Why can't you lose weight? Find out what the metabolic grave is
You've tried them all: detox, home exercise, gym, running, diets of all kinds. But you still don't lose weight and your goal seems further and further away. This annoying and discouraging loop is called the "metabolic grave" and is about the inability to lose fat despite proper efforts and behaviors. In this article you will find out what it is and how to get out of it.
Before you start reading, however, remember to never miss these 10 essential foods in your diet! Watch this short video and write down what must not be missing in your refrigerator!
Our body reacts very well when we put it on a low calorie diet. At first you begin to lose weight, but there comes a time when you begin to "stagnate." That is, the rapid initial progress seems in vain and the number on the scale does not change even hoping.
This is because when we consume fewer calories than we consume, a series of mechanisms are set in motion that try to compensate for this calorie loss. Our body's goal is to keep us alive and safe, but to do that it needs to maintain our body fat levels. As it is, your body clings to that fat, leaving you in a dying state. metabolic or, as it is commonly called, weight stagnation.
See also
The delicate basal metabolism
When you start the diet everything is fine: you start to see that the numbers on the scales go down. But after a few weeks the metabolism has got used to those few calories and will start to burn less. What was once a low calorie diet now becomes a normal calorie diet for your body, as it consumes the same as it spends. This mechanism that pushes you into the metabolic grave is called adaptive thermogenesis.
The reasons for weight stagnation
There are several reasons for weight stagnation:
- Ingest more calories than we think.
- Spending fewer calories than we think (when doing sports, in everyday life ...).
- Maintain the same calorie intake throughout the fat loss process.
Some examples
Maria has a basal metabolic rate of 2000 calories per day (you can calculate this with the Harris Benedict method at the end of this article). Because she wants to lose weight, she lowers it to 1700. The first few weeks she loses weight, but then she stops losing weight due to adaptive thermogenesis: her body has got used to the new situation Maria gets discouraged, stops her diet and starts eating as before, the result is an unwanted rebound effect that makes her go back to her previous weight with a few extra pounds.
Another case, that of Vera, who does a low-calorie diet and a lot of cardio to lose weight. Eventually the same thing happens to Maria, at some point she stops losing weight because her body got used to it. His reaction: do more cardio and cut calories. It continues to shrink a little, but at the cost of pulling the muscles, not the fat, and at some point it stagnates again.
Both people are in a metabolic grave.
How to get out of the metabolic grave?
Here's the good news: It's possible to break out of the metabolic grave! To do this you will need to re-stabilize your metabolism, which goes through a maintenance diet for a while. Once you have stabilized, you can go back to a low-calorie diet, but well planned from the start.
The idea is to reach a deficit of about 500 calories per day, going down little by little. A good way to do this is to go down 100 calories every week. Of course, never forget your daily macronutrient requirement.
According to a sports nutritionist, before starting a weight loss diet you need to know how many calories you are burning day by day. That is, what is the level of activity: if you go to work on foot or by car, if you exercise in the gym, if you have a sedentary profession or that requires movement, etc. Many people overestimate their daily spending, so it becomes essential to have as accurate an idea as possible.
Most people get better by changing their eating habits. By giving priority to vegetables and fruit and significantly reducing refined carbohydrates, they will drastically reduce calorie intake. Another way is through exercise: sports activity allows you to increase calorie intake and still lower body fat.
"Many people take it very badly to limit calories and prefer to exercise more," says the same sports nutritionist mentioned earlier. "When calorie intake is very low, adherence to the plan is also very low. The best thing to do is see what your calorie intake is, reduce it by 300-400 calories per day, and see how your weight is. and your measurements after 14 days ".
With this reference make the right decision:
- If you have drastically reduced your weight it means that you have lost tissue beyond fat (mainly muscle) within that weight, so you should increase your calorie intake a bit.
- If, on the other hand, you see that your weight remains the same or there is hardly any difference, it means that you have overestimated your calorie intake and therefore you should reduce it.
- If all goes well, follow the same path and add some cheat meal, indulge in some whim from time to time.
The solution of the examples
In this sense, in Maria's case she will have to fix her metabolism and then she will continue to lower the calories little by little with some cheat meal, while in Vera's case the same, but she should change the cardio exercise to a weight routine, which will make her gain more muscle while burning fat.
Tips to avoid being in a metabolic grave
We know, nobody likes counting calories, but it can be very helpful when starting a diet. Many times what we eat is underestimated, which does not allow us to make progress in losing weight. Using an application during the first few weeks of a diet will help you become aware of the calories you are eating more accurately. But be careful not to make it an obsession: moderation must be the key.
Another tip is to avoid the strict diets that you end up giving up. Much better to have a more flexible diet, where you can eat everything and gradually reduce calories. The results may not be as fast as in other methods, but we make sure they are long-lasting (we avoid the rebound effect).
Just as your metabolism gets used to the way you eat, it also gets used to the way you train. That's why we recommend that you vary your workouts and combine your toning routines with cardio, walking, dancing ... Weight lifting is very important when it comes to losing weight, as it speeds up your metabolism and increases your consumption. of calories during and after your workout, among other great benefits.
Add some relaxing activities to your exercise routine: yoga, pilates, tai-chi ... Meditation can also be useful in this task: silence helps to achieve a state of calm which is very practical when it comes to self-control (not binge).
We hope we have been useful to you and that this year you will reach all your goals!
+ Show Sources - Hide Sources For the calculation of the basal metabolic rate using the Harris & Benedict method, rely on the website of SID - Italian Society of Diabetology. <