The low-calorie diet, this diet that is talked about all over the world, known for weight loss and recommended in certain special cases. Yes but… His notoriety also leads to false ideas about him, it is sometimes difficult to disentangle the true from the false. In this article, we take stock of the basics of this diet, how to apply it and the mistakes to avoid.
What is the low calorie diet?
A low-calorie diet is a diet aimed at weight loss. In dietetics, weight loss begins when energy intake is lower than required, this is the principle of a calorie deficit.
However, when you want to lose weight, you should not just rely on calorie restriction. Nutrient intake (micro and macronutrients) is also essential for sustainable and healthy weight loss.
Too much restriction will make you lose weight quickly, but will have significant consequences on your health in the medium and long term: fatigue, irritability, nutritional deficiencies, muscle wasting, yo-yo effect, slowing of metabolism, eating disorders, etc.
How to follow a low-calorie diet?
A low-calorie diet involves reducing caloric intake and/or increasing energy expenditure.
Low calorie diet: for whom?
The low-calorie diet is indicated for people suffering from overweight or obesity. The purpose of the diet is then therapeutic. It is indeed a question of losing weight in order to preserve one’s health. Overweight and obesity are predisposing factors for many disorders: cardiovascular, diabetes, respiratory… Losing weight and improving overall lifestyle are important prevention levers.
A low-calorie diet can also be introduced in people wishing to lose weight for aesthetic purposes, in athletes who need to have a certain physique/weight in their respective discipline, etc. A caloric deficit is then set up, always with an optimal distribution of nutrients.
Whatever the purpose of the low-calorie diet, the ideal is to be followed by a qualified health professional who will guide you and adapt the diet to your profile. Indeed, depending on your age, your size, your medical history, your lifestyle, your rhythm, your physical activity… The data of the low-calorie diet may vary. Nutritional monitoring is also important to avoid nutritional deficiencies, muscle wasting, fatigue…
People who are fragile and likely to develop eating disorders (ED) should consult a health professional to be accompanied in setting up and applying a low-calorie diet, while preventing the onset of Eating Disorders.
Contraindications of the low-calorie diet
The low-calorie diet is not recommended for pregnant women because nutritional needs are specific and increase during pregnancy. It is also not recommended for people over 70 because it can promote undernutrition, muscle wasting and loss of bone density.
The calorie deficit is too great
A diet that is too low in calories can quickly become harmful to your health, which is why the body will not respond to the desire to lose weight. Indeed, excessive calorie restriction ends up slowing down your metabolism, and thus reducing your ability to burn energy. This restriction also risks raising the level of stress in the body, preventing weight loss, risking promoting weight gain!
Calorie deficit is not enough
Even if you are in a calorie deficit, there may not be enough difference between your nutritional needs and intake. As a result, your weight does not drop, or it drops very slowly.
It is difficult to quantify the caloric reduction to prescribe during this type of diet. This depends on your starting point, your goal, your metabolism, your physical activity and your profile.
You are not active enough
There is no miracle diet for weight loss and diet alone is usually not enough.
Weight loss will be greatly promoted through regular and appropriate physical and sporting activity. Physical activity in general should be increased, even if you don’t have much time to devote to sport, here are some tips:
You will have understood that if the calorie deficit established by the hypocaloric diet is the basis of weight loss, there are a multitude of factors that can slow down, or, on the contrary, promote this weight loss!
How to stabilize your weight after a low-calorie diet?
Once the objective is achieved, you simply have to return to abalanced diet, which we love and which makes us happy! It’s about eating intelligently, without going to extremes. That is to say that we must neither be in excessive control on the one hand, nor in the excess of food intake on the other hand: we must find the right balance, in all simplicity and intelligence.
The act of eating remains a conscious, thoughtful act, during which we focus on the tastes, smells, textures of food, we take the time and we appreciate each bite.
If weight tends to increase again very quickly after resuming a traditional diet, various reasons can explain this:
the calorie restriction was too great during the diet, thus putting your body into “undernourishment”. Thus, when resuming a traditional diet, even if it is balanced, the body will be willing to make energy reserves. These reserves will be noted on the scale with an increasing weight.
the resumption of food, and therefore the increase in intake, was too sudden. Any decrease or increase in food intake must be gradual so as not to shock the body and to let it slowly get used to new habits.
After a low-calorie diet, the diet must remain varied and balanced. In order to stabilize its weight, you must both maintain your good habits (sport, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress reduction, etc.), while gradually increasing the quantities of your food intake.
And why not… drop the scale? Weight is just a number, it doesn’t just represent your body fat. Besides, it doesn’t represent you! Rely on the size of your clothes, your reflection in the mirror and your measurements and your morale, these criteria are much more relevant than a simple number.