. The mechanism is simple: to resist fasting at night, the body produces the satiety hormone leptin. During the day, to keep us awake, the metabolism secretes ghrelin, a hormone that promotes hunger. Reducing our sleep time disrupts these mechanisms and increases our appetite.
Other factors such as genetic predisposition, hormonal disorders, medication or an unbalanced microbiota can also be obstacles to weight loss.
When treating a patient at Clinique Naturelle, the first step is to determine the cause of the weight gain, so as to be able to establish a tailor-made dietary protocol, as well as the lifestyle changes essential to weight loss. This involves taking an anamnesis, which will enable me to offer the patient a solution specific to his or her problem, and to support him or her until the desired objectives, validated by the therapist, are reached.
3 ) Rebalancing your diet for lasting weight loss
It all starts on the plate!
With my patients, I work on the contents of the plate before anything else.
The choice of food is essential, as is the way it is cooked. It's also important to know the best time of day to eat certain types of food, so as not to provoke blood sugar peaks and allow certain hormones to be secreted or function better.
There are also many preconceived ideas that need to be corrected, for example when it comes to "fats". It's important to know that eating good fats not only doesn't make you put on weight, but on the contrary, a deficiency in certain essential fatty acids can be a hindrance to weight loss. The key is to choose them in the right proportions (omega 3/omega 6 ratio) ** and to cook them in such a way as to preserve their benefits and not render them harmful through processing.
Another common misconception is that low-sugar or "light" products are not fattening. But not only do they usually contribute to weight gain, they're also harmful because they're loaded with chemicals such as sweeteners, additives and synthetic flavourings.
Once the diet has been rebalanced and adapted to each patient, I suggest solutions to improve their state of chronic stress. There are, for example, breathing techniques that will help regulate cortisol secretion, thereby enabling their blood sugar levels to fall, in conjunction with a hypoglycemic diet.
4 ) Sport, the cornerstone of weight loss
A schedule of sports sessions is also part of the weight loss protocol. Physical activity is essential to a healthy lifestyle for a number of reasons. Among other things, it reduces stress thanks to the secretion of endorphins, provides more energy, improves sleep and makes us more productive at work. But what interests us most here is the impact on weight.
Sport not only burns calories:
- it builds muscle mass, which increases basal metabolic rate. More muscle also means a greater capacity to store glycogen (glucose reserve) and a reduction in fat storage.
- burns calories both during and after exercise, and helps compensate for overeating (high-intensity physical activity).
- promotes good sleep and better stress management.
- regulates our appetite by modulating the secretion of orexigenic and anorexigenic hormones (leptin and ghrelin). ***
- puts us in a better mood and can curb impulsive cravings.
- improves tissue sensitivity to insulin, reducing the risk of insulin resistance and diabetes, depending on the intensity of activity.
- modifies the microbiota by increasing the production of butyrate-producing strains, an anti-inflammatory short-chain fatty acid.
- helps maintain weight loss following the program.
Regular exercise is therefore essential!
In short, if you want to lose weight sustainably and without endangering your body, you can't just follow any fad diet that promises quick, effortless results.
In all cases, you need to be accompanied by a qualified nutritionist, with whom you can work together to get to grips with different aspects of your diet, as we saw earlier.
This holistic approach, which aims to rebalance the body/mind as a whole, is the only way to lose weight sustainably, without yo-yoing or risking damage to your health.
For all the nutritional advice you need, contact Clinique Naturelle in Geneva or visit our page dedicated to weight loss through tailor-made coaching.
Caroline Vogt
Nutritionist at Clinique Naturelle
*The ideal ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6
Today, we recommend an Omega 3/Omega 6 ratio of 1/4, i.e. 1 molecule of Omega 3 for every 4 molecules of Omega 6.
***The main hormones involved in regulating appetite are ghrelin, which generates the sensation of hunger, and leptin, which communicates to your brain that you've eaten enough.
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