Lose weight - an overview
"You're weighing a bit too much!"
Are you also one of those people who are afraid that the doctor will discover the extra pounds every time you visit the doctor? Here you can learn the basics of losing weight, why exercise can support a diet, and why it becomes increasingly difficult to lose weight as we get older.
Facts
True to the motto "better round and healthy than slim and sick", you haven't given much thought to your weight so far. Your feel-good weight is just a little higher...
According to a 2014 study by the Robert Koch Institute, two thirds of men and half of women in Germany are overweight, and almost a quarter of adults are severely overweight (obese) [1]. Overweight and obesity are contributory causes of many complaints and can promote the development of chronic diseases.
It is not that difficult to reach a healthy weight and to maintain it in the long term.
The daily energy requirement
To maintain the body's functions, our body needs energy. This basal metabolic rate depends on age, gender and weight. In addition, we need to take in the energy we need for exercise, this power metabolism depends on how we spend our day. If you do hard physical work every day, your power metabolism will be much higher than someone who sits at a desk all day. In nutrition science, power metabolism [2] is defined by the PAL factor, the physical activity level. It is
- 1.2 for sedentary and lying activities
- 1.8 for predominantly standing activities
- for physically demanding occupational activities 2.0 to 2.4
Multiply your basal metabolic rate by your PAL factor to get your total metabolic rate.
The energy our body needs is measured in units of kilojoules (kJ) or kilocalories (kcal). One kilocalorie is equal to 4.184 kilojoules. Although the calorie is the obsolete unit of measurement and has been replaced in scientific use by the joule, in common usage the calorie has become accepted.
Calorie calculator
What sounds complicated is quite simple thanks to the internet. There you will find calorie calculators [3] that will calculate your daily calorie requirements according to your data. In addition to the calorie requirement for maintaining weight, the calorie requirement for gaining or losing weight is also given.
Lose weight - this is how it works
The basis of losing weight is a calorie deficit: you have to consume more energy than you take in. In order to still maintain all functions, the body goes to its reserves and, in the best case, burns fat. But be careful: hasty crash diets can lead to the loss of muscle mass instead of fat! Reducing your daily calorie requirement by 500 to a maximum of 1000 kilocalories over a longer period of time will bring you healthily to your desired weight.
Set goals
Set yourself a realistic goal of how many kilograms you want to lose in how long. If the goal seems unattainable, there is a high risk of breaking the diet. You can lose half a kilogram to a maximum of one kilogram per week in a healthy way.
Develop strategy
Low carb, low fat, food combining, interval fasting, formula diets or calorie-reduced mixed diets: there are so many different diets that it is difficult to choose the right one. The important thing is to find the one that suits you best and restricts you as little as possible. For example, if you like to eat bread, pasta or other carbohydrate-rich foods, a low carb diet will be very difficult for you. Especially if you want to lose weight over a longer period of time, it is important that the diet suits you.
Implement
The basic conditions are in place: you have set yourself a realistic goal and decided on a suitable diet. Then you can get started! The weekend is a good time to start, you have time to prepare your meals and can distract yourself with walks or other fun activities. When the new work week starts, you can show your colleagues your first successes and enjoy the diet meal you brought with you during your lunch break.
Weight loss and sport
Exercise to support a diet is an effective way to lose weight sustainably. Exercise burns calories, and the more intense you exercise, the more calories you burn. So jogging burns more calories in the same amount of time than casual walking.
The more muscle groups you work, the more energy you use and the more muscle mass you build. This helps you lose weight even if you don't exercise at all: Muscle mass burns more energy than fat, even at rest.
Any kind of exercise will help you in your diet and can be easily integrated into your daily routine: leave the car and ride your bike, take the stairs instead of the lift or start your day with gymnastics. The more time you spend exercising, the more calories you burn.
Lose weight in old age
Many people are slim and active when they are young. But from the age of 30 we already lose muscle mass and fat takes its place. From the age of about 45, there is a marked slowdown in metabolism, with the effect that a 50-year-old woman has almost twice as much fat tissue as a 30-year-old at the same weight. And as muscle mass decreases, the basal metabolic rate decreases, which in turn means that we gain weight if we do not change our eating habits. Women are particularly affected, as the hormonal changes of the menopause often add to the weight gain.Lots of exercise and regular weight control are the surest way to avoid becoming overweight in the first place. Once you are overweight, you should not rely on one-sided crash diets, because they do not provide the body with the necessary vitamins and minerals. A long-term dietary change to healthy foods allows you to eat lots of fruit and vegetables and even a slice of cream cake.
Lose weight and stay slim
Three kilos less in one week - that's how many diets are advertised. But the fact is that these three kilos consist mainly of water, because you cannot save the energy of three kilos of fat in one week. Besides, you will put the weight back on your hips immediately if you fall back into your old eating habits after finishing the diet. It is better to lose half a kilogram to one kilogram per week over a long period of time. Try to change your diet in the long term and don't forbid yourself all the things you like to eat. If you do, cravings will build up and can quickly ruin your successes.
Many people find it easier to lose weight in a group of like-minded people. Adult education centres, sports clubs, fitness centres and nutritionists offer courses that are financially supported by many health insurance companies. In quality-assured courses, experts are on hand to advise and motivate you. New contacts are quickly made, because all course participants have the same goal.
Unfortunately, we can't tell our body to burn the fat on our thighs first. But you can achieve a lot with exercises, especially for the parts of the body where you want to lose weight. Through targeted muscle building, the tissue becomes tighter and firmer. Over the course of your diet, your problem areas will shrink sooner or later.
If you eat insufficient calories over a long period of time, your body gets used to the deficiency and shuts down your metabolism. When you stop dieting and start eating more calories again, your body is still running on fumes and storing excess calories in fat stores. You quickly return to your old weight, sometimes even exceeding it. The ups and downs are reminiscent of the movement of a yoyo.
A diet should not be understood as a short-term total restriction and renunciation, but as a long-term dietary change. Because then you don't fall back into your old eating habits, the diet is not over, but has given way to your new eating habits. With additional exercise and occasional weight control, your weight will not go back up.
Many health insurance companies support participation in weight loss courses, and they can also tell you which courses are offered in your area. You can also find further offers in the daily newspaper or in the course directory of the adult education centre.
As part of the natural ageing process, we lose muscle mass and metabolic processes slow down, requiring less energy to maintain vital processes.
Conclusion
Losing weight only works if you take in fewer calories than you consume. Exercise helps you do this because you burn extra calories and build muscle. Losing weight slowly over a longer period of time brings lasting success.
