I eat little and I don’t lose weight! Why? – GOOD SHAPE

Eating little without losing a single gram is one of the most frequent complaints in doctors’ offices. Often followed by “I must have a thyroid problem”. Until recently, this was seen as a lame excuse. After all, less than 4% of overweight people have hormonal dysfunctions that can interfere with weight loss. The doctor made the invariable recommendation to close your mouth and end the conversation.

It doesn’t work that way anymore. Science has proven that eating too little doesn’t help you slim down, on the contrary. Another flawed idea is that chubby men and women are calm people and nervous people who are stressed are thin ones. None of that: stress makes you fat and bloats because it makes you retain liquids. What ties your diet could still be genetics. As you can see, things have changed. To close this issue, we’ve listed here the dietary mistakes that can slow down weight loss and we’ll help you figure it all out.

fattening act

Before thinking that your difficulty in losing weight is related to a problem with your organism, analyze your attitude towards food. And celebrate: turning this game around is much easier than solving any dysfunction.

Little food, lots of calories. You can eat little, but if you choose the wrong foods, such as super-refined and fatty foods (sweet, cake, white bread, fried foods, snacks, fatty meats), little becomes a lot. Betting on an almost empty plate full of calories also triggers fat production. To understand where the danger lies, use the food diary trick: “You write down everything that enters your menu and check at the end of the day how the low quality of food can weigh on the scales as much as the quantity”, says nutritionist Cynthia Antonaccio, from Sao Paulo.

Lack of attention. If you’re tired of hearing the recommendation to make the meal a pleasant ritual without getting distracted by other things, try eating a dish on the whim, the way you like it in front of the TV: you’ll end up feeling like it wasn’t the enough. Another test: have a coffee while working in front of the computer. At some point, you’ll raise the empty cup to your mouth, because you didn’t realize you’ve already drunk it all. Conclusion: time to eat, eat.

slow metabolism

It can happen that the metabolism becomes lazy, burning less fat, especially after a radical diet done for a long period – in which you lose a lot of lean mass (muscles). And that really sucks. But there are efficient ways to give that system a new gas.

More muscle. It’s been proven that to keep your metabolism burning more calories 24 hours a day, it’s important to invest in strength exercises. “They increase muscles — considered natural calorie burners”, says physiotherapist Marcus Vinicius, director of Clínica N&T, in Rio de Janeiro. But no going back to sedentary life after reaching the ideal weight. You need to understand that exercise is forever: stopped doing it, the metabolism slows down.

Accelerated Diet. Now, if you really eat little, work out a lot and don’t lose weight, it could be that your metabolism is slow. So, the recommendation is to forget the diets that promise quick results. The solution is to lose 10% of your total weight over a month or two and maintain the new weight for about six months. This time gives your body a chance to start registering the new weight and allow your metabolism to stabilize. Only then do you resume the diet to dry out what’s missing. According to the American Weight Control Registry (a body that provides information on the strategies used by successful people in losing and maintaining weight), which has followed thousands of people who have followed diets in the United States for more than ten years, this system of losing weight really works. The difficult thing is to deal with anxiety: few women have the patience to wait a long time to reach their goal.

Watching the Insulin

When we eat, the amount of insulin in the blood increases and in about two hours it starts working, capturing glucose (sugar) from food, especially from carbohydrates. If you gain weight eating high-calorie foods, lose weight on a crazy diet and then gain weight again, this causes turbulence in the production of this hormone. The consequence may be your body’s resistance to insulin, that is, it sends the pancreas to manufacture more and more hormones to solve the same functions as before, increasing its levels, which makes you more hungry and makes it difficult to lose weight. When insulin rises and falls out of pattern it can also be a sign of type 2 diabetes – worth checking.

Dropping the ball. To slow down insulin production, the recommendation is to reduce the consumption of carbohydrates, preferring those with a low glycemic index (which take longer to be transformed into glucose) and avoiding those that turn into very rapid blood sugar: candy, cake, sugar, bread white, potato and white rice.

fault of genetics

Mom, aunts, grandparents, siblings, all chubby? So being overweight could have something to do with your family history. Hence, it is true, it is more difficult to keep the body dry even if you eat little.

The latest studies in the area of ​​genetics show that one of the causes of the tendency to put on weight is the excessive production of the lipoprotein lipase enzyme, the main responsible for storing fat in cells. When the genes determine a lower production of the UCP protein (uncoupling protein or uncoupling protein) the result is also extra weight. “In this case, the metabolism takes advantage of everything that is consumed and spends the least amount of energy”, says metabologist Fernanda D’Elia. There is still no treatment for this unpleasant tendency, but you can control your weight if you create the habit of eating in the right measure and prioritizing quality food. The way out is to adopt, forever, a lifestyle in which excesses are left aside. Exercise is also a holy ally to circumvent genetics.

the weight of stress

Stop for a moment and reflect calmly: could it be that your difficulty in shedding the extra kilos from your little body has nothing to do with stress? In addition to making you nervous and ready to attack the fridge, constant tension stimulates the production of cortisol, a hormone that breaks weight loss and fattening. It sends a message to the brain to retain fluid and fat in the body. So, do your best to relax. “To make the task easier, invest in foods rich in substances that help reduce stress and even regulate the feeling of well-being”, guides Cynthia. They are: hazelnut, Brazil nut, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, eggplant, chickpeas, soy, acerola, guava, banana, yogurt, fish and seafood. The most caloric, such as nuts, grains and cereals, cannot be consumed with the same freedom as eggplant and lettuce. Two chestnuts or half a cup (tea) of chickpeas (or soybeans) a day is just right.

To be smart!

A lot of people just record on the list what they ate during meals and ignore everything they eat between meals”, says metabologist Fernanda D’Elia, from São Paulo.

Those who have irregular menstruation, increased hair and acne should go to the gynecologist to find out if they have polycystic ovary syndrome, another condition associated with insulin resistance and which can be treated, resolving a good part of the excess weight”, advises nutrologist Alexandre Merheb , from Rio de Janeiro.

A daily dose of 28 grams (or a tablespoon) of red pepper stimulates the metabolism naturally, helping the body to spend more calories”, says nutritionist Cynthia Antonaccio, from São Paulo.

Almonds are on the list of foods that have substances with the power to reduce stress”, says nutritionist Cynthia Antonaccio.