Why doesn’t my body want to lose weight?
Weight is a real concern for the French: a majority (63%) admit to paying attention to their weight (1) . However, weight loss is a complex process, where not everyone loses at the same pace or under the same conditions. And sometimes, it happens that we have the impression that our body does not “want” to lose weight. To understand what this phenomenon hides, here are some reasons and explanations.
My body does not want to lose weight: the causes
The role of basal metabolism
Basic metabolism , or basal metabolic rate, corresponds to the energy needs necessary for the body to function normally, when it is at rest. In fact, it is based on the sum of incompressible daily calories that the body needs to maintain vital functions afloat. These functions are brain activity, heart pump, respiration, digestion, thermoregulation and cell renewal.
Basal metabolic rate varies with height , weight, age, and gender. However, it is not fixed: it will fluctuate throughout our lives. Very fast when young, it tends to slow down with age . This is due to a multitude of factors:
- Hormonal activity, which decelerates as we age.
- The ability to metabolize nutrients.
- Muscle mass, which “melts” over the years.
- Inflammatory susceptibility, because we eliminate organic waste and toxins less well as we age.
It is nevertheless possible to maintain it, provided that adequate lifestyle and dietary measures are adopted. If your body does not want to lose weight, it is possible that your basal metabolic rate is too slow. And we will have to think about restoring it, to hope for weight loss.
The role of hormones
Weight is not necessarily a function of diet or sport. Sometimes women are prone to unexplained weight gain, and that weight is hard to lose. The cause: hormones female sexualities. Estrogen and progesterone, the two hormones controlling the menstrual cycle and the reproductive capacity of women, have something to do with it. They naturally encourage fat storage, in view of a possible pregnancy. This fat storage is favored by the female anatomy, which is well endowed with adipocytes (subcutaneous fat cells). Thus, women have an average of 25% fat mass, compared to 10 to 15% for men. This is an organic reality, which can be difficult to accept, but which plays a big role in women’s weight gain and loss. And in case of overactivity or hormonal fluctuations, losing weight can be complicated.
The importance of healthy living
If your body does not “want” to lose weight, it is also, perhaps, because your lifestyle leaves something to be desired. Sometimes we are convinced to adopt good gestures on a daily basis, but we are wrong. The lifestyle and dietary rules conducive to slimming and maintaining a healthy weight are not obvious to everyone. Thus, common errors and false beliefs can interfere with weight loss. Among the most common are diets , skipping meals (thinking that starving yourself would be good for your figure), doing intense sports once a month (and nothing the rest of the time) …
The hereditary character
Sometimes, we are convinced that our body does not “want” to lose weight, without taking into account key data: its natural morphology , its structure and its genetic heritage. However, it is obvious: if parents (or even grandparents) have a robust frame and/or a solid build, there is a good chance that we will inherit it. And, of course, low chances of displaying a “green bean” silhouette. This is how it is, and going against its natural morphology by setting unachievable goals is a decoy. However, we prefer to convince ourselves that our body does not want to lose weight, rather than accepting our natural morphotype (pulp, robust, even muscular).
My body does not want to lose weight: the solutions
A realistic observation
The first (and most important) thing to do is to analyze the situation:
· Is your body mass index too high?
· Are you in good health?
· Why do you want to lose weight?
If you want to lose weight for purely aesthetic reasons, even if it means putting your health at risk, think twice. You may suffer from dysmorphophobia, in which case a medical consultation will be considered.
On the other hand, if you are overweight , it is understandable that you want to lose a little weight. It is even recommended, since overweight is a vector of metabolic diseases. And if your body doesn’t want to lose weight, it may be because you’re doing it wrong. Be careful, it is not a question of starving yourself, or of forcing yourself to intense physical activity, but rather of rebalancing your lifestyle.
food
If your body doesn’t want to lose weight, maybe you’re missing something food-wise. To lose weight without risking slowing down your basic metabolism, several rules must be respected:
· Give yourself time to lose weight.
· Do not starve yourself, or adopt a very restrictive diet, under penalty of causing a metabolic slowdown and suffering the repercussions (the famous yoyo effect ) by taking back more than what has been lost.
· Do not skip meals.
· Eat everything, but above all bet on quality food.
Thus, to trigger the slimming:
· Be sure to prioritize raw foods and cook them yourself.
Eat a bit of everything, in reasonable quantities: abundance of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins (white meat, fish, eggs , vegetable proteins), lipid control (prefer, for example, raw olive oil over your vegetables that long cooking in butter), low GI complex carbohydrates (pseudo-cereals, legumes, al dente wholemeal pasta, root vegetables).
· Avoid alcohol, sugary products, salty foods, prepared meals high in saturated fat.
· Adopt the quarter-quarter-half rule: half your plate should be filled with vegetables , a quarter with proteins, and the remaining quarter with carbohydrates.
· Do not skip meals, eat calmly, disconnected, and chew every bite.
Listen to your feelings of hunger (grumbling stomach, drop in speed, dry mouth, yawning) and satiety (full but not heavy stomach, feeling of well-being, less appetite for food).
· Drink mainly water, and skip sugary drinks, even light.
Physical activity
Weight loss is 70% diet and 30% physical activity. The main advantage of sport: little by little, you will lose fat mass and gain muscle mass, which will have a mechanical effect on your basal metabolism – it will increase. And your body, which didn’t want to lose weight, will simply start consuming more energy (muscle “burning” more calories). But one rule is essential: that of regularity and pleasure. It is totally counterproductive to:
· Commit to “torture” sports sessions, practicing physical activity reluctantly. We give up as quickly as we started…
· Practice intensely, but without regularity. The “commando” session once a month, we forget. Better to walk every day for 40 minutes.
· Choose a sport according to fashions or external imperatives. We don’t do fitness or cycling “because it seems” or “because it’s trendy”. We therefore opt for a sport for which we have a real attraction.
Faced with a body that does not “want” to lose weight, it is advisable to set up, to begin with, short but regular sessions, i.e. 2-3 times a week. Then, over the months, increase the duration of the sessions. Thus we gradually reactivate the body’s desire to lose weight, and the motivation to continue!
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.